Hi,
This is my first post. I hope you all can shed some expert advice on my HT speaker setup issues.
I have a modern home with a family room and kitchen combined. In the family room area one wall has a fireplace hearth running the entire length. on top of the hearth is a 5' x 2' deep TV alcove. Next to the TV alcove is a fireplace. On the kitchen side of the TV is a wall full of cabinets. The TV is not centered in the seating area. And my wife requires the aesthetic to remain pretty much as it was "pre HT".
So I can't use floor standing fronts. Luckily the room was pre-wired for 5.1. So I went with Klipsch cdt-5800s (8" cone x 1" tweeter) in-ceiling speakers for front L/R and rear L/R. The ceilings are 10', but I tried to direct the speakers toward the sweet spot. (cone and horns swivel...) I built a shelf above the TV for a center (Klipsch RC-62 II). Clean install. Wife is happy.
I had two old Polk subs (PSW303 and PSW505). I stuck them on the wall opposite the TV behind an end table and chair. Out of sight. Wife is happy.
I spent a week or so tweaking the Yamaha RX-A700 settings. Sound is good - not great. Issues -
1) the "center of gravity" for the sound is 8' off the ground.
2) the subs are either boomy (psw505) or way weak (psw303).
3) subs aren't really non-directional. The psw505 can be a lot to sit right next too.
4) it's a bit weird to have the TV wall be the audio "focal point" except for the bass, when comes from 20' away on the opposite wall.
So I'm thinking of getting a Klipsch 308 sub (maybe two) and a pair of RB-51 bookshelf speakers to go under the TV. The 308 sub has an 8" driver with two 8" passive radiators. It is small so I can sit it more places than the Polks I have now. The RB-51s will hopefully lower the "center of gravity" by delivering more sound at about 4' off the floor.
I might be able to place the sub behind my TV stand, inside the TV alcove. My concern is having all the wall-rattling bass placed 6" from my electronics.
Alternately, I could place the sub on the TV wall, but way off to the right. Or I could leave it behind the chair on the opposite wall from the TV. Thoughts?
As for the small bookshelf speakers under the TV, I could wire those in series of parallel with the front in-ceiling speakers, or I could use them as the front L/R speakers and use the in-ceiling fronts as "presence" speakers. Or I wire them in series or parallel with the center speaker. I'm concerned with only having 5" of L/R/ separation in a 20 x 20 room. Thoughts?
Yes, I could buy it all and try a bunch of configurations and decide for myself. But I'm hoping you guys can save me time and money.
Thanks!
