Guys,

I'm hoping to get advice from those who are better at speaker arrangement than I am. The home theater room I'll be building has some challenges. It's 16.7' x 16.7' in width/depth. This isn't so bad I guess.

But the real problem comes from a fireplace in the room. In the picture below, you'll see the fireplace at the bottom left corner. It's angled in the room and sits right where I'd prefer to mount one of my speakers.

There will be 36" of space between my couch and the rear wall! And I'll be using Rocket speakers.

So which of these four options will provide the most exciting rear surround action? Thanks for helping!


PLEASE NOTE: The side mounted dipole speakers can NOT be mounted behind the listening position. Due to the fireplace positioning, they can only be mounted SLIGHTLY FORWARD of the listening position!!
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a340/czeddie/Home_Theater_Build/speakerPlacement.jpg

i would use option 4 if you can move the seating position forward another foot to foot and a half
if not i would use option 1.

i would use option 4 if you can move the seating position forward another foot to foot and a half
if not i would use option 1.

Actually, I just double-checked and I can do another foot. Or rather, I have to do another foot. So there will be 36" between the couch and rear wall. :)
I edited my post above to reflect this.

This is because I'll have a large CRT projector table-mounted behind the couch.

Thanks!

1 and 4. Seems like 1,4 are different options accomplishing different things. Just for ease of setup and all Id go with 1. Plus it seems like with 4 the rear speakers would be a little too close to where youre sitting.

EDIT: Seems like the post above mine pointed the same thing out. If you do move the couch up, go with 4. Should be awesome.

Do you have a preference for rear surrounds, if you could only choose one set (5.1)? I tend to prefer dipoles for just one pair of rear surrounds, as it more immersed experience. The benefit of these dipoles in particular is that only the high frequency sounds are out of phase, so you won't totally lose directionality.

Direct firing also has it's benefits. You will get more discreteness out of the experience. The 250s may also have a bit better bass response. This is a tough choice!

The combination of little space behind the couch and wanting a more immersed experience out of only 2 surrounds, I'd go for #3, but I'd want to be sure that dipoles function correctly configured as such. For that, I'll defer to expert opinion.

The only reason I didn't go for #1 was that I tried that once and it didn't seem that satisfying compared to having the surrounds slightly behind the ear.

Anyway, my vote is #2 or #3. You can always upgrade to #4.

It's 16.7' x 16.7' in width/depth. This isn't so bad I guess.Square rooms are as bad as it gets. Reserve some of your budget for room treatments, especially corner bass traps.

As for the surrounds, I would get four RS250 bookshelf speakers. Place two directly to the sides and the other pair on the back wall (spread about 4 feet apart). Mount the surrounds at least a couple feet above ear level, tilted down so they point roughly towards the listening area.

The side walls are far enough away that monopole speakers shouldn't distract. Four surrounds firing simultaneously can provide a diffuse and enveloping surround field, so you don't have to resort to speakers that are diffuse themselves (e.g., dipoles).

Good Luck,
Sanjay

Thanks guys! :)