First Home Theater, please assist

[sgmadison]

Good Evening Everyone,
I'm looking to setup my first Home Theater, and need a lot of help, I've been reading a lot for weeks (months maybe) and have to finally admit, I'm in over my head and I don't want to make the wrong decision. I've got a 50" Plasma TV, and an very rectangular room. The room is 10.5'x24' - the TV is smack in the middle of the 24'wall, and the couch is flush against one of the sides of the 10.5'. I cannot move it forward to place speakers behind, however I do want rear sound, I've tried finding advice for mounting the speakers above and to the sides of the couch, but I don't want to destroy the sound - is there anything I can do? I'd like floorstanding speakers for the front L and R, and I'm open to suggestions for rears, I was thinking bookshelves but on a sort of swivel wall-mount, from the ceiling angled in on the sides (ceilings are 12'. I'm prepared to spend around 3k on the setup, I obviously am not going super-top end, I could go a LITTLE over, but this is my goal. I need suggestions on a receiver, and what speakers I should go with (fronts, center, rears, woofer) the whole shabang! I would greatly appreciate your help, I've been browsing these forums for a while and you guys are geniuses, I really look forward to an excellent system with your help.

To recap, the room is 10.5'x24', I can't move the couch away from the wall.
This is mostly for movies/sports, I do listen to a fair amount of music, but I would be willing to take a hit on music performance if the movies were killer (I watch a lot of action movies), the music styles I listen to vary widely, a lot of rock/classic rock, pop (I'll admit it), country, rap, r&b - you name it.
3,000~ budget.

Please help!
Thanks in advance,
Madison

edit: (I also know this might have been better placed in Beginners Audiophytes, but seeing as the placement issue for rear speakers, I chose to post it here instead of double posting in both topics)

 

[mtrycrafts]

Good Evening Everyone,
I'm looking to setup my first Home Theater, and need a lot of help, I've been reading a lot for weeks (months maybe) and have to finally admit, I'm in over my head and I don't want to make the wrong decision. I've got a 50" Plasma TV, and an very rectangular room. The room is 10.5'x24' - the TV is smack in the middle of the 24'wall, and the couch is flush against one of the sides of the 10.5'. I cannot move it forward to place speakers behind, however I do want rear sound, I've tried finding advice for mounting the speakers above and to the sides of the couch, but I don't want to destroy the sound - is there anything I can do? I'd like floorstanding speakers for the front L and R, and I'm open to suggestions for rears, I was thinking bookshelves but on a sort of swivel wall-mount, from the ceiling angled in on the sides (ceilings are 12'. I'm prepared to spend around 3k on the setup, I obviously am not going super-top end, I could go a LITTLE over, but this is my goal. I need suggestions on a receiver, and what speakers I should go with (fronts, center, rears, woofer) the whole shabang! I would greatly appreciate your help, I've been browsing these forums for a while and you guys are geniuses, I really look forward to an excellent system with your help.

To recap, the room is 10.5'x24', I can't move the couch away from the wall.
This is mostly for movies/sports, I do listen to a fair amount of music, but I would be willing to take a hit on music performance if the movies were killer (I watch a lot of action movies), the music styles I listen to vary widely, a lot of rock/classic rock, pop (I'll admit it), country, rap, r&b - you name it.
3,000~ budget.

Please help!
Thanks in advance,
Madison

edit: (I also know this might have been better placed in Beginners Audiophytes, but seeing as the placement issue for rear speakers, I chose to post it here instead of double posting in both topics)

If I understand your setup, you will be watching the TV at an angle?

The only options I see is on that back wall or close to that back wall on the side walls speakers mounted facing the couch. Or, if the side wall is out, on the back wall, either side of the couch facing the listeners.

 

[Davemcc]

Sounds like an odd setup. Can you take pics of the room?

 

[Exit]

Maybe a floorplan sketch would work. Don't forget windows and doors.

 

[sgmadison]

Howdy, I guess I did a pretty poor job of describing the room, I can't embed/attach a sketch because my post is too low, perhaps the next person who replies can embed this in for me? the address is

viomus.com/upimages/layout.jpg

(I did mistakenly call the short wall 10ft in the sketch, it's really about 10 and a half, a little more than that - like 10'8" - I don't know if that matters, sorry!)

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Here you go...

 

[Davemcc]

Can you do in-wall surrounds? There are some good choices there.

 

[sgmadison]

Can you do in-wall surrounds? There are some good choices there.

I wish but no, nothing can go in the rear wall or ceiling - the rear wall is an outside wall, it's brick/insulation/drywall and I'd rather not get into it. The ceiling is cramped already and full of ductwork - too scared to cut a hole in it.

 

[dronezero]

Are you talking about rear surrounds in a 7.1 setup or the side surrounds in a 5.1? If your talking 7.1 I don't think it will be worth it with the couch up against the wall like that.

If you are just wanting 5.1 that you can mount them on the rear wall and point them at the couch, or set stands on either side of the couch and face the surrounds at each other. Neither situation is quite ideal, but they are close enough that it shouldn't be a much of a sacrifice.

Here is an example of side surrounds in a similar situation.

Also with a floor plan that is that wide open you are going to need a serious subwoofer or two. I would probably aim for about the $1000 range for subs. Maybe take a look at dual MFW-15s from Av123 (there is a wait for these).

For receiver I would say in the $500-$700 range.

This would leave about $1300-$1500 for the speakers themselves. Which would mean I would be looking for mains in the $500-$600 range.

Of course these are just guidelines that I would use in your situation. I recommend spending so much on the sub because you said that you like action movies and would be willing to sacrifice some music performance for killer movie performance.

 

[sgmadison]

Thanks dronezero, that's the kind of input I was looking for.

Those MFW-15s look nice, but waiting until july for them, ouch!

Do you have any suggestions for what you would suggest for the remaining speakers and receiver, or even just brands?

That's also what I was curious about for the surrounds - I did mean 5.1, although I thought they were rear channels not side (as I always see them behind listeners, not to the sides), sorry for the misunderstanding.

 

[dronezero]

The wait for the MFW-15s would be a long one.

The speakers are the most important part of your sound system. So you're going to want to select them first. In the $1300-$1500 price range you have a lot of good options.

You are going to want to go out and find your local audio shops to audition speakers to see what you like. There are a lot of good B&M speaker brands so you are really only going to be limited by what you can find in your area. Some of the popular brands are B&W, Paradigm, and Klipsch. A note some audio stores will be willing to negotiate on the price. So if you find speakers that you like that are just a bit outside of you price range you may be able to talk them down. Figure in your price range maybe $100-$200 off the entire 5.0 system. Not all shops will do this though.

Another option is internet direct companies. They tend to offer good quality for their price because they cut out the middle man. They will generally offer a 30 day in home trial period. Some of the well regarded ID companies are: Av123, Ascend Audio, and Axiom. All three of these would have very good systems within your price range.

Also check out the loudspeaker forum here. You will find a lot of good info. Auditioning is the most important part.

As far as the side vs rear surrounds. Yeah, it is a common mistake that people place their speaker more behind than to the sides. Here is the recommendation from Dolby on how your speakers should be placed.

 

[leo1058]

also check out Audiogon if you dont mind used. AVR would have to be a Yamaha 663.