Quote:
Originally Posted by
ed_robyn 
I know that the ideal location for the side & rear surrounds should be a foot or so above the listeners head but I can't mount my speakers that way since they will be in the way. I have to mount them near the ceiling which is about 5 ft above and 2 ft behind my head so my question is should they be angled out straight facing each other or downward directly toward my head?
Are they monopoles, dipoles, bipoles or some other iteration of multipolar speakers? If they're monopoles, definitely aim them at the listening position. If they're any other variety of multipolar speaker, you'll need to experiment to see what sounds best.
With dipoles, you want to sit in the "null" of the mid and high frequency drivers. Dipoles fire the mid's and high's away from the listener and towards the front and back of the room, (or the side walls if they're the rear surrounds). The listener hears mostly reflected sound, which makes the sound more ambient and spacious. It will take some experimentation to determine whether aiming the null at the LP sounds more spacious and ambient than with a straight forward mounting position. Most dipoles are designed to be mounted flat on the wall.
With bipoles or any other variety of multipolar speaker, it will also be beneficial to experiment. The best mounting position will depend on their dispersion pattern. Bipoles generally have a wide dispersion pattern and it may not make a big difference how you mount them. Other multipolar speakers can have limitless dispersion designs and the only way to determine how they sound best is to try them in all the possible mounting arrangements.
Good luck.
Craig
