I've been mulling around the idea of attempting to setup a home theater system on the 1st floor of my 2 story w/basement home.

I am searching for the best options at this point for a speaker arrangement that would yield at least something comparable to 5.1 but I am faced with the following issues:

#1: My couch is up against a wall that is open on both ends that lead into a kitchen. The wall has a set of stairs that lead up if you enter from the door or go down on the opposite side. Rear speakers are not really an option unless I place them directly lateral from the couch.

#2: I don't believe a 2.1 system like the Yamaha YSP models would yield positive results due to requiring a side wall to bounce sound off of and mine have large windows on both sides.

#3: I've thought about rearranging the room so that I had 2 lateral walls to play with that were bare, but then I would have my TV on a window wall and I'd rather not do that.

#4: I have hardwood floors and don't have many options for running cable as I am working on my home theater in the basement and the ceiling is already finished downstairs.

I'm open to suggestions and would really appreciate any feedback. Thanks!

Rudementary pic attached:

Rear speakers are not really an option unless I place them directly lateral from the couch.Well, placing them laterally is actually within the Dolby recommended 90° - 120°.

However, if "rear speakers are not really an option", then you'll have a 3.1 (or 3.0) setup. So, what is the problem? ;)

Well, placing them laterally is actually within the Dolby recommended 90° - 120°.

However, if "rear speakers are not really an option", then you'll have a 3.1 (or 3.0) setup. So, what is the problem? ;)

Because,
"I am searching for the best options at this point for a speaker arrangement that would yield at least something comparable to 5.1"

I should have clarified, if I place them laterally to the couch, they would literally be right up against the couch.

Because,
"I am searching for the best options at this point for a speaker arrangement that would yield at least something comparable to 5.1"
Placing the rears laterally is fine, especially if you have no other choice. Push them all the way back to the wall facing directly towards one another. If you can pull the couch forward a few inches, do it. Otherwise, don't worry about it.

No way to mount them on the wall and angle them down at the couch?

Maybe the back of the sofa could be place 38% away from the east wall with heavy curtains on the east and west window. Then a drop down screen a little out and above the west window with a projector would be better. Then you should have room for right and left side surrounds in the rear and some acoustic treatments as needed.

No way to mount them on the wall and angle them down at the couch?

The west wall where the entrance is extends south beyond the stair wall so there's zero symmetry in the upper rear corners.
There's a wall directly behind the sofa and that is where the stairs up/down are.
Basically with the image I have attached, the lower 2 open areas on either side of the stairs open up into my kitchen.

I suppose I could attempt to mount them on the edge of that stair wall. *shrug*

The other caveat to this dilemna is that I am doing this on the main floor of a 2 story house. The main floor has hardwood and the basement has a finished ceiling. My walls do not lend themselves to continual crown/base moulding around the edges so I'm rather perplexed as to how I would route cables to the rear sats.

Any thoughts?

Part of my decision not to do 5.1 was also the wiring with hardwood floors dilemma. If I had decided on 5.1, I would have gone downstairs with the wiring (in spite of the finished ceiling) and done the best I could to hide the runs down there.

I’m not sure that you need to rule out the YSP solution. In a room layout very similar to yours I have a glass patio door (with vinyl blinds) on the left side wall and a hallway opening directly to the right of my seating position on the other side, and I get good results. If you have heavy curtains on both windows that you can’t do anything about, that’s an issue maybe.

Part of my decision not to do 5.1 was also the wiring with hardwood floors dilemma. If I had decided on 5.1, I would have gone downstairs with the wiring (in spite of the finished ceiling) and done the best I could to hide the runs down there.

I’m not sure that you need to rule out the YSP solution. In a room layout very similar to yours I have a glass patio door (with vinyl blinds) on the left side wall and a hallway opening directly to the right of my seating position on the other side, and I get good results. If you have heavy curtains on both windows that you can’t do anything about, that’s an issue maybe.

I do have heavy curtains on the windows so I fret that the sound is going to die right there and will never reach the listener.

I do have heavy curtains on the windows so I fret that the sound is going to die right there and will never reach the listener.

It is certainly non-ideal. Maybe with the money you save you can replace them with awesome wood blinds.:)