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speaker placement question - alcove

post #1 of 8
3/13/12 at 2:33pm
Thread Starter 
hello,

i am building a rec room in my basement and have a dedicated area for watching movies and sports. i have an alcove where the tv/future screen will be and will be setting up 5.1 sound.

i have the option to use ceiling speakers, but am not sure if i should go that route if i dont have to?

my main question is: do i put the front L and R against the back wall of the alcove or at the front? my assumption is the front as shown....

alcove dimensions are 3'9" x 9'10"

(in the picture the large rears are mounted to the wall, and arent that big.)

Thanks!
LL
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post #2 of 8
3/13/12 at 2:36pm
Put them at the front. Otherwise you'll get reflections off the walls before the sound enters the rest of the room which would mess up their dispersion pattern.
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post #3 of 8
3/13/12 at 2:42pm
Thread Starter 
thanks for the quick reply!

in this setup, if i wanted to go 7.1, would i better served to put in ceiling speakers as side surround and mount the rear channels to the back wall, or use speaker stands at the ends of the couch and mount the rears to the back wall?
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post #4 of 8
3/13/12 at 4:27pm
How far is your seating distance from the alcove? At almost 10' apart, IMO the speakers are too far apart (assuming the seating is <10'). A compromise might be to place them ~5-6' apart, and 2' from the back wall of the alcove. While the sides of the alcove may cause some reflection, I think the "too wide" spacing would be a much larger detrimental effect...

If you really want to go 7.1 (which can be difficult to place in most non-dedicated rooms), I don't think you want to mix ceiling and wall/stand mounts for the side/rears. Do them all the same. Ceiling isn't ideal for surround speakers, but I think it would be better to have all 4 up there than just the middle two (really don't think that's a good plan).

Jeff
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post #5 of 8
3/13/12 at 4:39pm
Thread Starter 
here are the dimensions....

so for 7.1, put speakers on stands at either end of the couch and also mounted to the rear wall, or all in the ceiling. if i go the ceiling option, do i place the sides at either end of the couch and the rears up behind the couch?

for the fronts, i would like to place them where i dont see wires (though i am carpeting the room, so could run them under the carpet if i need the speakers off the wall a bit). against a wall is preferable, but not necessary.

thanks for your help!
LL
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post #6 of 8
3/13/12 at 5:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptainDistracto View Post

so for 7.1, put speakers on stands at either end of the couch and also mounted to the rear wall, or all in the ceiling. if i go the ceiling option, do i place the sides at either end of the couch and the rears up behind the couch?

Yep, those are the two options...

Quote:


for the fronts, i would like to place them where i dont see wires (though i am carpeting the room, so could run them under the carpet if i need the speakers off the wall a bit). against a wall is preferable, but not necessary.

You can put the speaker wires into TechFlex to dress them up, but it's not like anyone is going to be walking behind them...

If it was my room (and sounds like you haven't finished it yet, if the carpet isn't down), I'd really think about enclosing that alcove into a nice big storage closet, making that wall flush, and mount the TV there. You'll have about 7' from the seating area. Might be able to recess that new wall a bit (a "niche") to tuck the speakers/TV in a bit. Just a thought.

Jeff
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post #7 of 8
3/14/12 at 6:06am
I have another thought. If the walls defining the alcove are not load-bearing- remove them. According to your nice schematic, you could just take out the walls and have a large flat wall for the TV and speakers, and it would open up a smaller room visually.
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post #8 of 8
3/14/12 at 8:08am
Thread Starter 
Actually, the front of the alcove is a beam - we opened up up that wall. the alcove is actually the old hallway. when facing the alcove, the left front corner is a load bearing point as the floor joists change direction at the end of the alcove and that post carries a now double laminated joist running perpendicular to the new beam.

here is the whole basement - murphy bed, closets, new bathroom with shower. we did the best with what we had and what we needed. all the work is done ourselves. all the framing is done, this weekend is plumbing...
LL
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