I currently have Polks Fronts, Surrounds and Center. Only the Front and Center are hooked up. Until it cools down enough in FL to go in the attic to run cables to the rear, would it be ok to have the surrounds in front next to the others but a few feet apart? If so, should they be hooked up as Rears or Surrounds?

Thanks you for any feedback

Well you won't be "surrounded" but it will sound lively. I have heard it in stores like that before, still fun compared to nothin.

Any speaker used for front channels should be connected to the L/R front channel outputs. Otherwise you won't get any front channel signals (the primary sounds).

Well you won't be "surrounded" but it will sound lively. I have heard it in stores like that before, still fun compared to nothin.

I won't be 'Surrounded' HAHA-That gave me a good laugh. :D

Thank you for your input, I just need to get some speaker stands now.

Any speaker used for front channels should be connected to the L/R front channel outputs. Otherwise you won't get any front channel signals (the primary sounds).

I already have the fronts hooked up to the respective channel outputs. Since I am not able to put the rears in the back yet, I was thinking about temporary adding them to the fronts just to see if I can give it a little more sound. I was wondering if they should be hooked up to the Side Surround output or rear output on the receiver.

Thank you for the feedback.

I already have the fronts hooked up to the respective channel outputs. Since I am not able to put the rears in the back yet, I was thinking about temporary adding them to the fronts just to see if I can give it a little more sound. I was wondering if they should be hooked up to the Side Surround output or rear output on the receiver.

Thank you for the feedback.

Neither. Leave them unhooked. Hearing rear channel sound out of speakers that are located in front of you will do nothing for the sound stage. Better to run a 3.1 properly than 5.1 with all speakers in front of you, in my opinion.

I would try aiming the surround speakers at the side walls, at maybe a 45 degree angle or so. This way, most of the sound you hear from them will be reflected sound coming more from the side than front. Worth a shot......

I would try aiming the surround speakers at the side walls, at maybe a 45 degree angle or so. This way, most of the sound you hear from them will be reflected sound coming more from the side than front. Worth a shot......

Putting all of the speakers in the front hurts sound. Angling will not help, nothing will. DO NOT DO THIS! I know people that have done this so I have heard it. The Rears were disconnected before I left. :cool:

Suck it up and go into the 140 degree attic. Get an early start and it won't be so bad. I had to do the same thing for my father in Florida a few times, only once in the winter.

Seeing as how it won't damage anything, give it a shot and hear for yourself.

hey thank you everyone for your feedback. I am going to wait till this 90 degree humid FL weather to cool down and run speaker wires.

Thank you again, much appreciated!

I used to work at RadioShack, and when I would demo our speakers, I couldn't set up the surrounds like surrounds. We couldn't risk customers tripping on the wire. And even if we did set them up correctly, with so much traffic between the fronts and rears, you'd never actually get to hear them properly anyway.

You can put the surrounds up front, but you'll have to calibrate it yourself (instead of using any auto-calibrations), and adjust the SPL's of the rears drastically. I was able to achieve a surround effect with the rears up front with some minor success.

I would hook them up as rears, not surrounds. And nothing can truly replace your surrounds being used as rears, but if you're waiting for the temperature to drop, experiment and try them up front. You've got nothing to lose, and you might find that you actually enjoy it a little :)

I hate to disagree with almost everyone here, but if you have to hook the surrounds up front, hook them up to the side channels and spread them as far as you can. You won't get true surround, but you'll get a more spacious soundfield, and hard left or right pans will be more dramatic.

The best suggestion is to crawl around in the hot attic and just git 'er done.

I currently have Polks Fronts, Surrounds and Center. Only the Front and Center are hooked up. Until it cools down enough in FL to go in the attic to run cables to the rear, would it be ok to have the surrounds in front next to the others but a few feet apart? If so, should they be hooked up as Rears or Surrounds?

Thanks you for any feedback

Just run the wire in the room for now to the position you want. I too live in FL and I need to do the same thing. I think it would sound awkward having sounds that are supposed to be in back of you coming from the front sound stage lol.

Is this for a 7.1 system? If so, put them all up front, sides and rears. It will be awesome! :eek:

Seriously though, is it that important to have them hooked up if they're not going to be in the correct spots? Or close to it?

Otherwise do as another poster said and just run the wires in the room temporarily. I'm sure the attic is hot, but where I live my attic is still damn hot in the winter. Not sure how much you expect the temp to drop up there.