question for my rear side surround placement

[tattoo_Dan]

this is my av room with my 7.1 system,

I have to put the TV diagonal because of a door and windows that I did'nt put in the drawing.

all the speakers are set except for the rear sides which I have drawn in green,brown,and purple,

these 3 spots are really my only choices,which do you guys think would be best ?

here is my system
Samsung HL-S6187W 61”
Pioneer DV-400V DVD
Comcast Digital HD DVR
Onkyo TX-SR806 AVR
Polk Audio 12” 150W sub
front main L&R Infinity Primus 150
Center Infinity Primus PC350
Surround side JBL Control One Monitor
Surround back JBL Venue Series Monitor

 

[adk highlander]

Dan,

My first question would be is there a way for you to do the room and not be in the corner like that. Having your TV and speakers in a corner like that will make the surrounds very hard to place. Also it really limits how far apart you can place the front speakers. I cannot tell from your sketch if you are limited by other rooms that are making this corner placement neccessary.

 

[tattoo_Dan]

Dan,

My first question would be is there a way for you to do the room and not be in the corner like that.

not really,


and the room is not drawn exactly to scale,that's why I put the dimensions,the front mains are 7 feet apart,and the left main is 4 feet from the middle line of the room(where the purple SS is)

 

[the grunt]

First, is your couch going to be your primary listening position or do you also want the chair enveloped in the surround sound? This will make a big difference in which speaker positions to use. Any way you cut it I would put both the surrounds and rears up to 6 feet and not on stands if possible.

If the couch is going to be your primary listening area is there any chance you can move it to the corner opposite the TV and set up your surrounds and rears symmetrically around it or will that take up to much of the room?

 

[mike c]

can you take pics of the room Dan? (all 4 corners/walls)

 

[tattoo_Dan]

First, is your couch going to be your primary listening position or do you also want the chair enveloped in the surround sound? This will make a big difference in which speaker positions to use. Any way you cut it I would put both the surrounds and rears up to 6 feet and not on stands if possible.

If the couch is going to be your primary listening area is there any chance you can move it to the corner opposite the TV and set up your surrounds and rears symmetrically around it or will that take up to much of the room?

yes the couch is where I sit normally,and it is going to stay there,

so you like the surrounds high on the wall?

 

[tattoo_Dan]

can you take pics of the room Dan? (all 4 corners/walls)

yes ,sure, I will get some up

 

[mike c]

also, have you purchased the surround speakers already?

 

[tattoo_Dan]

also, have you purchased the surround speakers already?

yes,
I have all this now,
it is what it is for now


Samsung HL-S6187W 61”
Pioneer DV-400V DVD
Comcast Digital HD DVR
Onkyo TX-SR806 AVR
Polk Audio 12” 150W sub
front main L&R Infinity Primus 150
Center Infinity Primus PC350
Surround side JBL Control One Monitor
Surround back JBL Venue Series Monitor

(except for the PC350 center which will be here next week,I just have a pos sony,
and ps,the room looks like hell right now,the ht is undergoing upgrades,(the wife is ok with it for now)

 

[mike c]

how many people watch movies? which is your main seat? chair or couch?

is it impossible to move the TV away from the corner (to the right) aligned with your couch?

 

[the grunt]

Nice room and great pictures Dan.

My suggestion is that you put your L/R surrounds about in the green boxes on your drawings. I’d mount them on the side a foot or so out from the back wall (about were the curtain rod ends on the left side) facing straight in directly toward the couch not angled in like in the drawing. If possible I’d move the rears above the couch so that they divide the couch into thirds or a little closer if necessary. All four of them up 6 feet the ceiling.

Here’s and article that may help explain my reasoning better than I can. Especially take a look at the corner placement suggestions as this is really what you have just a little off axis to the left. So I would move the surround and rear speakers accordingly to maintain the suggested alignment with your seating.

http://www.audioholics.com/tweaks/speaker-setup-guidelines/home-theater-speaker-layout-an-essential-guide

In answer to your question yes I usually prefer surround and rear speakers up a little higher. I think it helps spread the sound around enhancing the surround effects by getting them above any blocking furniture and further away from your ears if their location has to be close to your seating.

As for the speaker locations I think the article can explain it better than I can. Generally I would suggest that people experiment a little with different locations to see what suits them best but the off axis nature of your seating sort of limits you.

If possible you might consider is moving your L/R mains farther appart out along the walls a little. With your front three speakers so close together given the distance to your seating they will all start to blend together and you will loose some of the left to right panning effects in the front. Plus moving them out a little might help them blend with your surrounds a little better.

Cheers,
Dean

P.S. maybe if you sneak the TV and front speakers just a little to the right every day no one will notice them moving until it’s to late.

 

[tattoo_Dan]

how many people watch movies? which is your main seat? chair or couch?

is it impossible to move the TV away from the corner (to the right) aligned with your couch?

well for right now ,it's going to stay where it is.

and it's ,only me and my wife here.

I usually sit on the couch and the wife sits on the chair,she is not a techy/AV nut like I am.

 

[the grunt]

Since your wife sits in the chair you might also consider another placement option if you want her seating to also be in the surround sound field. You could follow the Dolby 7.1 guidelines in the article using the point about 3/4 of the way out from the TV if you drew a diagonal line from it to the other corner as the center of your listening area. That would put your right surround about in the purple box. The left surround somewhere near the green or pink boxes on the left. And your rears on either side of the back corner a few feet out from the corner. Everything 6 feet up and aiming in toward 3/4 point.

I think the option in the previous post will work best if people are only sitting on the couch but if you want the chair included in the surround sound field then this option would work better. If your not sure which will work best you could borrow some ladders or something and try out each position to see which sounds best.

Any placement you choose make sure to run the auto setup on your receiver if it has one, or set all your speaker distances correctly using the center of whichever listening arrangement you choose.

 

[tattoo_Dan]

Since your wife sits in the chair you might also consider another placement option if you want her seating to also be in the surround sound field. You could follow the Dolby 7.1 guidelines in the article using the point about 3/4 of the way out from the TV if you drew a diagonal line from it to the other corner as the center of your listening area. That would put your right surround about in the purple box. The left surround somewhere near the green or pink boxes on the left. And your rears on either side of the back corner a few feet out from the corner. Everything 6 feet up and aiming in toward 3/4 point.

I think the option in the previous post will work best if people are only sitting on the couch but if you want the chair included in the surround sound field then this option would work better. If your not sure which will work best you could borrow some ladders or something and try out each position to see which sounds best.

Any placement you choose make sure to run the auto setup on your receiver if it has one, or set all your speaker distances correctly using the center of whichever listening arrangement you choose.

thanks,I will chew on that for a while,

and the receiver does have the audyssey calibration,my system is in my sig

 

[jostenmeat]

OK, this sort of situation occurs more often that some of us would like. But hey, its the real world.

This is my opinion, and my advice:

1) Forget 7.1.

2) I believe the best option is to think of one ideal sweet spot, and screw all other positions. For then you would at least have one good spot. I believe compromising for that other seat will be too compromised for ALL positions. Hey, the wife can always join you on the couch.

- if doing the other orange circle, its simply too far ahead of the main viewing position.

So, my advice is to use a 5.1 system, and place the side surrounds either at the present spots they are slated for, or exactly where the rears speakers are.

Having both sets is pretty pointless, IMO, and actually might harm more than hurt.

If you don't believe me, you can spend some hours searching thru AVS threads/queries with similar setups. In fact, you will invariably find that others are harsher than I am.

If you TRULY want to compromise in the best way for ALL positions, I would then recommend a 3.1 system. However, I don't think that's what you want. I recommend 5.1.

Good luck on getting good advice.

Happy Turkey Day.

 

[tattoo_Dan]

I left the Pink "surround backs" where they were,

I spaced apart the front main "purple" farther apart,

and I put the green "surround sides" in this position,

and I couldn't be happier,it sounds great,

I happily kept the 7.1 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

thanks for all the help.

 

[the grunt]

Awesome Dan!

I’m glad it worked out for you and hope that our advice helped give you some ideas.

I’m not generally a big fan of 7.1 but since you already had the speakers it sure makes sense to use them and because of the off axis nature or your setup I figured they might actually help fill the gap between your surrounds.

Thanks for the update.

Cheers,
Dean