Hi everyone, I'm a long-time reader, 1st-time poster. I'm moving into a new condo and have been planning my new home theater, stepping it up from my 5.1 PC speakers which are currently doing the work in my apartment. The living room is a decent size, but a strange shape. I've attached a scale model of the room so you can tell what I'm talking about. The open area to the left leads to the hallway/dining/kitchen area. The red lines on the walls are a window on the right, and cubbyholes on the left which are about 2.5 feet deep and built into the wall.

I'm using a set Onkyo SKS-HT540 speakers which are pretty sizeable but have a great sound for the cost. I'm happy with that choice, but the question on my mind is: what should I do about the front speaker placement? The brown spots (green triangle) are in the corners and have a poorer angle since they're too close together, and I'd really like to have a wider soundstage, especially for music. However, this is the most practical set up for mounting the speakers on the wall which is what I'd like to do.

While the red spots (yellow triangle) is more of a perfect triangle,the left speaker would have to sit on the edge of the cubbyhole like a bookshelf speaker and the other would be wall mounted. But I'm afraid the cubbyhole will wreak havoc with the sound!

And the third option would be to mount even wider than the red setup so they're both on walls, but you see that will mean the left speaker is further from the listener since the wall is longer there. I'd like to avoid this too since the angle is too wide and the sound field will be really crooked.

Which of these cases is going to sound better?

(Also, I know I should sit more in the center of the room but I'm not sure how I'll have my furniture set up yet, so I calculated based on the most likely setup - against the wall).

Thanks for your help!

I'd shoot who ever comes up with these condo layouts if I could. :)

Your first option (brown spots) is best. They are not too narrow. You will get so much first reflection support off the sidewalls that the soundstage should be plenty wide.

It would be best to move the listening position off the wall slightly. This has many benefits including increasing the angle between the front speakers.

I would re-think both wall-mounting and putting seating against the back wall. Your speakers should be on stands, somewhat forward of the brown spots (because you don't want them up against the side walls either). And the sofa should come forward. Where are you going to put the rears???

Thanks for the input mcnarus and rynberg! I actually like the layout a lot but it obviously wasn't designed with a home theater in mind. ;)

I'll definitely consider keeping the couch off the wall a bit but I want to avoid making the room look any smaller than it needs to look since it is a condo after all. The room is only about 10x14. I'm afraid stands would only make it worse, especially on the left side. (That and they're expensive and I'm on a budget. :P) Also, I'm only using 5.1 - I'm planning to mount the surrounds high on the wall on either side of the room (the black dots).

The cubbyholes are actually intended to be the entertainment center, but they're not big enough to fit a 42" TV so that kind of counts them out for that purpose.

Should I even be worried about it if I have the Onkyo 705 with Audyssey MultiEQ? I don't want to use that as a crutch but would it be able to work out those minor problems?

I just wish I could get in there already and start testing things out! Ah well.

The low-frequency effects of sitting against the wall could be mitigated by Audyssey. However, having a large reflective surface directly behind you cannot. If you can make it work aesthetically, a nice 2-3" absorptive panel placed there would be very beneficial.

The Audyssey can also mitigate some the effects of mounting the speakers on the wall.