Need Some Help with Surround Speaker Placement - Sit in Different Places

[s162216]

Hi,

With my HT setup, I use my HTPC and at the moment I have the centre and the two fronts in a LCR format. I am thinking of getting the surrounds, but I have a slight problem. When I am gaming I am close the screen, about 1m away from the screen, but as I use it also for films and console gaming, I like to back my chair back a bit, about 1.5m further. If you look at the plan of my room I have attached, I am not quite sure where to put the surrounds, as they need to be in one place at 90 to 110 degrees when I am gaming and in a different place when I am watching a film. Where do you think I should put them? They will be about 1 m or so above my head as shelves etc are in the way, so I will have to wall mount them or put them on another shelf.

 

[Jack Hammer]

Surround positions are general recommendations. Put them where they work best for you in your usage. I'd start by putting them on the shelve and trying different positions and angles to find what works best for you. You can also just move them back and forth if you're gonna shelf mount them. Just make sure to keep the face of the speaker out past the edge of the shelf.

If you're planning a wall mount try placing them on top of something, like a stool/stand/ladder to see how they are different places. You may want to try placing them on the sides slightly behind your movie watching position and angle them so they're facing forward somewhat, This may help split the difference between the two. Basically you're just gonna have to experiment to fing what you like best overall.

 

[jostenmeat]

Hi,

With my HT setup, I use my HTPC and at the moment I have the centre and the two fronts in a LCR format. I am thinking of getting the surrounds, but I have a slight problem. When I am gaming I am close the screen, about 1m away from the screen, but as I use it also for films and console gaming, I like to back my chair back a bit, about 1.5m further. If you look at the plan of my room I have attached, I am not quite sure where to put the surrounds, as they need to be in one place at 90 to 110 degrees when I am gaming and in a different place when I am watching a film. Where do you think I should put them? They will be about 1 m or so above my head as shelves etc are in the way, so I will have to wall mount them or put them on another shelf.

You simply do not want surround speakers in front of you. So if you place them at 90 degrees for gaming, they will instead be in front of you for film. You better try 110 degrees for gaming, and hopefully the resultant angle for film viewing will not be less than 90 degrees, and if so, just barely.

How's that sound?

 

[s162216]

I have not actually got the surrounds yet but I will in a few months. I just need to know whether it will sound good enough to justify getting them.

I re-estimated the distance, the surrounds will be about 2m away from me when watching films and about 3m when gaming. From that what sort of angle do you think I should put them at? They will obviously be greater than 90 degrees when watching films. What would be ideal is if I could have them greater than 90 at both positions as I want 'surround' not just a continuation to the sides.