Opinions on speaker choices for theater system

[captainawesome7]

Hello,
new here, I have spent the last several days trying to read reviews and research what speakers and receiver to get for a new surround system to go with my new 82 inch samsung tv. (It deserves better than the cheap onkyo set up I have) my current choice is the new Klipsch reference premier line, but I am having a hard time finding reviews on them, though there is plenty of info on the older models. Also a Denon AVR-X4400H receiver to run them. I ordered;
2 Klipsch rp-8000f s floor speakers
1 Klipsch rp-600c center speaker
3 Klipsch pairs rp-500m
1 SVS pb13 ultra subwoofer.

This is my first moderately expensive surround system so I am looking on advice whether these choices will play nice with each other, set up advice, do I need an amp? Should I worry about getting premium speaker wire or will "normal" speaker wire get the job done?
My current plan is to have all the bookshelf speakers wall mounted close to the 8 foot ceiling spaced an inch away from the wall so they can "breath"; two on the wall next to the tv, 2 center-sides of room, two in the respective corners of the back wall, the towers in the corners up front facing towards the center of the room, center speaker on the stand below the tv, the subwoofer on the floor next to the tv stand front wall. The room is roughly 11 feet wide, close to 19 feet deep. Tv or "front" wall is one of the 11 foot walls. So, what do you all think? I dont know which speakers to assign what channels regarding the front wall mounted vs the floor standing ones or anything about settings on the receiver, any direction or advice on where to find info on setting it up would be appreciated. I probably sound like a noob and really I am, so I apologise if this is baby stuff. But I have always appreciated good sound quality. thanks!

 

[everettT]

So you ordered the speakers, but your looking for other options? For home theater the Klipsch should be fine.

Does the room open up to other areas?
Placement of the sub can be done via the crawl method, meaning place the sub in the MLP and then "crawl" around the room and where its sounds the best, place the sub there. Placement of the mains should be equal lateral to the MLP. Follow the recommendations placement for surrounds and if speakers are rear ported they need room away from the walls. I prefer sealed surrounds personally.

 

[TechHDS]

Captainawesome7, welcome to AH! Cool Avatar name!! You’ll fit right in on AH!

Mike

 

[shadyJ]

I don't know why you ordered three pairs of bookshelf speakers unless you are doing front-wide channels in an Atmos system? Your description of their intended placement is a bit confusing.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Hey captain,
I always find it hard to follow people’s descriptions of where the stuff is in the room but it sounds like you need some help with placement. From the quantity of speakers you bought it sounds like you might be going for a Dolby Atmos system. Or maybe not? For a traditional speaker layout start here.

This shows a 7.1 system but you can remove the rear surrounds and slide the side surrounds back just about 18”-24”. In this system it’s ok to have the surround speakers up higher. 6’-7’ is about all though. They will image more closely to what’s on the screen that way, and too close to the ceiling could cause some funny reflections. The front 3 speakers though, should always be on the same plane as the screen. Obviously there are deviations that work, but not as well.
For an Atmos system, you’ll need all of the speakers at roughly ear height, except the Atmos height speakers which would ideally mounted in the ceiling close to spec. If you don’t want to mount them ON the ceiling, “front and rear height” are positions that are supported which will place the height speakers where the front and rear walls meet the ceiling. Image below.

From above an Atmos system would look like this

For any room, you’ll want the couch away from the back wall for acoustic reasons and to get your surround speakers slightly behind. This is especially true if you want to use rear surrounds(7.x or 7.x.x) where you should have at least 5’ behind you.
Which way are you thinking of going?

 

[captainawesome7]

Well I just got off work and am waiting to pick my daughters up from school, but I looked at the responses, I will try my best to address them. my reason for ordering 3 pairs of bookshelf speakers instead of 2 is because I have two holes in my wall that the current speakers are covering up, to the top left and right corners of the tv. They are where I ran the speakers wires and tv cables so the room has a cleaner look (when I actually finish cleaning it up from the tv installation anyway) so my intent was to have two of the bookshelf speakers placed there if for no other reason than aesthetics. I am sure I can come up with something else if placing those two there will be a problem sound-wise.
Facing the tv, the wall to the right has a large permanent entry opening roughly 7×7 feet. This opening starts about a foot away from the tv front wall.there is also a large fire place on the wall to the left of the tv right in the middle. Anyway I will see if I can make a drawing of it when I get home,
We dont have a couch, just a lazy boy, and two giant beanbag chairs which can easily be moved around. Usually I am watching the tv from almost dead center of the room, slightly below where I would be if sitting on a couch instead of a giant beanbag.
I ordered that particular receiver because is was much cheaper than this years model, and has 9 channels + two subwoofer outputs so I figured I could run the extra set of speakers covering the wall holes, and still have the big front floor speakers I really wanted. It's also atmos compatable so I could try that. But that's a whole other subject I dont fully understand. It's probably all convoluted and I doubt any of my ideas are right, but I definitely want some rear speakers. I will post more a bit later. Hopefully that answered some questions..

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

If you have a smart phone, posting pics is pretty easy, either on Tapatalk or on the web version. Might be easier is all.

 

[lovinthehd]

Reviews of just released gear can be hard to find

As to speaker wire, try this site from a former director of McIntosh

I'd just go without an external amp, those speakers should be sensitive enough to do well with just the avr with your room size.

 

[captainawesome7]

Ok I just took a couple of pics of the room, these should give you a good idea as to the layout.

 

[JerryLove]

This is my first moderately expensive surround system so I am looking on advice whether these choices will play nice with each other

Generally speaking: I think you would be well served with bookshelves rather than those floor-standers. You are sacrificing mid-range clarity and money to get LF extension you won't use because you have a sub.

I'm also a big fan of using identical LCR speakers where possible.

set up advice

Let me be frank: the room you put up pictures of is a hot mess for sound. Certainly the placement of the existing surrounds is wrong; but with the unalterable aspects (brick fireplace dominating one side, giant hole in the other) you are going to face real challenges getting good sound.

do I need an amp?

No

Should I worry about getting premium speaker wire or will "normal" speaker wire get the job done?

Someone else already put up Russell's guide on that. Just go buy standard 12ga and don't worry about it (12ga is likely overkill; but it's cheap in the lengths involved so why bother to do the maths?)

My current plan is to have all the bookshelf speakers wall mounted close to the 8 foot ceiling spaced an inch away from the wall so they can "breath"; two on the wall next to the tv, 2 center-sides of room, two in the respective corners of the back wall, the towers in the corners up front facing towards the center of the room, center speaker on the stand below the tv, the subwoofer on the floor next to the tv stand front wall.

I'm curious about a couple of things here.

1) Why are you using bookshelves rather than wall-mount surrounds for surrounds you are planning to wall-mount. Something like the RP-502S?

2) You are trying to let the surrounds breathe but not the mains? Again: There are speakers in the Klipsch line *designed* for on-wall mounting. Have you considered those? (Their gallery line for example)

I dont know which speakers to assign what channels regarding the front wall mounted vs the floor standing ones or anything about settings on the receiver, any direction or advice on where to find info on setting it up would be appreciated.

There are some guides here. The manual for your receiver will also detail that.

I probably sound like a noob and really I am, so I apologise if this is baby stuff. But I have always appreciated good sound quality. thanks!

We are happy to give our opinions... but I will reiterate that good sound in that room will be difficult if not impossible.