I am new to this forum. I have been reading a lot of the threads and there is a lot of great advice here. I am currently trying to finish my basement and it is time to wire for my speakers. I am thinking about having a 5.1 system downstairs unless someone can tell me if it would be benefitial for my room to put a 6.1 or 7.1 system in. I really need help with the placement of my speakers though so I can wire my room and get it ready for sheet rock. The room is 12 ft wide and the total room is 24 ft. long. The seating for the theater part will be approx. 12-14ft from the TV. Behind the TV will be a poker table and kids toys. See the pictures below. The ceilings are 8ft and a little over 7ft where it drops for the air ducts (how do I get around this for the surround speakers?).

My big questions are:
Should I put in-ceiling speakers, ceiling mounted satellite speakers, or should I install them on the walls for the surrounds?

Where should I place the front speakers with the air ducts on the left of the screen?

Where should I place the surrounds since the ceiling drops on the left side of the room?

What kind of insulation should i put in the ceiling and walls?

For pictures of my room please visit my blog:

tkent19.blogspot.com/


I really appreciate your help!
Thank you

You'll get a lot more interest if you post your pics here....like this:

http://www.your pics here . com without the spaces..

I would also suggest starting with this site:

http://www.dolby.com/consumer/home_entertainment/speaker-setup-guide/index.html

You can choose a 5.1 or 7.1 setup and it tells you roughly the ideal placement for your speakers.

You'll get a lot more interest if you post your pics here....like this:

http://www.your pics here . com without the spaces..

I would also suggest starting with this site:

http://www.dolby.com/consumer/home_entertainment/speaker-setup-guide/index.html

You can choose a 5.1 or 7.1 setup and it tells you roughly the ideal placement for your speakers.

That site appears to suggest direct radiating speakers. Do the rules change for bi/dipoles?

That site appears to suggest direct radiating speakers. Do the rules change for bi/dipoles?

That's a good question...and the answer is complicated.

The long-and-short of it seems to be to place the side surround di/bipoles 18-24 inches above ear height and slightly behind primary listening spot.

Rear surround placement is more complex. THX recommends something totally different than dolby.

My advice when you don't have sheetrock up is to wire the hell out of it. If you can and want to spend the time run pvc to the speaker locations and run wire through it. This gives you the ability to run whatever you want in the pipes later on without tearing up the walls and ceiling. You can just pull the wires through. If you don't do that wire for 11.X. Be sure to run cables for subs as well. You can wire for 11.x and only 'cut in' the outlets for 7.x. If you go to 11.x later you just open the wall or ceiling where you put the wires and install the plates or whatnot.

Since you have that duct running down one side you could for sake of symmetry continue it around the other three sides of the area intended for the theater area. It could give it a coved ceiling look and maybe give you some sound advantages. Hard to tell, but you may have an issue with the window on the right if you try that. You could always remove it ;)

I would very much suggest you go with 7.1 while you can get in there and put the wires in the wall. Even if you go 5.1 for now, put the speaker wire in for 7.1

My advice when you don't have sheetrock up is to wire the hell out of it. If you can and want to spend the time run pvc to the speaker locations and run wire through it. This gives you the ability to run whatever you want in the pipes later on without tearing up the walls and ceiling. You can just pull the wires through. If you don't do that wire for 11.X. Be sure to run cables for subs as well. You can wire for 11.x and only 'cut in' the outlets for 7.x. If you go to 11.x later you just open the wall or ceiling where you put the wires and install the plates or whatnot.


I also second this idea....just make sure to take a picture of it before you cover it over....

You'll never ever remember where they are.

I also second this idea....just make sure to take a picture of it before you cover it over....

You'll never ever remember where they are.

I'm going to run 7 cables for speakers, then another 3 for future expansion/resale (my current locations might be reversed from where most people would put the speakers), then another 2 in case I biamp the fronts, then at least 3 for subs, if not four. That's 15 sets of wires. Even putting that in a single box is a pretty tough feat, especially when trying to maintain sound proofing of the box. I may have to go to two boxes.