how far to place rear speakers on side wall from the rear wall.

[ehurnie]

I would like to place my rear speakers on the side walls of a 13'x19' room. My couch is against the rear wall but I will move it up to make the layout work. How far do the rear speakers(axiom QS8) need to be from the rear wall, or could I place them diagonally in the corners. Any feedback is appreciated.
Thanks

 

[Ethan Winer]

> My couch is against the rear wall <

That's a big problem in itself. If possible, slide the couch forward so your ears while seated are at least a few feet in front of that wall. The ideal distance is 7.2 feet. Either way, consider covering much of that wall with absorption. I know this isn't what you asked, but it's necessary advice! And once you move forward a bit the problem you did ask about is solved too.

--Ethan

 

[Glenn Kuras]

Ethan is right on the money. 38% of the room length is the ideal place to be in most rooms and with couch that close you would want absorption on that back wall. I would try it there and leave the speakers where they are at. You may want to think about a few bass traps also in those corners.

Glenn

 

[Grimis]

I would just open a new thread for this question... but it seems my privlages are restricted (could someone help with this dilema as well).
The room I will be putting my HT in does not have a flat celing, it is slightly vaulted, is this going to make things hard. I think it's a 5 foot rise in a 8 foot room... so like a 12 or 13 foot high ceiling, any help would great thanks

 

[ruadmaa]

Corner Speaker Placement

I would like to place my rear speakers on the side walls of a 13'x19' room. My couch is against the rear wall but I will move it up to make the layout work. How far do the rear speakers(axiom QS8) need to be from the rear wall, or could I place them diagonally in the corners. Any feedback is appreciated.
Thanks

I have a large set of tower speakers placed in corners in one of my rooms which is about 18 X 20. The sound is excellent and I have no problems with it whatsoever. Actually, I have placed those speakers against the walls only and prefer corner placement.

Frankly, I think it mostly depends on the speaker that you have as to whether corner placement will serve well.

In my case, I really don't care what the pros say about corner placement, I personally prefer it.

 

[ScottMayo]

In my case, I really don't care what the pros say about corner placement, I personally prefer it.

Corner placement rocks if you need to pump up the bass, and it minimizes first reflection problems. If you want decent imaging, can't do traps and want a bass boost, it's always a good choice. Imaging will never be as tight as it can be, because the walls still reflect some image information. The bass problems can be solved by crossing over to a sub - but not everyone perceives extra bass as a problem. And WAF is typicaly high. Pros recommend it for people who can't go the treatment route.

 

[ScottMayo]

I would just open a new thread for this question... but it seems my privlages are restricted (could someone help with this dilema as well).
The room I will be putting my HT in does not have a flat celing, it is slightly vaulted, is this going to make things hard. I think it's a 5 foot rise in a 8 foot room... so like a 12 or 13 foot high ceiling, any help would great thanks

It might actually improve things. It depends on how the ceiling slants, where the speakers are, and a lot of other things. This is the sort of room where paying for an acoustic analysis makes sense, because trial and error isn't going to be any fun.

 

[Ethan Winer]

Scott,

> Corner placement rocks if you need to pump up the bass, and it minimizes first reflection problems. <

Yes, however one big problem with corner orientation in a rectangular room is you then have a corner behind you too. And that corner focuses all the sound right back at you, offsetting at least some of the gain from having angled walls.

--Ethan

 

[ScottMayo]

Scott,

> Corner placement rocks if you need to pump up the bass, and it minimizes first reflection problems. <

Yes, however one big problem with corner orientation in a rectangular room is you then have a corner behind you too. And that corner focuses all the sound right back at you, offsetting at least some of the gain from having angled walls.

--Ethan

I'm assuming he's not sitting in a corner. If (numbering clockwise) you put a speaker in corners 1 and 3, and sit in corner 4, you invite trouble. Bass will be wildly off and midrange imaging will be a smear. Even in an almost square room, it's very hard to get this right. I've only had one customer who insisted on corner seating (in an irregular shaped room), and the resulting acoustic plan was nothing if not complicated. In the end I convinced him to get a chair 4' out into his room, and the plan became a whole lot simpler.

(That said, I've heard of at least one person who did three corners in this fashion, in an untreated room, and says he got it to work. I'd love to visit that room someday.)