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.