I am looking for advice on how to place my surround speakers in a 7.1 setup. The room is currently under construction but the image below shows the seating plan. The front row of seats has two seats against each of the side walls. The rear row has two seats in the corners. I realize that these seats against the walls are not going to get the best sound experience, and that’s okay with me. My wife and I will be seating in the middle of the front row most of the time and I should be able to get a decent surround experience from those positions – and that’s my primary concern. My secondary concern are the other listening positions.

http://i674.photobucket.com/albums/vv109/Family_man9/Speaker_Placement.jpg

I have pretty much decided that the side speakers will be dipole speakers. Now I am trying to determine what to do with the rear speakers. There is a soffit that will hide ductwork along the left and ride sides of the room as well as part of the back. I can either extend the soffit to house and hide the back speakers with acoustically transparent material. So the rear speakers will essentially be over the entryway.

http://i674.photobucket.com/albums/vv109/Family_man9/Speakers_With_Soffit.jpg

So here are my options for REAR SPEAKERS
OPTION A: Direct firing towards the front of the room
OPTION B: Direct firing downward
OPTION C: Dipole speakers downward

As I said before, my prime listening spot is of main importance, but I think I would be satisfied with any of the combinations above for the main listening position. But for the corner seats, would it be better to shoot the sound over their heads with a direct firing speaker (Option A). OR shoot it downward so they get some of the rear channel (option B). OR Get dipoles to try and envelope the back row (Option C).

THOUGHTS? What have people tried with rear speakers over the listening position?

Respectfully, your vision of this room will - I think - end up being extremely disappointing from comfort, acoustic, and viewing perspectives.

I would suggest this: Rotate your plans 90° counter-clockwise. Put your TV on the left-side-in-the-picture wall and have a single couch-loveseat-chair row of seating on the right-side-in-the-picture wall. Throw the other chair... pretty much anywhere out of the way. Space out your mains a bit, have your surrounds lined up with the front edge of your couch, and place the rears 1/3 - 2/3 along the back wall direct-radiating. You won't lose any viewing distance because your original plan has your couch in the middle of the room. You will gain comfort because everyone can see the television and has the option of laying down on their furniture. You can angle the loveseat and the chair a bit and facilitate conversation instead of forced blind staring at a wall.

The back row in your plan is just a terrible idea. Nobody will want to sit there and who could blame them? It also chops the room into a small, cluttered, and uninviting space.

Soundlovr – thanks for the response. I know the room setup is not ideal but there are a few more caveats. The back row will be on a riser which will elevate the position and allow for an entire screen view. The back row wouldn’t be able to lie down flat, but I think it will work for having a comfortable position.

I was more concerned about the surround in that configuration. Have you or anyone else worked with surround in the corners as I have described?