Nathan Stohler

The following link shows roughly how my family room is set up. Please cut and paste the URL into your browser, as Yahoo! will not allow me to reference an image from another site.

"http://www.geocities.com/floyd_1977/pictures/htf/ht_layout2.jpg"

key
brown: entertainment stand and speakers
black: couch and love seat
blue: optimal surround speaker location

My surround speakers (Boston CR65) are currently on small, 25" stands, but I just ordered some nice new stands that can go as high as 45", which should be high enough, since my couch sits pretty low (on the 25" stands, they were at about ear level).

As you can see, they are not in the optimal location (to the side and slightly behind). The "sweet spot" is marked by an "X". The arrow marks a high traffic area, which prevents me from putting my left surround further back (I would prefer to keep my speakers on stands). I have this speaker pointed at the sweet spot, but I'm afraid that it is still too far forward.

Does anyone have any suggestions for me? I think my options are:
(1) Leave it alone.
(2) Leave it as is, but move the surround speakers back to the blue locations when watching a movie.
(3) Move the couch forward (which means the love seat would have to move too far forward, and half of the room will need to be used for something else).
(4) Rearrange the room so that the entertainment stand is on the bottom wall, long couch on the top, love seat on the left:

"http://www.geocities.com/floyd_1977/pictures/htf/ht_layout3.jpg"

I think I'm stuck with (2), due to FAF (fiancee approval).

Thanks.
--Nathan

Neil Joseph

Moving to HT construction

What is the red item? If you want to go with the other layout option #3 then a possible way to convince the spouse is to change the layout then get and play one of her absolute favourite movies on DVD.

I think the third layout is so much nicer. It gives more breathing space for the surround speakers and allows for a symmetrical setup which would not ideally be possible with layout #2.

Here are the images...

Layout #2


Layout #3

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Nathan Stohler

Thanks, Neil.

The red item is just a bookshelf; it's not important. I guess I was trying to make that area of the room look like less of a waste of space

Our 7-month-old daughter spends a lot of time down in that room, so I think the second layout would be better because she'd have more room to play, and we could keep an eye on her while watching TV.

The spouse has reluctantly agreed to let me rearrange the room, so I think I will try it out, as soon as I can get some help moving my 236 lb. Vega

Thanks again.
--Nathan

P.S. -- thanks for putting my images inline. I appreciate it.

Neil Joseph

Be sure to treat her to something nice.

Click on above image to enter " T H E . H O L O D E C K "
---------------------------------------------------------
The Holodeck. My DIY Screen. DIY Subwoofer: The MaxCaliber
My humble collection of DVD's. HTF Beginner's Primer and FAQ

Chu Gai

You may find the following link to be of some benefit.
Sitting down with your fiance to watch Steel Magnolias might be an effective approach. Best of luck!

Nathan Stohler

Thank you, Chu. I have read through some of those lectures before -- lots of good information there.

For now, I have a 5th option that I think I will go with when I get my speaker stands, which doesn't require me to move my entertainment stand, TV and other equipment:

"http://www.geocities.com/floyd_1977/pictures/htf/ht_layout4.jpg"

It'll be nice to have the couch centered. And if this doesn't go over well, at least I won't have to break my back to move everything. I'll see how it sounds. Thanks again for your advice, Chu and Neil.