I recently bought the Sony HT-SS2000 and will soon set it up in my basement/media room. I've never owned a surround sound system before so I'm a little lost as to how I should set it up. The system comes with speakers which do not have stands and I would like to keep the setup without stands. Nailing hooks to the wall is not really a problem.This is my layout as of now. Rulers indicate distance in feet and the boxes around the room are pillars.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y2/DinEg/Basement2.jpg

A friend of mine advised me to set it up like this. What do you guys think?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v370/Rbball13/Basement4.jpg

Always begin with the Dolby Labs suggested room layouts (http://www.dolby.com/consumer/home_entertainment/roomlayout.html).

That post on the right might be an issue. Sound will bend around it but normally you don't want anything blocking the direct line to the tweeter. You coud try pulling the display away from the wall toward the sectional or moving everything left or right to avoid the problem.

If #s 1 and 2 are subs or sub locations try this for getting the best locations. Set the sub on your listening chair and the "crawl" around the room until you hear the best bass (smoothest not just he loudest). Put the sub at that spot.

If your sub is crossed over much above 80 to 100 Hz you may be able to localize it; if the sub is far from the mains hearing it as a distinct source can be distracting.

A sub in a corner will always sound louder. The center line of a room is usually the last choice. Moving the sub or you seat a small distance can make a significant difference.

Should the fronts be in line with the center, height wise?

Ideally all of the speakers would be along a horizontal line running through the center of the display. But as you can't put the center speaker in the display you will have to compromise.

Many people maintain that mounting the center speaker above the display is best because the brain has more difficulty localizing sounds coming from above.

If you do place the center speaker below the display try to place it as close to the bottom edge as possible.

In my set up the L/R mains are towers and the M-T-M center is just beneath the image area of the display. The display is elevated just enough so that the tweeters/mids of the mains are approximately on the same level as the center speaker. Your mind soon accommodates and you will not notice the actors hidden under the TV.