7.1 Surround speaker placement (1 Viewer)

I'm sure this has been asked before, but I need help on this today. I have installed the front left, center, and right speakers in the forward wall and I'm now considering the locations of the surround speakers.

The components are as follows:
- Yamaha RX-V665 A/V receiver
- PSB 8" powered sub
- 3 Hi-Fi Works THX Select (P/N 30044) in-wall speakers for front Lft, cen, rt
- 4 Hi-Fi Works THX Select (P/N 30045) in-wall speakers for surround positions

The room is approx 14' x 14' with a large sectional couch (10' x 6") along the back wall and into the back right corner. The back of the couch is against the back wall.

I am considering installing surround speakers in the ceiling, left and right of the central seating position and then the rear surround speakers I'm at a loss for where to put. I could just skip installing the rear surrounds and go 5.1 or I can put them in the back wall at any height.

Would locating the rear surrounds down just a bit lower than the back of the couch work well with the overhead position of the front surround speakers?

Thanks
Chuck

Hi Chuck,

If your couch is against the back wall, I suggest you go with 5.1. You really need a some distance behind you to get the correct effect from the back speakers.

Here's a floorplan showing where I am asking about the surround speakers behind the sofa. The first row of surrounds are in the ceiling. I could just leave them as 5.1? Thoughts?

I agree. That room is way too small for a 7.1 system.

I have the exact same layout , couch and all ( I went into the room to be sure roaniecowpony wasn't sitting there). I will soon be getting the Denon 789 with dts-HD.
The dts.com site for home theater mentions other configurations for 7.1 speakers: 7.1 front height, 7.1 front wide etc. They do not mention any special codec required for this. Can they really mean any DTS HD unit can be used in this fashion? How would the rear surround speakers know they were up front and high? Does being high just add to the overall ambience and directionality not matter?
Perhaps it refers to the newer receivers just coming out but it doesn' say so as far as I can tell.
Thanks