Is a 7.1 set up a little overkill for a 15' x 17' x 7'H room?

Currently I have 3 theater sets in the room now and are backed up to the wall. I would like to put them on a riser (in case I want to add more seating later) I was also thinking about placing the seats about 12' from the screen wall if I don't go with a riser.

Right now I am confused on rear speaker placement in the room. I think I am going to go with IN WALLS. If 7.1 is used would mean that the surrounds would have to be mounted in the middle of the side walls. The 2 in walls would be mounted behind the seats. Now another question is do I have to move the seats up to the same area the surrounds are in the middle of the room?

Or mount the surrounds on the rear side walls close to the back wall? If I did that wouldn't that be to close to the speakers on the back wall?

Which goes back to my original question is 7.1 overkill for this of room?

This would be based on my current set up with my seats backed up to the wall or within a foot or two of the wall.

My room is close to this size. (13' X 17') I use 5.1 and am very satisfied. More cash for other stuff.
In a room that size have you thought about on-walls for the rear. I think it would yeild better results and stll look nice. Get a dipole or bipole(I don't remember which is better for this app) and it gives you more flexible seating area than in in-wall.

JMO,
Scott

Is a 7.1 set up a little overkill for a 15' x 17' x 7'H room?Depends on seating location.

With your seats positioned at or near the back wall, there's no space behind you for the rear speakers to be effective. Better to do a 5.1 layout with the surrounds in the back corners.

However, if your seating was maybe 1/3rd of the way into the room (roughly 6 feet from the back wall), then you'd be a good candidate for a 7.1-speaker set-up. The two pairs of surround speakers (sides and rears) would be several feet apart from each other, giving you excellent rear-vs-side separation in the surround field.

That sort of placement (and separation) is not possible with your current seating location.

Sanjay

With a 17 ft. deep room you should have plenty of room for a 7.1 set up. set your seating if at all possible 11 ft. from screen which will then give you 6 ft. for rear seating if you go with a riser and this should put you around 2 ft. from the back wall and if your system is calibrated well this should be fine for a 7.1.

My room is 14x19 and 7.1 works beautifully.

Ok thanks...I will play around with the seating and see what I come up with. Oh yea the screen is going to be 106", having the seating at 11ft from the screen isnt going to be to close to the screen is it? If so i guess i can come down to a 100" screen.

I sit 13' back in the first of 2 rows of 4 seats wide from a 100" screen with a panasonic 100u and love it. My second row of 4 seats is 19' back. Mind you though that this model of projector is one of the few 720p units that will tolerate close viewing distances. A 1080p model at 106" and 11 feet would be great too.

Viewing distances are always a personal choice as everyone will have a preference for what they feel gives them the best cinema experience. Even with my HD discs the picture always looks smoother from the second row especially if the video quality is poor.

My neighbor has my 1080p sony in his theater and from the second row it does not look any different than my projector does also from the second row.

If so i guess i can come down to a 100" screen.For a 100-inch diagonal 16x9 screen SMPTE recommends 13.6 feet (30 degree viewing angle) while THX recommends between 15.7 feet (26 degree viewing angle) and 11.2 feet (36 degree viewing angle). As with all standard recommendations, personal preference should be taken into account, especially if you like a really large image.

Sanjay

ScottyB,

I am going with Paradigm Monitor speakers and I don't think they make an on wall speaker but then again when I went on their website I saw some surrounds that looked like they could be mounted on the wall. When I to the local HIFI House store, they told me that paradigm stopped making on wall speakers so I will have to look into it.

I think I am going to do what VTgolfer suggested and move the seats up to about the 11' mark. Should the surrounds be mounted about the 11' mark as well on the side walls from the screen? Then mount 2 speakers on the back walls behind the seats to make up the 7.1 if I go that route?

I like the idea of moving your seating as long as you have a 1080p projector.
I had a 720p projector and could see pixels and other artifacts in the pic that drew me out of the movie from that distance on a 100" screen. The only thing I'm not sure of is even if you move your seating is if it's still OK to just have in-wall pointing right at you. If you do go this route be sure they are at least above the listening position, or this will be the major speaker you will hear.

Scott

Ok thanks...I will play around with the seating and see what I come up with. Oh yea the screen is going to be 106", having the seating at 11ft from the screen isnt going to be to close to the screen is it? If so i guess i can come down to a 100" screen.

Chuck, my seating with a 106" Carada Screen is exactly 11 ft. back. My projector is a Sony VPL 50 (Pearl) and the picture for HD and DVD's is exceptional. Even at the 11 ft. distance with my old projector which was a Runco Reflection CL 610, the picture was perfect.