Setting up (2) pair Side speakers and Rears?

[rolyasm]

In a larger room with 2 rows of seating, is it possible to either split the Surround Output to four channels of amplification (four RCA instead of two with a "y" splitter) or to run four pair of speaker cable from 2 channels of amplification (LSurround amp out goes to 2 speakers and RSurround amp out goes to 2 speakers)? A few problems I see is that the back row would have a speaker located about 4 feet in front of them and to the side. It seems that would be very localized using dipole/bipoles, as the angle would be aiming almost straight at the back row. Direct Radiating might sound better in this setup? More like a movie theater. My next question is timing. I know sound travels fast, somthing like 1200 feet/ second, so it would only be milliseconds in delay between the front and rear surrounds, but that might be enough to make a difference. Is there any way to delay the rear surrounds a millisecond or two,or is it not going to be noticeable anyway? Any kind of timing device used? So questions are:
1)split the RCA outs and get two more amp channels (probably best)
or
2)add two additional surround speakers to existing 2 amp channels (safe?)
3)Is a delay needed

Thanks

Roly

 

[jcPanny]

Surround speakers

It is possible to connect multiple surround speakers with a seperate amp channel for each speaker or with the 2 speakers in series (not parallel) but proper implmentation can be difficult. The movie theater has multiple speakers for each channel because they have 50 rows, you have two.

A good dipole or bipole type speaker should provide a disperse sound field for both of your rows. Also, when you setup multiple direct radiators playing the same information, you will get cancelations and other acoustic issues.

 

[rolyasm]

So my room is about 25 feet long. First couch is about 12 feet, second is about 18 feet. If I put a dipole/bipole between the two, you don't think it will give be to noteceable in the back row? Or would you put the speaker just 90 degrees from the back row so they get the true dipole effect, but the front row isn't having as much of direct effect since it is behind them? I really haven't seen many diagrams for pictures on how to do this properly. thanks
Roly

 

[jcPanny]

Speaker locations

Check out the AH articles on their ultimate HT home. They use dipoles and position them for good performance for both rows of seating. The location will obviously depend on the type of speaker, room dimensions, etc.

I think that a bipole speaker (drivers in phase) or something like the Axiom QS8's might be more forgiving with placement than a dipole speaker (w/ drivers out of phase).