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Where to position surround sound speakers?

post #1 of 12
2/17/07 at 8:28pm
Thread Starter 
I just bought a HTIB and was wondering where the best place was to put the satellites. The stands that they sell are head height, yet in a cinema they are much higher up which in my case would be convenient because of my very awkward shaped living room.

The HTIB is a LG 5.1 1000 watt

I took a couple pictures to give you an idea of the layout.




It is a little awkward to tell from the images but the front 2 speakers are level and the same distance away from the center speaker, the back speakers are higher up and further apart.

Would this be ok?

Thanks for your help before I go drilling holes into my wall!

- Dan
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post #2 of 12
2/17/07 at 8:31pm
Not you and your drill again...
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post #3 of 12
2/17/07 at 8:33pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by IainHewitt View Post
Not you and your drill again...
Hey I am very very safe with my dri... oops
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post #4 of 12
2/17/07 at 8:53pm
the optimum position for your rear speakers are high and firing down towards where you sit. i bought a pair of stands for my rears that does this for me and it made quite a difference.
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post #5 of 12
2/17/07 at 9:11pm
Thread Starter 
ok great, so as long as I point them towards where I am sitting it shouldn't matter that they are far apart... I believe I can tell it an extra meter or so in the setup.
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post #6 of 12
2/17/07 at 9:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by warrior05 View Post
the optimum position for your rear speakers are high and firing down towards where you sit.
I've never heard that...IMO ear level is always optimum, but decor, WAF, etc...can make that difficult, and the only way to go is up.

Anyway, your placement is too far back. If you can, bring them forward, so the SL/SR is adjacent to your ears. Contrary to a common belief one does not want the rears to the "rear" of you - more along the side of your sitting position is better. This how the engineers mix the soundtracks according to the Dolby and DTS standard. Take a look at speakers in a movie theater. The Surrounds are not in the rear, they're on the side. Oddly, SACD and DVD-A is mixed differently! Another example of those formats' arrogancy.

The most common complaint I hear is, "I really don't notice my surrounds." Then I go to their house and notice the SL/SR is positioned to the rear. They move them forward and get the wow effect!

-------L-----C-----R--------



SL----------You------------SR

See?

For DVD-A and SACD you want more of a circular placement...

-------------C------------
-------L-----------R-------

-----------You-------------

------SL-----------SR------

Be sure to match those levels when you're through. Have fun!
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post #7 of 12
2/17/07 at 10:05pm
Thread Starter 
Thank you for the explanation and layout.

Ear level really wouldn't work for me and would be close to impossible for the rear (side) speakers. I notice at the movies the speakers are up high, granted a wee bit better than my HTIB but still...

I just drew this to show you my birds eye setup... I think I should be an artist!

red: planned speaker setup
orange: optional setup
green: people

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post #8 of 12
2/17/07 at 10:24pm
With the assumption, that you plan on enjoying surround mostly through the Dolby and DTS format, orange is the way to go. Even with high rez surround music, I would go orange. That red layout if funky and will make for odd imaging.

On ear level, it is optimum, but by no means necessary. Like warrior said, just make sure your speakers point down toward the main listening position.

If you upgrade again, check into room equalization. It makes a world of difference for those poor saps not on the couch.

That's all I got. Have fun! I am a huge fan of surround. I spent today re-equalizing my speakers and adjusting room treatments in fact.
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post #9 of 12
2/17/07 at 10:43pm
Your front and center speakers seem too high. The tweeters should be as close as possible to eye/ear-level at your listening (sitting) position.

Check this link for additional recommendations, in particular for the surrounds:
http://www.crutchfieldadvisor.com/IS...placement.html
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post #10 of 12
2/18/07 at 12:24am
Your front speakers are too high, and I suspect too far apart. Also, I always got better results with the speakers out from the wall rather than right on it.

I would also go orange if you can't swing some stands for the rears. Go ahead, just put the speakers in the middle of the room on stands. What else is the room for?
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post #11 of 12
2/18/07 at 12:32am
Here you go. And move your TV to the center of the room, silly



If WAF is really a problem, get rid of the wife. Or, leave some slack cords, and put the rear speakers by the sofa when you aren't watching a movie or something. I keep my speakers tucked away until movie time, then put one on my aquarium and one on my bed.

BTW, surround speakers aren't supposed to be little. That is a compromise. Ideally, they are the same as your front speakers. It's just that some people think that they are supposed to be smaller, because they are common that way. They are common that way for reasons other than SQ.
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post #12 of 12
2/18/07 at 2:50am
Thread Starter 
I went ahead and setup the front speakers tonight. I have them positioned 5ft high off the ground and 5ft away from the center. This sounded terrific when I tested them with a DVD on 5.1, however on cable it did not use the center speaker (not sure why) and sounded a little odd.

I will set the rears up tomorrow at about 6-7ft high in the orange position.

virometal - I will look into room equalization, it's usually just my wife and I so it isn't a concern right now.

rsaavedra - Thanks for the link, some good advice, problem is it's awkward to position anything in my room.

trains are bad - As I have a large room to fill when I bring the speakers in close to the TV you don't really get the left to right effects half as good as you do as when they are 10ft apart. Thanks got the example image but I really can't do that, thats the walk way back there, entrance to the kitchen, dinning area and front door. The speakers are on brackets positioned on the wall. All 4 speakers are the same size so it doesn't matter which I use where.
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