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7.1 Speaker placement help please! (1 Viewer)

Aaron Gould

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My room is roughly 18.5' x 11.5'. I'm wondering if anyone can give me advice on placement of a 7.1 channel speaker setup.

I'm looking to acquire a Denon 2803 this year, and am preparing my speakers...

I've already got the fronts (2 x Mirage OM-10), rear (2 x Mirage OM-R2), Rear surround (one Mirage OM-R2) and center channel (one Mirage OM-C3). A sub is here too, but not really relevant to the question.

My question is -- given my room dimensions, would two back surrounds be too overwhelming, or would it work just fine? The image below illustrates my room's layout. Note the speakers in question at the back of the room (in bright yellow). The image is not exactly to scale, but not far off...

[C] [/C]
 

Geoff S

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If you can afford it go with the 7.1. The more the better, right?

If possible, after you get your Denon, get the 2nd rear surround, making sure you can return it within a set time frame if you do not want it, and test 6.1 material, upconverted 5.1 material, and 7 channel stereo with the 6.1 setup, then with the 7.1 setup, and judge if having 2 rear surrounds sounds better than 1.

As always, keep in mind that surround sound is to envelop you into the film, not to distract you from it. Good luck.
 

Marc H

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Looks like you have plenty of space for a 7.1 set up. Should be good.
My only suggestion would be to try the side effects just a wee bit more forward than you have marked. In the 7.1 set ups I have been doing lately, I find things are a bit more seamless with the side surrounds about a foot forward of the listening position.
 

Jesse Blacklow

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I have a somewhat similar room (13x17) with a HK AVR325 with 7 Ascends and a VTF-2. For right now, while I prepare the room, the surrounds and the rears are both facing sideways, and the effect is definitely not "overwhelming". Remember to calibrate the levels for all of your speakers to provide a good soundstage. I'd suggest that your rears be 3-6db quieter than your surrounds.

One question: Why is your center speaker behind you instead of in front of you? Dialogue should sound like it's coming from the screen. Don't use a TV as a center speaker.
 

Aaron Gould

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Marc H:

Moving the side speakers forward a foot isn't possible unfortunately. At least, not if I want them directly across from each other. I neglected to put a window in the drawing. I'll try to update this tonight. The window is located on the bottom of the picture, immediately to the left of the "Left Surround Speaker" square. The window is somewhere between 1.5 and 2 feet in width, and about 1 foot in height.

So basically, if they were moved a foot forward, they would have to be dropped below the window. That would make them about 6 feet from the floor, which probably isn't good. (My ceilings are about 7.5 feet.)


Jesse Blacklow:

My center channel speaker is not shown on this image. It will be located a couple inches above my TV. I'll try to update the image tonight to clarify this. There are three speakers at the back because I was depicting option "A" (one speaker - middle), and option "B" (two speakers - the two aside the middle) in one picture. I should also clarify this in the image. It will be either option "A" or option "B", and not both.
 

Marc H

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Gotcha.
It's not the end of the world, you will still get good results as per your diagram. Once you are up and running, maybe you might be able to move the couch back a few inches and see what you think.
 

Aaron Gould

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I just updated the image to show the window in the room, along with the center channel speaker.

I might just get a second rear speaker anyway. I believe the Mirage OM-R2 models are being phased out now, so if I don't do it now, I might regret it later.

The couch is about as far back as it can possibly be. The desk behind the couch is my work area. It's already as small as possible while allowing my chair behind the desk with a little room to back up...
 

Leon O

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Aaron, my room is a bit smaller than yours and my couch is only about 18" from the rear wall. Do to an opening, I had to mount my dual rear surrounds only 32" apart on the rear wall. However, they sound great for 6.1. You can always turn down the level if you think they are too loud. Like you, I had a window preventing me from mounting the side surrounds in front of the listening position. The are just about even with my ears. That position works well for me because they are awesome for 6.1 and in a good position for Dolby PLII Music. (I usually have them operating as monopoles, although I have an "ambient" option on the surrounds)

BTW, if you have the opportunity experiment with mounting your surrounds lower than normally recommended. I used to have surrounds up about 6.5 or 7 feet... they now sound so much better at 5 feet. However, my room is smaller (11x16) and I am closer to the speakers.

Have Fun!
 

Aaron Gould

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I was just thinking about my options last night -- and it occurred to me that my OM-R2 speakers are omnipolar.

Since they are non-directional, would it really matter if they are a foot or two ahead or behind the listener?
 

BrentPollard

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If the diagram is accurate the setup looks good to me, with maybe the exception of the mains. You may want to pull them forward ahead of the tv if possible to improve imaging.
 

Aaron Gould

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Thanks guys...

Brent: My fronts are floor-standing speakers, so they can be easily moved ahead. I will likely be doing so anyway as I want to build media shelves (approximately 6-8 inches deep (for DVDs, etc) on either side of the TV. That'll force the speakers to be moved up a bit...

I will be wiring my rear walls in preparation for two surrounds. I've confirmed with my A/V dealer that the OM-R2 speakers aren't likely to be discontinued in the next 6-12 months, so when money allows, I'll pick up the final speaker.
 

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