[spencereveritt]


I am finishing up my HT and need some help with speaker placement.  I should have asked this question before I hung the drywall but I can run new speaker wire if need to.  I have purchased HSU Hybrid 15 7.1  two of the speakers are in-wall  for the back two.  I have not purchased a receiver yet.  The room is 19x19x9. Concrete floor.  I have attached a rendering of the room.  I am thinking of placing 2 more speakers but I don't know where.  In addition I am not sure my current placement is correct.  The sub is a little hard to see it is placed under the screen. I will also run heavy curtains over the doors to add some sound dampening. 

 

[dmb12679]

No expert here, but maybe lower your front mains and bring them towards the screen a little and then put two front heights up where your mains are now, or a little higher. Your center channel seems way too high. Is it angled down towards the listening position? Is there room below the screen? If you lower the mains, and center, the front heights would give a more separation.


Don't you just love the challenges different rooms present with home theater

 

[spencereveritt]


I think you are right on all accounts from what I have read lately.  I might move the screen out and place the center behind it.  I am trying to keep the speakers away from little curious fingers so I dont want it too low.  I have not purchased the screen yet.  For the upper left and right speakers do they need to match my current ones?  Or can they be a different brand? 

 

[jevans64]

I think your side and back surrounds are about right according to the rendering. THX calls for a side surround placement of 90° to 110° and a back surround placement of 135° relative to the center channel. The front main speakers have a range from 22° to 30° from center. Since the placement of the mains are more critical, I can give you some decimal numbers to work with instead of trying to figure out angles.


The easiest way to start this is to measure the width of your display and DIVIDE by 2. Take a piece of white tape ( or similar bright color ) and mark the center of your display. If your display is 110" then the mark should be at 55" and basically divide your display in half. It is easier to treat the speaker placement as left and right rather than trying to work out everything as a whole room.


Measure the viewing distance ( called listening position or LP ) from where your head ( specifically the eyes or ears ) will be to your display in a straight, level line and record the distance in inches.


What we want to do is figure out WHERE to place the front left and right speakers so that they sit within the recommended 22° to 30° from the CENTER of the display.


To get the minimum distance of 22°, DIVIDE your Viewing Distance by 2.47

To get the maximum distance of 30°, DIVIDE your Viewing Distance by 1.73


Example.


You sit 120 inches away from your display.


L/R at 22° -- 120 / 2.47 =~ 48.5" from CENTER of display.

L/R at 30° -- 120 / 1.73 =~ 69.375" from CENTER of display.


Any L/R speaker placement between 48.5" and 69.375" would be within THX recommendations and gives some leeway for those with large screens.


The Front Height recommendation is 45° from center and directly above Front Wide speakers, which are usually placed at 45°.


Your divisor for that is pretty simple because the value you would get is the SAME as the Viewing Distance. This also highlights why it is also important to use the THX recommended viewing angles of 26° to 36° when figuring how far away you should sit from your display. It throws the speaker placement out of whack if someone is sitting 15 feet away from a 50 inch TV.


There are calculators on-line that will calculate the viewing distance based on TV resolution, format, and diagonal size.


As far as the type of speaker, I think the same ones as the surrounds would be fine. HSU is one-size-fits-all, so that takes care of aesthetics as well.

 

[crazyrob425]

Yeah the front Left and right in your pictures look more like they are front wide surrounds. If you get an acoutically transparent screen put the speakers behind it. Keep in mind the HSU's are rear ported so putting them close to a wall could be bad the rear ports need 3-4inches to breathe.


The front height or wide surrounds do not have to be the same brand as you main speakers but if it won't break your budget its a good idea.

 

[jevans64]

I also want to add that you aren't missing much by NOT having Height speakers. Only 3 or 4 movies actually account for Height/Wide placement. I actually get more use out of mine when I listen to music in " 9 Chanel Stereo " mode.

 

[spencereveritt]


I just purchased a TX-NR929 so I figure since I have it available I might as well use the 9 channels. 

 

[jevans64]



Quote:
Originally Posted by spencereveritt  /t/1525821/9-1-speaker-placement-help#post_24568641


I just purchased a TX-NR929 so I figure since I have it available I might as well use the 9 channels. 

It will probably be begging for an external amp with all 9 channels going though. A 5-channel amp would be a great addition and would be the core of a 9 channel setup with the AVR powering the remaining surrounds.

 

[spencereveritt]


OK I am running into a problem with the 22° to 30° it puts the speaker right in the middle of that shelf which is really a door.  Is it OK to put the center channel directly over the sub?

 

[crazyrob425]

Yes that positioning looks better. And yes its ok to put the center over the subwoofer.


FYI while the subwoofer position there looks good it might not be the best for your room. You will have to do the subwoofer crawl to figure out the best positioning for your subwoofer

 

[jevans64]

I was thinking that shelf to the right of your screen would be a problem. Rigging up some sort of alcove for the speaker inside the shelf would work but that would be difficult if it opens up like a door. Odds are that you'll be getting a small stand or shelf for the center channel as that sub may work better closer to a corner or actually behind your seating. Depends entirely on your room though and you'll spend plenty of time scootin' that thing around the room in search of a flat FR.


I did the best I could do with my room while still trying to keep it looking somewhat like a living space at the same time. I'm resigned to just build a dedicated room with NO windows and only two doors, one directly at the center of the short back wall and one on the front right side of the long wall. I'll probably do an underground survival shelter at the same time so I can watch a movie and then go hide when the SHTF.

 

[spencereveritt]


The shelf is a door.  I was thinking of doing a hidden door there but it was not going to work.  The other option is to put them behind the screen.  That puts them at 20°. 

 

[jevans64]

20° will have to work and would be better than putting them too close to the corners. I had to ADD 36" of WALL to my back wall JUST so I could install in-wall speakers for back surrounds. I have openings or windows at my corners which makes it hard to place speakers at the recommended distances. Largest display size I can fit is 75" or less. I have a 65" DLP now with the only choice being LCD ( yuck! ) if it dies.