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Surround speaker placement question (need help ASAP)

668 Views 5 Replies 3 Participants Last post by sofakng, Oct 5, 2006

sofakng

Discussion Starter · Oct 5, 2006

Tomorrow I'm going to be mounting my surround sound speakers to the back wall of my living room (eg. the wall behind my couch). I'm using wall-mounts so I have the ability to place it at any height.

My living room is somewhat small so I'm a bit limited on space, but here are some measurements:

(LF = Left Front, RF = Right Front)

Center of couch to TV: 7 feet

Center of couch to LF: 7.25 feet

Center of couch to RF: 7.5 feet

Normally I sit on the right side of the couch so I took some measurements from there as well:

(RSOC = Right Side of Couch)

RSOC to TV: 7 feet

RSOC to LF: 8 feet

RSOC to RF: 7 feet

As I mentioned, I'm mounting the speakers onto the wall behind the couch. The couch is pulled out a few inches from the wall but is otherwise very close to the wall.

The distance I THINK I will need to mount the surround speakers is about 6.5 feet from the center of the couch. However, this means that my seat (the right-side of the couch) will be about 4.0 - 4.5 feet from the RS and about 7.5 feet from the LS.

Are my surround speakers too close? I can't do much about this, but maybe I can squeeze out a few more inches if that is what I need.

Also, how high should I mount the surround speakers? The wall-mounts can be angled downwards so I'm guessing that will help quite a bit.

Here are a bunch of pictures I've just taken from my living room. The spot I'm looking to mount them is just past the lamps on each side of the couch.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jklimek...7594313361565/

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craig john

· #2 · Oct 5, 2006

I would not put them on the back wall at all. Mount one above the door on the left side and the other on the right wall directly across from, and at the same height as, the left side. The surround sound speakers should be at your sides, not behind you. See the Dolby website:
http://www.dolby.com/consumer/home_e...oomlayout.html

Be sure to set the speaker distances in your receiver and calibrate the levels with an SPl meter.

Craig

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Sirquack

· #3 · Oct 5, 2006

I agree with Craig, the left/right surrounds should normally be placed to the left/right of the listener, unless your talking 6.1 or 7.1, then you would have some rears in the equation. Now, the type of speaker your using can make a difference also. For example, the Axiom Qs8 quadpolar surrounds are very forgiving on placement being a 4 driver inphase design. Many people have had good luck with them spread apart on the back wall, if you don't have other options. You might consider stands as well to the side of the listening positions.

Randy

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sofakng

Discussion Starter · #4 · Oct 5, 2006

Ugh... that's not the response I was hoping for

Unfortunately I can't mount the speakers on the side walls because it would look really, really bad. (eg. that door is the front door to my house, my wife would not appriciate a speaker directly over it)

Stands were an option but I decided they take up a bit too much floor space so really I've decided that I must mount them on the back wall (unless it will be a big difference in sound quality and even then I'm not sure what I can do...)

So given my decision, what will give me the best quality? Do I want them further apart, higher/lower?

Thanks for your advice

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craig john

· #5 · Oct 5, 2006

In that case, mount them about 6' high and symetrically located above the seating.

Craig

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sofakng

Discussion Starter · #6 · Oct 5, 2006

How far from the couch should I mount the speakers? As far as possible?

Also, just to be clear about the mounts. They tilt AND swivel and they will be facing the listeners on the couch (they will NOT be facing the TV [eg. the "rear" speakers in a 7.1 setup])

Think of the speaker mount as an "L" with the top of the L attached to the wall. The bottom part of the L is swiveled so it is facing the listeners.

Does that make sense?

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