[Netherwind]

Maybe a picture of my current set up will help, and no, those speakers aren't currently being used because I haven't felt like setting their equalizer.



Edit: Oh, and here's for when I use them on my PC, (I also use this monitor for PS3 considering my TV isn't HDTV)


So as you can see, there's not a ton of room..but I also want to find something that matches, and pretty much what matches one will match the other because everything's got some level of black to it.

 

[RicHSAD]

Do you even have room for the rear speakers of a 5.1 setup? I had 5.1 speaker system before too, but later decided to go the 2.1 route because I couldn't really put the rear speakers anywhere that made sense. One thing that is sure is that you would need to center your PC monitor to fit some bookshelves there.

I'd say definitely look at the speakers in my last post. Energy speakers look like furniture and are all black these days too, which would look great with what you already have.

 

[Netherwind]

Oh I can make the room to put the 5.1's there, and yeah I can center my monitor, it's just like this because I had no bookshelves.

 

[Netherwind]

I was actually going to mount the rear speakers on my wall.

 

[iriverdude]

If space around side & rears is limited, look at dedicated wall mountable speakers, they're usually thinner and not so deep. Netherwind you really need to space those speakers out, and raise them up on stands, as they are they'll sound boomy with no treble (absorbed by the carpet) As for what to buy go into local Hi-Fi shop (not high street) and ask what they can do for $500.

 

[Netherwind]

Yeah I know they need to be on stands, but that's how they are, I didn't put them there or anything.

As for dedicated wall mount speakers, I have thought about it but I'd prefer to have normal speakers, if anything I can just build a shelf to set the speakers on that's not a big deal.

 

[Netherwind]

Alright, excuse the bad drawing but...



That was sort of the idea of how to play the two main speakers, and a center speaker if i got one.

 

[iriverdude]

seems fine. Need a bigger TV whilst you're at it. And I wouldn't trust that TV stand for a big heavy plasma. Try center above and below TV I've found if it's in the cabinet it may sound a bit muddy and boomy, problem if you have lots of gear need space but don't want to go up, so you need to go wide. I changed from your layout to moving most of the gear to one side freeing up space for the TV and center speaker. Once you get a big TV that stand will bring your TV too high up. I went for one of these, with adjustable TV height it's perfect.

 

[Netherwind]

Well actually here's the thing, the tv we have on there now isn't one of those thin ones, I have a good feeling it'll hold up to a plasma. The TV part is being taken care of by my parents eventually, I'm just handling everything else slowly, like the PS3 being the centerpiece, right now. I want to get rid of the cd player and the dvd player we have, and then get rid of the triple receiver so we can just have one thing on each shelf, ps3/cable box/receiver

Edit: And if you wouldn't mind could you tell me how high I should have the speakers so I can get dimensions and try to build two stands? Like, higher than the TV, or same height or what.

 

[iriverdude]

That all depends what plasma you're buying although unless you sit on bar stools, the TV may be too high.I'd get a large bit of card cut to size of desired plasma TV (including the stand, frame, and screen itself) place it on the stand and see what you think. You may think that stand is allright height until you plonk the TV on top.

But for a start you want the three treble drivers to be at head height. Same for the TV, the middle of the screen at head height (or slightly lower so you look very slightly down) Don't forget a plasma TV has a stand, so the bottom of the actual screen may be 10-15cm from the top of your TV stand. Factor in your TV stand height (about 55-60cm?) and that's 65-70cm. A 50" TV has vertical screen image of 58cm, so the top of the TV could be 1.28m-1.3M from the floor. If your chairs are quite low the TV could be slightly too high.

 

[Netherwind]

We're looking into a 42" TV, and the stand is 21" from the ground so I figure I'll make two 21" stands and just set the speakers on top?

 

[sochee]

Damn, a 5.1 system can fit in your dorm? I barely have enough space for a 2.0, keeping in mind the space needed behind bookshelves so that they don't boom.

 

[Netherwind]

Okay, I don't think I'll be needing a new receiver anytime soon, I was just at my uncles, and I was given a Yamaha RX-V3000 receiver.

 

[RicHSAD]

Very nice. Personally, I would definitely go for a 2.1 setup then. A CB-20+ESW-V8(for example) combo would easily destroy any 5.1 system you could get for $500 imo. I consider sound quality to be more important than surround sound, but maybe that's just me.

 

[Netherwind]

Okay but it would end up being a 3.1 system I was also given a center