Building out basement, need help with placement of surround speakers

[davidoffguy]

So I am in the process of renovating my basement, and with the walls completed tore down, I figured this would be a good opportunity to properly set up a surround sound system for the media room I plan on having down there. I am having some issues however with speaker placement and was hoping to get some input from you all.

I've attached a mock-up of what the basement would look like in hopes to give the most accurate depiction of the layout.

For front speakers, I plan on building out angled panels in the corners to mount in-wall Front Right & Left speakers. The Front Center speaker will also be mounted in the wall below the TV. So I think I got that covered.

However, my issue occurs when planing out the surround channels. I'm still uncertain whether I am going to go with a 5.1 or 7.1 system but as you can see from the plans, the left and back sides of the MLP are completely open.

I was thinking of going with in-ceiling speakers for surrounds and/or rears.
One thing to note here, the ceiling height will be between 6'4 and 6'6 (there's a whole other story as to why that is, but unfortunately that's what im working with)

So my theory is that because the ceilings are quite low, maybe in-ceiling speakers would actually work quite well because they will be a lot closer to the listening level as compared to traditional ceiling heights.

Also, I am not looking for a perfect audio design. Really, I'm just wanting to have a place to watch movies and sports games and enjoy a higher quality sound stage than what a soundbar would offer. This isn't a dedicated theater room, but more of a getaway from the rather standard family room upstairs.

Let me know your thoughts, or if you guys have any better ideas. Would love to hear what you think.

 

[Eppie]

I have similar challenges in my home theatre: lower ceiling height and wall on the right side but open on the left. You can place acoustical treatments on the right wall to absorb reflections and even out the two sides for your main speakers. Even if you go 5.1, run the wires for 7.1 now while you have everything open to future proof the wiring. Wire is cheap. Labour is not. I went with in ceiling speakers for the rears for a couple of reasons. With a low ceiling, box speakers protrude into the room and get closer to the audience. The rears are for ambient sound so I wanted to get the physical driver further away to let the sound disperse more. It also makes the install look cleaner compared to boxes hanging from the ceiling, which will stand out in your setup with the mains being in-wall. Depending upon how critical a listener you are, there may be a challenge with the mains since you want to angle them. You can't change your mind once the wall is built, so research that carefully. Hopefully someone with more knowledge in HT speaker setup will jump in on that one.

 

[davidoffguy]

The reason for the angled corner walls is to direct the sound properly to the MLP. I saw a youtube video where someone mentioned it and it made sense. Since the in-wall speakers lay flush, I figured by angling the corners, I would get the sound directed properly to the center seat. However, it wouldn't hurt to get additional opinions on the matter.

For rear's, I think it makes sense to go with the in-ceiling speakers as well. But I guess what I'm struggling most with is how to go about the surround's, Left and Right of the couch. Ceilings are too low for anything to hang, and on top of that, there is no wall to the left if I wanted to mount anything at ear level.

 

[Eppie]

The reason for the angled corner walls is to direct the sound properly to the MLP. I saw a youtube video where someone mentioned it and it made sense. Since the in-wall speakers lay flush, I figured by angling the corners, I would get the sound directed properly to the center seat. However, it wouldn't hurt to get additional opinions on the matter.

For rear's, I think it makes sense to go with the in-ceiling speakers as well. But I guess what I'm struggling most with is how to go about the surround's, Left and Right of the couch. Ceilings are too low for anything to hang, and on top of that, there is no wall to the left if I wanted to mount anything at ear level.

I have my mains titled in, but with a box speaker I can play with the distance from the wall and the angle, which can have big impact on music listening. I haven't seen any setups with the main in-walls angled, but it looks like your seating will be pretty close to the screen, so it may make sense in your case. I'll defer to those with more experience.

Have you had a chance to listen to other friend's home theatre setups and check out rear speaker placement? I'm not a fan of being close to the rears or having them pointed right at me, but that's a personal preference. It can be ok for the centre seat, but throws off the balance off axis. Some rears intentionally have the tweeters angled so as not to fire right at the listener and provide more dispersion for the effects channels. I guess it depends upon whether you want the feeling of a wide rear sound stage, or you want that immersive feeling of hearing something right behind you. For example, if you are connecting a game console as well, you might prefer having the rears pointed at you to better detect where rear enemies are.

 

[davidoffguy]

I would be the first out of my friends/family with a surround sound system. So truthfully, I have not had the chance to experience what a proper or even improper setup sounds like. This is all new to me.

My thoughts are having in-ceiling speakers as Left and Right surrounds, right above the couch at the widest point possible.

And then having in-ceiling rear's, placed a bit closer to one another, a few feet behind the couches.

Again, not looking to achieve perfection. but just want an overall solid system that can handle most applications pretty well.

Here is another diagram with a rough idea of how I'm thinking of doing the speakers.

Behind the couches would be a bar as well. Not sure if that was clearly defined. There would be 4-5 barstools there as well, just to add additional seating for like a Superbowl Sunday game lol


Also for reference, the room dimensions there are 12ft wide. And just about 12 feet to where my head would be when sitting on the couch (just over 9 feet to the front edge of the couch).
The total length of the room is about 39 feet, but that probably doesn't matter as much as we're only concerned with the "theater" area.