rear channel blues!

[steinoch]

18' * 18' room
screen 10' diag(front projection)
screen if not centered due to doors to the left of it
seating against the back wall( couch must stay on or at most a foot off the back wall)

I'm currently using a Yamaha YSP-1 as change from my reliable Yamaha rx v995. The reason I went with the YSP-1 is I'm not confident that I can effectively set-up rear speakers in my current theater. Prior to moving I had always been lucky enough to have plenty of room behind the listening position(in this case couch) to place speakers. I admit I have yet to set-up a classic THX stile arrangement with dipole speakers above and slightly behind the listening position. I'm not confident that it will produce a distinct rear surround (I would love some feedback here). And hanging speaker on the back wall will simply fire the sound over my head or, if too low, be simply distracting.

The YSP-1 has exceeded my expectation. I do recommend it to all of my friends. Though I'm longing for the Yamaha rx v4600 and a nice 5.1 or even 7.1 surround set up.

Question (bottom line) can I achieve an effective rear surround when the listening area is positioned on or near the rear of the theater?

Suggestions for rear and surround speakers would also be appreciated

 

[soundsfine]

Those Axiom Audio QS8s seem to consistently get good comments...

 

[steinoch]

again, my concern is an effective rear channel effect with seating at the back of the theater. As you can see in the 1st picture below I don't have much room for rear speakers. My question is to any out there who have utilized the dipoles on the back wall or immediately to right/left of the listening position.

Currently, I have my couch temporarily pulled 3 feet foreword so that I can get an effective rear channel from the YSP-1. By trial and error I used the easy set-up; room shape: rectangle(my rm is actually square); listening position: narrow center. Wow! amazing rear channel effect. Incredibly large sound stage for this beast. Unfortunately this is a temporary position for the couch. With the couch set at the back I have yet to figure out a way to get effective rear channel effects with the YSP-1.