[achen2002]

Can someone please tell me which speaker setting below the following two is better?


(A) Currently I have 7 in-ceiling speakers now, 2 front + 1 center + 2 surround + 2 rear. All are in 9ft high ceiling.


(B) What if I take the original front pair to be front height, install one additional bookshelf speaker as front channel, and just disconnect the rear pair and not using it at all?


The reason I'm asking this is because I have been using setting (A) for about half an year, but I don't really feel the rear channels are doing a great job, it might very well because of not many sources are encoded with 7.1, even Blu-ray titles.


Since my receiver supports front height speakers (Dolby Pro Logic IIz), I am just wondering if making use of the front height speakers will make my system performs better, in watching movie and playing games?

 

[jdsmoothie]

Ceiling speakers in general aren't going to be an ideal solution, unless by ceiling you really mean front and rear "wall" speakers. Regardless, some find front height add to the surround envelopment, while others say not so much. You would likely be better served adding (2) front main + (1) center stand alone speakers and then you could use the current front ceiling as front height and disconnect the current center and rear speakers.

 

[achen2002]

Thanks jdsmoothie, unfortunately adding a non-ceiling center speaker is not possible in my environment, otherwise I wouldn't have installed 7 ceiling speakers in the beginning.


So, adding one pair of bookshelf speakers serving as front is the most I could do.

 

[jdsmoothie]

Your original suggestion wouldn't work then replacing your 2 front mains with just a single front main as the mains need to be in stereo unless of course you are using a single sound bar. And even adding the bookshelf speakers as front speakers with a ceiling center wouldn't sound right either. Ideally you want the front main speaker tweeters and center speaker all on the same line. Although if you can add 2 main bookshelf speakers, why can't you add a center speaker as well?

 

[achen2002]

Because I can place two bookshelf speakers on the countertops, but there is nowhere I can put a center speaker anywhere close to the TV, other than putting it on the ceiling...

 

[jdsmoothie]

What is that space beneath the TV used for? You could mount the center speaker at the top of that space and place a couple of speakers on the countertops on either side of it.

 

[achen2002]

What you see behind there is fireplace, with two pieces of glass doors occupying 100% of the opening space, so I physically can not put ANYTHING in that space.

 

[jdsmoothie]

Strange the fireplace is set back so far.

As the FL/FR speakers would ideally have to be placed on either side of the TV (ie. fairly high up), they, as well as the center channel could be hung from the ceiling using chains. Another option you may want to consider is replacing the existing "flush" ceiling speakers with ones that hang down from the ceiling via a ceiling mount that can be aimed towards the couch rather than being flush in the ceiling.

 

[Kilian.ca]

Mr Chen's concern is the rears not doing a great job with 7.1, shouldn't the discussion first address the positioning and correct 'calibration' of the rears before worrying about the fronts?