Setup Input

[Transmaniacon]

Ok so my apartment living room is layed out in the attached picture. The room is approximately 16x16, with a vaulted ceiling going from right to left (left being the higher side, probably at about 12ft)

The room is open to the left, where the kitchen and dining area are. The right wall is primarily taken up by a sliding glass door with floor to ceiling vertical blinds.

At the moment, I am using my old TV stand, which does not have room for the center speaker, so its sitting in front propped up slightly for the time being. This eventually will move into a new entertainment center where it will sit below the TV. The new TV stand also will be a bit narrower and will fit into the corner better, allowing me to move the front L and R speakers back a little bit.

The subwoofer actually is arriving today, and that is the most practical location for it, I have not been able to test the sound yet.

The surround speakers are my biggest gripe because I can't really get them where they should be without having one in the middle of our hallway. I figured this would be the best location for them, sort of in more of a presence position than surround.

At the top of the picture is our fireplace, as a college student, I don't forsee using it much at all, but I am looking forward to moving that FL speaker back a little ways off the hearth.

My question to you is what do you think would provide a good subwoofer placement for the room? I figure my two best options are where I have it in the drawing, and maybe behing the middle seat. But if you see anywhere else where it might work, let me know.

Also, I am willing to rearrange my furniture if it would mean having a more ideal surround set-up. Eventually I will be upgrading to a Plasma/LCD TV, and there is a very nice spot above the fireplace for one . For the time being though, this is what there is to work with.

Additional info, the front speakers are floor speakers, about 3' tall (Infinity Reference 2000.4). The surround speakers are on 30" speaker stands so they are the same height as the fronts, and have clear projection over the little end tables.

Any comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated!

 

[jostenmeat]

Subwoofer, AH has good articles on finding placement. I think closer to the mains is not a bad idea for certain reasons, but I should also note that the square dimensions of 16x16 are the worst you can have, and you will suffer no matter what. You can significantly treat the space, but it will only do so much for the acoustical situation.

Corner setup does happen often in many homes, but it's very unideal as I'm sure you know. I would not invest significant money until you do get it symmetrical. Then I'd surely spread the mains some more, get the surrounds at 90 degrees, or slightly further back, get the couch off the back wall even if only for critical viewing/listening by putting the seatings' feet on sliders.

edit: ok, the room is not actually square. Regardless, I'm still standing by my other thoughts.

 

[Transmaniacon]

Thanks for the input, I have been toying with the idea of putting the TV and fronts along the bottom wall, and then a chair in each corner flanking the fireplace. This gives me a large wall to spread the speakers out on, and would allow the sub to be placed in the front, and the mains to be spread out to about 8' apart. Also, doing so would mean I could run wire around the outside of the room to the satellites, which could sit in the corners by the chairs, and I would not have the problem of speakers floating in the middle of the room.

By the way, got my BIC F12 sub tonight and hooked it up, I watched The Shining, because its Halloween tomorrow, but I also watched a few scenes from The Dark Knight, and let me tell you it sounded amazing when the hospital blew up!!

 

[jostenmeat]

I admit I don't like the idea of putting the seating in the corners. However, it still must be better than the present layout.

Is it a possibility to have the setup be against the wall on the right??

Lengthwise orientation is best for acoustics. You would also achieve getting away from any wall directly behind you. And lastly, your seating isn't forced into corners.

 

[Transmaniacon]

Thats a big sliding glass door so no we couldn't block it.