I am putting together a 5.1 speaker system and my current thinking is to use dipole surrounds. As I understand it, the ideal mount should be high (2-3' above the listener's ears) and slightly behind the sweetspot. Unfortunately, my room (20x12 - screen on the short wall) has a door and window making it impossible to have this exact placement. So, I have several options and would really appreciate any feedback. I will have a second row of seating available behind the sweetspot.
I will start out with 5.1 with the thought of moving to 7.1 as more material becomes available in that format. But I'll worry about that later.
Options:
1) place surrounds low (2-3 ft off floor) but slightly behind the sweetspot. (preserve distance from fronts)
2) place surrounds at proper height but 3 feet behind sweetspot (preserve height)
which compromises on the quality the least? I suspect that option 2 (preserve height) is the best but am no expert. Or is there yet another possibility?
Also, would it make sense to bag the dipoles and go to a simple monopole bookshelf speaker? The dolby page on placement has some alternates for monopoles. It certainly saves money.
Thanks in advance
Phil
I will start out with 5.1 with the thought of moving to 7.1 as more material becomes available in that format. But I'll worry about that later.
Options:
1) place surrounds low (2-3 ft off floor) but slightly behind the sweetspot. (preserve distance from fronts)
2) place surrounds at proper height but 3 feet behind sweetspot (preserve height)
which compromises on the quality the least? I suspect that option 2 (preserve height) is the best but am no expert. Or is there yet another possibility?
Also, would it make sense to bag the dipoles and go to a simple monopole bookshelf speaker? The dolby page on placement has some alternates for monopoles. It certainly saves money.
Thanks in advance
Phil