[ntesla01]

I'm looking for opinions and ideas on the best placement of rear channel speakers and speaker type for a 7.1 setup. It's in an irregular diagonal setup in a rectangular room. See the attached picture with the rear channels in circled in red.

The room furniture arrangement and layout will not be changed. I don't need suggestions like "move the sectional couch 3 feet from the wall" or "put the TV over the fireplace". I will not make any of those changes for specific reasons. I do not care about perfect surround experience, I'm looking for advice on the best I can get in this current scenario leaving everything as it is and only changing the rear channel location, height, and/or speaker type.

I'm moving into this house so I don't have this setup yet but already have equipment. I currently have 4 Vienna Acoustics Haydn's for side and rear surround, I'm thinking of changing the rear channel Haydn speakers for bipoles as I think bipole speakers might be better for this scenario as they may be less sensitive to placement than the monopole bookshelf speakers I already have. Bipoles also tend to be lower profile and lighter. My Vienna Acoustics are very heavy rosewood and 11" long. The rear channels are challenged in that at 4' height, at least one will be near the ears of people sitting against the wall.

So the questions are:
1. Without changing anything else, where would you move/place the rear channel speakers (red circles in the image), on which walls locations and height?
2. What speaker type would you recommend for this setup? e.g. bipole/dipole, direct/monopole, anything else new and exciting?

Again I am not looking at getting perfect surround, just best possible given this scenario, and not willing to shift around furniture.

I appreciate any suggestions!

 

[Alan P]

Which seat is the MLP (Main Listening Position)? Are you the only one who will care about the resulting sound, or are others as discriminating as you?

 

[LastButNotLeast]

Is the ceiling an option?

 

[ntesla01]

Which seat is the MLP (Main Listening Position)? Are you the only one who will care about the resulting sound, or are others as discriminating as you?

There is not a main listening position. If we have to assume there is, then I'd say the corner seat toward the back of the room where the two couch sections meet.

I will be the one who cares the most and it does not bother me that it won't be perfect due to the room layout and probably would not find myself only sitting in the main listening position. Looking for best possible setup and speaker type without moving anything else and for best general rear surround field to the whole area, knowing full well it might be a little off kilter depending on where people sit.

My processor has speaker distance settings/attenuation and all that, so I have some soft fine tuning capability to handle distance. The biggest problem I'm trying to solve is how to not make the rear surrounds too locate-able given how close one or both might be to people sitting there.

 

[ntesla01]

Is the ceiling an option?

I'm not interested in in-ceiling speakers. That will be too much wiring and I actually have that setup already in the house I'm moving from with the two rear surrounds in-ceiling right above the main listening position. I find the ceiling speakers to be too locate-able and somewhat immersion breaking to be worth the hassle.

However, placing a wall mount speaker up high is something I would consider. By wall mount, I mean like a bipole wall mountable or my Vienna Acoustics Haydn bookshelf on a wall shelf/mount. I don't mean in-wall.

 

[Alan P]

There is not a main listening position. If we have to assume there is, then I'd say the corner seat toward the back of the room where the two couch sections meet.

I will be the one who cares the most and it does not bother me that it won't be perfect due to the room layout and probably would not find myself only sitting in the main listening position. Looking for best possible setup and speaker type without moving anything else and for best general rear surround field to the whole area, knowing full well it might be a little off kilter depending on where people sit.

My processor has speaker distance settings/attenuation and all that, so I have some soft fine tuning capability to handle distance. The biggest problem I'm trying to solve is how to not make the rear surrounds too locate-able given how close one or both might be to people sitting there.

If it was me, I would just go with 5.1 and forget the rear speakers.

There is not enough room behind your MLP(s) to effectively use rear speakers. The minimum recommended distance is 3-4'.

 

[ntesla01]

If it was me, I would just go with 5.1 and forget the rear speakers.

There is not enough room behind your MLP(s) to effectively use rear speakers. The minimum recommended distance is 3-4'.

I was considering that approach as well, appreciate the honest opinion!

However, I don't have any experience with bipoles and read a lot of people claiming they disperse the sound field so well they can't tell where the sound is coming from.

The right rear speaker location is a good distance from listeners (where I put on the current diagram). It's just the left that is the problem.

I supposed one thing I could think about is a 6.1 setup too. That rear single could be placed in the corner opposite the TV and be far enough away. I'm pretty sure my processor will convert 7.1 to 6.1.

 

[Alan P]

6.1 was my first thought as well, but was unsure if your AVP was capable. If it is, that is a good solution IMO.

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

I’m with Alan, you can’t reasonably do 7.1 in that room. 7.1 requires speakers to be behind the seating, and that’s impossible if the seat is against the wall.

BTW, nice picture – stuff like that really helps us!

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[ntesla01]

I've been doing more research and read a number of links with folks who have "couch against the wall" and got satisfying and immersive results using bipolar speakers mounted higher than normal. In the case of the sectional in my diagram, some of the seating is forward of the surrounds so while not the perfect solution, I'm inclined to try it. I'll try something inexpensive like a polk audio FX1 A4 and hear what kind of results I get.

 

[RayGuy]

Either do 5.1 or 6.1 with a bipole speaker about where you currently show your left rear speaker, raised a couple of feet above your seated head (at the bar) or at the ceiling junction.