How to Test Speakers (1 Viewer)

[analytics]

I am awaiting my mail-ordered speakers and AVR for my brand-new 7.2 surround system. For your reference, I purchased the following:
[*]Yama RX-V773WA 7.2-Channel AVR
[*](2) Klipsch RF-52 II Floorstanding Speakers
[*](1) Klipsch RC-52 II Center Channel Speaker
[*](2) Klipsch RS-42 II Surround Speakers
[*](2) Klipsch SW-110 Subwoofers
[*](2) Klipsch RB-51 II Bookshelf Speakers
[/list] I may have made a mistake by ordering the RS-42 speakers. I’ve heard conflicting reports about how well these work in the 4/5 spots—some people say they are okay if the room layout and speaker placement fits into some relatively narrow parameters. Others claim they are more robust. My room layout is far from ideal. This is complicated by a preference (driven by non-audio factors) to put speaker #4 in a non-ideal spot in this non-ideal room.

Once I get the speakers and AVR, I’m going to go “into the lab” and conduct real-world experiments with speaker placement and see how it actually sounds. I have two big questions I want to figure out through experimentation:
[*]Can my preferred spot for Speaker 4 produce acceptable results?
[*]How does the bipole RS-42 compare to a standard RB-51 in that spot?
[/list] My understanding is those surround channels are used in two different ways. First, movies will put non-directive background noise there. This is ambient sound that is supposed to fill the room and not sound like it’s coming from any specific spot. Second, movies will sometimes put directive background signals on those channels. For this type of noise, the sound should sound like it is coming from a specific place. So when I’m experimenting with different configurations, I’d like to test both types of sounds. Does a given setup provide decent ambient sound? Does it provide acceptable location-specific sound? Any feedback on this approach or suggestions for how I should “listen like an audiophile” when evaluating the speakers?

 

[schan1269]

First thing I notice(beyond the way over there for speaker 4) is your spot marked SW. More than likely, given this room, your SW is going to go dead center between 6/7. Otherwise, I think you are going to need to put the RS42 at 6/7 and the RB51 at 4/5...but I've said that already. The major problem with 4, way over there, is it will probably need boosted +3-+5...and be overbearing for the people coming down the stairs. Are those stairs "landing" at the front of the theatre? Or "landing" over in the corner? Edit: By the way, on the right side on the 20' wall...right in the middle...what is that?

 

[analytics]

The stairs go down to the right--when you get to the bottom of the stairs, there is a doorway to the left, and the front-left speaker is right in front of you. There is a wall on both sides of the stairway, so you aren't in the room until you are all the way down. It's a fireplace on the right-hand wall. Actually, I bit the bullet (and blew the budget) and got two sub-woofers. I'm thinking they'll be next to 1 and 2. For testing, I'll set it up as a 5.2 system, and put the RS's in 4/5 for a clip, and then will watch the same clip with the RB's. I'll listen to the clips from various points in the room at various volumes. Do you have any suggestions for specific movie scenes that will best expose the problems you predict?

 

[schan1269]

Anything with a sweeping soundtrack... Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Forrest Gump. Baraka. Any "music" DVD/BD. (Jeff Beck Live at Ronnie Scott's)