Need Advise re: Speaker Type/Placement in Theater Room

[chrison600]

Hi all,

I have a theater room in my house that's been incomplete for some time and I'm now looking to implement a "permanent" speaker/source solution. I'm not looking for or needing anything on the really high end, but not looking to short change things either. That said, I believe I made some mistakes in the room's design that I need advice about as far as speaker type and placement.

The room is a rectangular shape in general, but has an equipment "closet" protruding into left rear corner. Without the closet, the room measures about 17' long x 12' wide. The equipment closet projects approximately 5' from the back wall and 3' from the left wall. (Not all of this is equipment space. There was already a projection into the room due to the fireplace cavity.)

There are two couches in the room, one on the floor, a few feet to the rear of the front-rear center line, the second on a riser, positioned against the back wall and against the side of the equipment closet.

I installed a 92" front projection screen, positioned for optimal viewing from the lower (floor level) seating. Video is from a ceiling mounted 720p Epson projector.

The front layout is what I suppose would be called typical. There is ample room for whatever type of speaker is selected (floor, in wall, etc). The mids and rears are where things get foggy for me.

I suppose my first question would be do I even need mids at all in a room of this size? If so, I could go with floor speakers, and I suppose that would work fine as far as soundstage for the forward seating, but the speaker projection for the left mid would be blocked from reaching the rear seating because of the equipment closet.

For the rear, I cannot see how floor speakers would be possible, since the seating is firm against the back and side wall on the left. There is clearance to the right, but the room's door opens against that wall.

With the above limitations regarding mids and rears, I am leaning toward ceiling speakers. In my mind, this makes sense as far as installation practicality AND soundstage. Down-firing mids and rears will avoid complications caused by the equipment closet, and reach better to the rear seating. Side firing rears in particular would be poor for reaching the rear seating, unless they were angled down steeply, in essence replicating ceiling mounted speakers.

I've thrown a lot of stuff out, sorry for the post length, but I hope someone can steer me in a good direction. I'd appreciate advice on speaker brands to look at as well, particularly if the in-wall, in-ceiling option is recommended.

Thank you in advance!

Chris

 

[m_vanmeter]

try to arrange your speakers setup as close to the recommended Dolby Labs setup as possible Dolby Home Theater Speaker Placement and Setup Guide

And yes, with the 2nd couch up against the wall, go with a 5.1 setup, where the surrounds are closer to being "sides" and the true "rear" speakers are added in a 7.1 setup.

For a room your size, take a look at Infinity Primus P362 towers and a PC350 center up front. P152 bookshelf units for the side surrounds or consider in-wall units. I'm not too keen on in-ceiling speakers for your setup.

Start with one powered subwoofer, but consider you may ultimately do best with two. BIC or Parts-Express "Dayton" brand are good budget models.

 

[j_garcia]

In ceiling are adequate for surround duty, but with it being the basement, it may not be a good idea. In terms of sound stage, in particular for the fronts, they are probably your worst choice. In-wall surrounds will work as well, since surround is meant to be diffused, not directly radiated at the listener, which is completely opposite of the main speakers. Free standing speakers for the fronts will be a better choice unless you absolutely want in-wall/ceiling.

The Infinity speakers mentioned would be an excellent choice.

 

[chrison600]

Thanks m_vanmeter,

A couple of questions:

And yes, with the 2nd couch up against the wall, go with a 5.1 setup, where the surrounds are closer to being "sides" and the true "rear" speakers are added in a 7.1 setup.

So you are saying go with a 5.1 and double purpose the rears as sides as well?

For a room your size, take a look at Infinity Primus P362 towers and a PC350 center up front. P152 bookshelf units for the side surrounds or consider in-wall units. I'm not too keen on in-ceiling speakers for your setup.

I can position a bookshelf against the right wall, but if I position to the left, the speaker will either be against the portion of the wall that is obstructed from the rear seating, or it will be directly against the left ear of those seated. That's why I was thinking ceiling speakers, because it frees me up to position them without worrying about walls and it also eliminates the speaker being directly against any ears.

Thoughts?

Chris

 

[chrison600]

Thank you as well for your response j_garcia.

Please see my response above and add anything you like.

Also:

In ceiling are adequate for surround duty, but with it being the basement, it may not be a good idea.

This room is not in a basement. It is completely wood framed on a concrete slab.

Thanks,

Chris

 

[j_garcia]

Sorry, thought I read that it was an unfinished basement for some reason So you don't have to worry about the ceiling surrounds affecting rooms above, and it should not be an issue.

Rears are not "double purpose". In a 5.1 setup, the rears simply handles all the surround duty, just like they did prior to 7.1 setups. With the couch against the wall, 7.1 isn't really a good choice because the rear center speakers (which is what the two rears are) should have some room between them and the listener ideally. Having all four of the surrounds in close proximity won't give good separation IMO, and will potentially sound like you only have 5.1 anyway. In a 7.1 setup you have surround and surround back. In a 5.1 setup you have only surround, there is no side or back. I have a 6.1/7.1 receiver and run a 5.1 setup.

 

[chrison600]

I see. Do you use the standard or rear surround feeds on your surround speakers?

Would you still feel that in ceiling surrounds would be ok for me?

Then basically I would be looking for a 5.1 layout, three free-standing units up front and two in-ceiling units for surround duty.

Chris

 

[j_garcia]

For 5.1, you would use just use the surround outputs and the surround backs would not be connected. In the receiver, you tell it you are using a 5.1 setup will send all the sound to just the two. In ceilings would work fine. A buddy of mine had his setup like that, and it worked well even in an open room where the back wall was around 15 feet behind.

 

[chrison600]

Do you have some recommendations as to what ceiling speakers I should hae a look at?

Chris

 

[j_garcia]

If you were going to consider Infinity for the fronts, I'd stick with them for the surrounds. That looks like the ERS and CS speakers from them.

ERS

CS

 

[chrison600]

What about Klipsch? (For everything.)

Chris

 

[j_garcia]

Have you listened to Klipsch? If you have and you like them, then yes they should be fine too. Not everyone likes the Klipsch sound is all. Whichever speakers, I'd go listen to them first to get an idea of what you like and don't like, and both Infinity and Klipsch should be easy to find a place selling them.

 

[chrison600]

Hi again everyone. It's been a while since I posted, but it was in this thread so I thought I'd keep it going.

My projector is mounted through the ceiling via a Chief drop tube that is u-bolted to the joist above the sheetrock. I am considering ceiling mounted rear channel speakers, but I'm concerned that the vibration from the speakers will shake the projector. The speakers will be about 4 feet to the rear of the projector. I could alternatively mount the rear channel speakers to the rear wall and just point them down.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Chris