In wall placement

[Twincharged rx7]

Hi everyone. I'm wiring my living room for in wall speakers while its gutted. The main purpose is for movie watching in 5.1 surround.

The TV will be above the fireplace mantle, so the bottom of the tv will be around 5 feet from the floor. The front L & R speakers will be off to the side of the fireplace so they can go at any height. The center speaker will have to go directly under the TV and above the mantle. Should I place the front L & R speakers at the same hight as the center? Or is it ok for them to be closer to the floor.

 

[Twincharged rx7]

Also, here is my planned floor plan.

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Are there any issues with having the viewing/listening area stop near the center? The couch won't have a wall behind it, so not sure how that plays with the sound. Should my surround speakers be farther back (farther from the TV)?

Also, as you can see, the side wall created by the staircase is closer to the TV than the exterior wall on the opposite side of the fireplace. Should I place the front L & R speakers equidistant from the TV, or should I place them equidistant from the side wall (meaning one would be closer to the TV than the other)?

 

[TLS Guy]

Also, here is my planned floor plan.

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Are there any issues with having the viewing/listening area stop near the center? The couch won't have a wall behind it, so not sure how that plays with the sound. Should my surround speakers be farther back (farther from the TV)?

Also, as you can see, the side wall created by the staircase is closer to the TV than the exterior wall on the opposite side of the fireplace. Should I place the front L & R speakers equidistant from the TV, or should I place them equidistant from the side wall (meaning one would be closer to the TV than the other)?

I would consider moving the whole system to the basement and having a dedicated HT room. Your room is typical of many and not suitable for multichannel HT.

You have the TV over the fireplace which is a lousy location.

The room will power the whole house with sound and have a boat load of bass leakage. Those rooms are only suitable to 2.0, 2.1 and 3.1 systems.

I would go to the basement and build a proper system with a false wall you can get behind so you have a proper mechanical chase for your HT.

Practically no main living areas are suitable for 5.1 and 7.1.

Then you can do this.

I have an unsuitable room here and made it 2.1

 

[lsiberian]

Do you really want a TV and center speaker on your mantle?

Why not put the TV on the Stair wall and add a couple of nice speakers. No need to build a home theater where it's not practical.

 

[Twincharged rx7]

Thanks for the comments. I'd love to put it in another room, but the basement won't be finished for a few years, i'm rushing to finish the main 2 floors so I can at least move in and live there.

I had thought about placing the TV on the stairs, but the railing is open, so it would have to hang too low unless I push it over towards the fireplace.

I'm ok with having the TV above the fireplace, as it will be hung on the wall and all wires hidden, so it the mantle won't look cluttered. And if I do an in-wall center, that will be tucked away nicely as well.

Any thoughts on how to optimize speaker placement for the room? I'd really like to stick with 5.1, as I like the surround sound behind me when watching movies. To simplify, I guess I could get slightly better front speakers and do a phantom center.