Surrond speaker placement

[stephen penfold]

Hi,

I am setting up my home for a 5.1 home theatre system. Using existing furniture, I intend to place the left hand surround speaker about 4' off the ground on a table and the right hand surround speaker about 6' off the ground.

Will this difference in height have any noticeable effect on the sound quality?

Thanks

Steve

 

[Hetfield]

Ideally you want the surrounds at the same height but with Auto-calibration I think you may be fine. It should take care of issues like that.

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[TheWarrior]

Hi,

I am setting up my home for a 5.1 home theatre system. Using existing furniture, I intend to place the left hand surround speaker about 4' off the ground on a table and the right hand surround speaker about 6' off the ground.

Will this difference in height have any noticeable effect on the sound quality?

Thanks

Steve

Height of the tweeter should be inline with your ears. If one is higher than the other, you will need to tilt it down slightly and probably adjust sound levels between the two to compensate. But there are other factors at play that I can't speak for without knowing the dimensions of your room and of the listening position.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Hi Steve. Your surrounds should be closer to 6' off the floor and slightly behind (12-18") and angled down toward the LP. If you can't, just get as close as you can. Audyssey will help with some of the issues but height differences will be difficult for it. Imo yes it will likely be noticeable. How are you placing the 6 foot high speaker?

 

[Pogre]

Hi Steve. Your surrounds should be closer to 6' off the floor and slightly behind (12-18") and angled down toward the LP. If you can't, just get as close as you can. Audyssey will help with some of the issues but height differences will be difficult for it. Imo yes it will likely be noticeable. How are you placing the 6 foot high speaker?

If he angles it down that would help though, right? I agree same height is ideal, but we've all had to make concessions that weren't ideal.

 

[Hetfield]

I thought I read you weren't supposed to angle them downward? Mine are about 6 feet off the ground but not angled down, slightly toed in though. I have tried lots of different things and this sound best.

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[Pogre]

I thought I read you weren't supposed to angle them downward? Mine are about 6 feet off the ground but not angled down, slightly toed in though. I have tried lots of different things and this sound best.

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Different rooms and all, you know that. It's been suggested to me to angle them down many times. That's why I was having such a fit getting my Ultra bookshelves mounted and angled on my wall. Remember I ended up using a nylon strap? Mine are 6' off the ground too.

 

[Hetfield]

Yeah so the nylon straps did the trick huh? All good on that end? Yeah whatever works for everyone. Everyone's room and tastes are different. It's a crazy hobby we chose to be in.

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[Pogre]

Yeah so the nylon straps did the trick huh? All good on that end? Yeah whatever works for everyone. Everyone's room and tastes are different. It's a crazy hobby we chose to be in.

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The straps work, and it doesn't look hillbilly engineered either! I'm very happy with my results. They're rock solid now.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

If he angles it down that would help though, right? I agree same height is ideal, but we've all had to make concessions that weren't ideal.

yes. I think the more on axis he can aim them the better it will be.

I thought I read you weren't supposed to angle them downward? Mine are about 6 feet off the ground but not angled down, slightly toed in though. I have tried lots of different things and this sound best.
I'd agree much of it is personal preference. Mine are just over 6' heigh, 18" behind, and angled down and forward toward the LP. I've experimented a lot, and IME and in my room, that seems to tie them to the front speakers and creates very cohesive surround bubble. Imaging from front to rear and side to side is excellent. I even get good imaging behind the LP in 5ch playback (vs7ch). I look at surround placement just like L/R placement. Modern soundtracks are full of directional discrete sounds so IMO, surrounds should be set up accordingly. Just saw pogre posted...... let's go see!

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[William Lemmerhirt]

Oh yeah. @Pogre, we all do have concessions and such. I forget sometimes that waf effects some differently, as does people's own willingness to invade their own spaces with all this gear.