L shaped living room and other challenges

[theSkyIscrape]

I am seeking advice on a room layout which I cannot change unless I get some major work done. I have postponed my purchase previously as well but I wanted to check with the experts in this group once before giving up on buying a home theater setup.

1. First challenge - photo attached. Shape of the room is L and there is a dining area in the smaller side of the L shape. The living room is rectangular and the TV is on the long end. I can move the sofa close to the TV by a few feet but unless I do major changes to the electrical wiring, its impossible to move the TV on the short wall.

2. Second challenge. My apartment entrance is right beside the TV (55 inch) which gives hardly any space for speaker placement. I have a TV unit under the TV that has 5.5 feet of space to place bookshelf speakers and center channel. I am afraid the speakers would be too close together and might not have the best listening experience. One feedback I received from a friend was about the lack of separation with LCR and he said that the LCR would sound like a mono speaker if I have to put it within 5.5 feet of space.

As mentioned earlier, I will have to some major construction work to move the electrical, cable connection to the other wall. I was planning to get a KEF speaker system but wanted to check in this forum if I will be just shoving my money down the drain with the challenges I have.

Thanks.

 

[Eppie]

One thing you can consider is not using a centre channel speaker. The L+R should typically be 12' apart, but that will not be possible with the door in the corner. If you put the L+C+R within a 5.5' space, they can interfere with each other and degrade the sound, so you're likely better off with 2 speakers creating a phantom centre image. Looking at how far away your seating position is from the TV, and how close the L+R speakers will be, I think a two speaker setup will be fine. Moving the couch away from the opposing wall will give you room for rear or side surrounds if you can get wire back there. Flat rubber cable covers can do the trick if you're in an apartment and can't rewire.

 

[GalZohar]

I have a 2.35m unit under my TV, 65cm tall, and sit 3m away from wall, and still there was a difference moving the speakers to stands just to the sides, the left/right effects sounded better and didn't really hurt the phantom center effect. Currently I'm trying it with a equilateral triangle and by-the-book toe-in, and while I don't know if it's really optimal for my space, it sounds great.