My room is 14' x 14'. There's a pair of in ceiling speakers at the very back. Since I have another pair of dipole surrounds that I just bought, I wonder is I should use them in the rear to replace the existing speakers, or move them a bit forward and have a 7.1 system?

A square room is the worst type there is from an acoustical standpoint. Where is your listening position situated? Where are your front speakers and tv? How much space will you have between the back speakers and your listening position? Info about the layout of your room is required to make a recommentation, but off-hand I would say mount the dipoles on the side wall in-line with your listening position and stick with 5.1.

My front center channel is behind the screen, LR are in front of the screen, about 9 feet apart. My seats are 12-13 feet from the front, about 1-2 feet from the back wall. There is a 6 feet wide opening at one side of the room.

Go 5.1. You don't have the room to do 7.1 correctly. You need at least 3' behind the seating area and really 6'. More is not always better my friend.

My front center channel is behind the screen, LR are in front of the screen, about 9 feet apart. My seats are 12-13 feet from the front, about 1-2 feet from the back wall. There is a 6 feet wide opening at one side of the room.

Yup, that is what I suspected. Stick with 5.1.

As mbyrnes said, you need at least 3' behind you for rear surrounds, preferably 6' or more. I only have about 3' behind me for my rear surrounds. I do not get good left/right separation from them, but there is definitely a "rear presence" so I am happy.

A square room is the worst type there is from an acoustical standpoint.Gee, I guess he needs to knock a wall out or something. Buy a new room.

My front center channel is behind the screen, LR are in front of the screen, about 9 feet apart. My seats are 12-13 feet from the front, about 1-2 feet from the back wall. There is a 6 feet wide opening at one side of the room.Any chance you could move the seating forward a couple feet? If your screen fits between the 9' L/R speaker spacing, seems to be about 106" diag, so that would look fine from 10' distance.

Gee, I guess he needs to knock a wall out or something. Buy a new room.

That's drastic, if he just put a wall from one corner to the adjacent corner, he'd have 2 triangular rooms, much better from an acoustical standpoint.

Gee, I guess he needs to knock a wall out or something. Buy a new room.

That's drastic, if he just put a wall from one corner to the adjacent corner, he'd have 2 triangular rooms, much better from an acoustical standpoint.

What's the problem? Its a statement of fact. There are options to help with this if the OP is interested. :rolleyes:

Thanks. It looks like I'll stick with 5.1. I don't have to use my dedicated HT room for this project, I can bring it into an adjacent 14'x24' wide rec room that is open on 1 side so, potentially much bigger. Problem is I won't have as much control over lighting. Interesting thoughts. I'll have to think things over a bit.

My room is 14' x 14'. There's a pair of in ceiling speakers at the very back. Since I have another pair of dipole surrounds that I just bought, I wonder is I should use them in the rear to replace the existing speakers, or move them a bit forward and have a 7.1 system?
In your room, I would probably use the dipoles as the side surrounds and not use the in-ceilings at all. Just go with 5.1 with properly placed side surrounds:
http://www.dolby.com/consumer/home_entertainment/speaker-setup-guide/index.html

Craig

I looked at my room again. There was a reason the original speakers are in the ceiling - the sides of the room are different. On the left side there is a flat wall, on the right side the wall has a 10 deep recess (? space for a book shelve?). I can't mount the speakers on the side. Can I mount them in the back?

I looked at my room again. There was a reason the original speakers are in the ceiling - the sides of the room are different. On the left side there is a flat wall, on the right side the wall has a 10 deep recess (? space for a book shelve?). I can't mount the speakers on the side. Can I mount them in the back?

No offense, but I guess you should have looked a little closer at the room before laying out the money for the new dipoles.

Where in relation to your seating position is the recess located? Is it vertical or horizontal? What are its overall dimensions?

Gee, I guess he needs to knock a wall out or something. Buy a new room.That's drastic, if he just put a wall from one corner to the adjacent corner, he'd have 2 triangular rooms, much better from an acoustical standpoint.Ooo, yeah! Great idea. Then he could have 2 HT rooms!