Help with HT Speaker setup

[geemo]

Greetings,

I've just joined this forum after reading some insightful articles and quickly reading a few posted messages.

I just moved into a townhouse and I'm starting my HT from scratch. I'm trying to benefit from the rather unusual layout of the living room to place a front projector with a 92" diagonal 16:9 screen.

Here's a quick snapshop of what the living room layout looks like, as well as my priliminary setup.
http://pzoz.com/HT_Setup.gif

Note: I'm still in "planning" stage. I have not bought any equipment yet and I'm free to change the layout if anyone can suggest better plan.

My main question is this: with the screen being 6ft behind the 2 mains and the center, will this grossly affect the sound stage and the perception of moving elements in movies? Is it something reasonable, or this setup is just awful?
I'm really leaning towards floorstanding mains because I plan on doing lots of 2-channel listening (as well as 5.1 music). Right now I'm considering the Anthony Gallo Ref 3's as mains, and perhaps the nucleus series for center and surrounds.

Any help/suggestion will be greatly appreciated!

 

[saurabh]

Well your existing setup does have the flaw of fronts being closer than the picture image which will take away the pleasure of the big screen and sound both from you, once implemented in this manner. I can think of two three alternatives and you should decide based on the decor and other furnishing aspects that you want to place in this room. Always remember HTS are for our pleasure and not the other way around so a balance is always advisable unless you have a dedicated room for the HTS.

Option A
----------
Keeping your existing setup, mount the fronts and center on the Screen wall. Might want to shift the screen towards the fireplace wall.

Option B
--------

-bring the projector screen forward, just behind the fronts.
- Move the projector back accordingly along with the Sofa.

Option C
----------

- Use the green area for the screen and the rest of the equipment placement according to it.

Option D
----------
- Use the brown area above the fireplace for the screen (depends on height of fireplace, you dont wann get neckpains) and the rest of the equipment placement according to it.

 

[geemo]

Thanks for the reply.

Right now I'm considering this: Moving back the sofa about 3-4 feet away from the screen. The screen will still sit 6ft behind the mains and the center, but now the viewer/listener is 9ft from the speakers and 15ft from the screen.
Just how bad is it going to be? Has anyone actually tested a configuration like this to see what the difference is and how perceivable it is?

Again, any advice will be appreciated!

 

[saurabh]

I really cant think of anyway this setup will help you, in fact increasing the distance so much from the viewer might make it worse. The picture will loose its sharpness and clarity. I hope the intention is to make this setup better not worse ???.