Surround Speaker Placement (1 Viewer)

[apn73]

Hello All,

Well, we're in the process of remodelling our house and the listening area is changing, and I'm struggling on where to place the surround channels. First the basics and what's going on: this is a traditional 5.1 home theater system that I always say is 50/50 between music and movies, but that has probably changed to 90/10 towards moves just because of family circumstances. I say "traditional" because it's a surround receiver driving all speakers except for the sub. A wall has been blown out ot make the living room bigger and expose the very nice railing of a stair case, this also means that the listening area has shifted by 90 degrees. To maximize the seating area of the room a sectional couch has been installed and this is where the issue is. The sectional is in the back left side of the room with the long side of the couch at the back of the room and the short side on the left wall, there is no wall on the right side of the couch. The listening area for movies becomes the long side at the back of the room, and now I'm left wondering the best way to aim the surrounds. Mount on the back wall pointing towards the front of the room? Mount them on shelves and have them pointing towards each other? One on the wall and one pointed? The speakers are old (first generation, '02-'03 time frame) Paradigm bi-poles, model 170's I think. You've got a corner on the left side and nothing but a back wall on the right is what it comes down to. Thanks for any guidance that can be provided.
Best,
Adam.

 

[John Garcia]

These are intended to be mounted along side the listening position firing forward and back, relying on the rear wall and partly on the wall they are mounted on to bounce and diffuse the sound into the room, so you may have to compensate considerably for the one that has no wall, but it should still work with it firing toward the front and rear walls. If you have shelves to test with already, I'd try them at the rear, closer together and along side and see which sounds better in the room. Since surround is intended to be more diffuse, I think they can still be made to work.

I'd actually even recommend looking for some used Atoms or Titans and mount those in the rear, firing directly out into the room.

 

[schan1269]

+1 on Titans or Atoms. No wall, no bi-pole(or at least you shouldn't)

 

[apn73]

Thanks for the inputs, should be able to pick up a set of used atoms pretty inexpensively. I would have figured that the bi-poles would have been the best because they are supposed to be more versitile than the rest of the surround options. It would be great to have a room that is perfectly designed for sound and easy speaker placement, but I know that that is not always the reality. Thanks again.
Adam.

 

[John Garcia]

Both my previous and current room have a very similar issue as you, no immediate wall for the right surround. So in both cases, I used/use monopole surrounds. With good placement and calibration, it worked fine in both setups. The ADPs would be a good surround speaker, just not in this room IMO.

 

[apn73]

+1 on Titans or Atoms. No wall, no bi-pole(or at least you shouldn't)

I don't have much of a choice when it comes to walls, the sectional has a wall immediately behind it and immediately to the left of it with corner of the sectional sitting in the corner made by the two walls. bi-pole would work great to the left, it's the right side that is the issue. Nothing to bounce sound from over there, just a long back wall all the way over to the other side of the house.

 

[schan1269]

I don't have much of a choice when it comes to walls, the sectional has a wall immediately behind it and immediately to the left of it with corner of the sectional sitting in the corner made by the two walls. bi-pole would work great to the left, it's the right side that is the issue. Nothing to bounce sound from over there, just a long back wall all the way over to the other side of the house.

That is why I said "no wall, no bi-pole".Same reason awhile back I had a customer where I had to rethink his theatre from the prior designer.Similar room and they chose Maggies. The surround speakers were hung from the ceiling...no closer than 13' from a wall. (And yes, they attempted Maggies 15 feet the wall)

 

[apn73]

That is why I said "no wall, no bi-pole". Same reason awhile back I had a customer where I had to rethink his theatre from the prior designer. Similar room and they chose Maggies. The surround speakers were hung from the ceiling...no closer than 13' from a wall. (And yes, they attempted Maggies 15 feet the wall)

Ah, now I get it, took you too literal I guess. Now a stupid question, what are Maggies? Ceiling mount is not out of the question, bu the post and beam construction would make that pretty difficult. I think I'm stuck using the back wall. I did see a set of Atoms for sale on ebay for $125, so they're out there.

 

[schan1269]

Magnaplaner.comPerhaps the greatest speaker design there is.

 

[schan1269]

Sorry...Magnepan.com