Rear Speaker Location... (1 Viewer)

[Jason=F]

I'm purchasing a new surround sound system for my living room. I would say 85% of the use is going to be TV, 10% DVD watching, and 5% Music. I'm on a tight budget and think I'm set on the HSU Ventriloquist VT-12 setup w/ a HSU STF-2 subwoofer. The WAF factor is high in this room and place speakers just anywhere isn't acceptable.


http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/.../4791.imgcache

The center channel will be placed on top of the TV, and fronts will either be on stands (maybe) or wall hung. My concern is with the rear speakers, as you can see from the room layout the couch is on the rear wall so my options are limited. In the HSU VT-12 manual is suggests the rear speakers facing each other behind the user, and the rear center behind facing the user.

1. If I put the rear center behind us it will literally be less than a foot behind us above a window (about 7' high). That doesn't seem like a good location, how about on the floor behind the couch (with maybe 1-2" gap between couch and wall) facing upward?

2. I'm thinking of pulling one rear speaker on the right wall (lower right corner) and one hidden behind the lamp facing each other. Will the fact that they are differend lengths from the wall effect the rear sound?

What suggestions might you have for a room layout like this? Do I just run a 5.1 setup instead of a 6.1?

Thanks,
Jason

 

[John Garcia]

1) Try both of those options and see which one sounds better, because it will depend on your room and personal listening tastes. It may work with it above, providing you point it down toward the center of the room so it does not reflect directly off the ceiling. For behind and below, same thing, try to point it so it does not reflect directly off the wall - depending on your couch and floor (material and construction), above might be the better choice.

2) Yes, having the speakers placed differently relative to surfaces like nearby walls will affect the sound, but that is what speaker level adjustments on your receiver are for. If you don't have a receiver that automatically adjusts the levels, you can do it manually to balance them, ideally with an SPL meter.

 

[Jason=F]

I got the picture included now....

The floor is hardwood, and the couch is leather. There isn't much sound dampening in the room, only a area rug to really help out.

I guess I'll just have to just try out a couple locations and see what works.

 

[ScottCHI]

You may want to leave out the 6th rear speaker and just use a 5.1 setup.