Measuring angles from MLP

[Epetti]

This is going to be a stupid question, but it's the beginners forum and I haven't been able to find this in a search. When placing speakers, all the recommendations are relative to MLP. Mains at 30 degrees, surrounds at 90-110, rears at 135-150, etc. How do you measure those angles easily and accurately? Or do you just eye ball it? Favorite app or tool? 90 degree one is obvious, but for the rest...

 

[WaynePflughaupt]

Here’s a layout diagram from Dolby Labs. Using this it is sufficient to “eyeball” speaker placement. The only thing different I would recommend would be the front left and right speakers. They should be as far apart as the distance between them and the seating position – i.e. an equilateral triangle.

https://www.dolby.com/us/en/guide/surround-sound-speaker-setup/7-1-setup.html


Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[2channel lover]

Here’s a layout diagram from Dolby Labs. Using this it is sufficient to “eyeball” speaker placement. The only thing different I would recommend would be the front left and right speakers. They should be as far apart as the distance between them and the seating position – i.e. an equilateral triangle.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

That's the challenge of my HT space....MLP is 11' away from the mains, and they are 8' apart...any wider and it wrecks the room. And sitting closer is not really an option.

 

[WaynePflughaupt]

Well, if it’s not an option, then obviously you just do what you can. It’s not unusual for “optimal” to have to give way to “reality” in a HT system – lots of us have to do it.

BTW, edited my previous post to include the link I intended to but forgot.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[j_garcia]

Few of us have ideal speaker positioning. These are only guidelines and I don't find they are correct for every room, so you'll have to experiment a bit with placement in your room to find what works best.

 

[Steve81]

How do you measure those angles easily and accurately?

Just Google a right triangle calculator like so:
http://www.csgnetwork.com/righttricalc.html

And borrowing Dolby's image:


So for an example of 4 feet Side A, 10 feet side B, angle would be 21.8 degrees.

 

[Epetti]

Both of these were the approaches I had been taking up to this point. I had assumed that by now someone had come up with a magic app that did the work for you. Or attached a laser pointer to a protractor or something. Good to know I'm not missing something.

 

[lovinthehd]

I have indeed read that some have used laser pointers and a protractor...

But you inspired me to google it http://cdm.link/2012/11/get-speaker-angles-right-with-your-phone-genelec-app-for-ios-android/

 

[Epetti]

Very cool! I'd been looking for generic angle measuring tools, not a specific speaker one. I'll have to try it out tonight. Doesn't quite do everything I was looking for (vertical as well as horizontal angles, and positional angle not just toe in), but for a $1, it's worth a try.

 

[lovinthehd]

There's even an AH article on it http://www.audioholics.com/news/genelec-speakerangle-app-ios