Front speaker placement issues (1 Viewer)

I'm finally setting up my family room for 5.1. My issue is the wall that has my current set up is 20 feet in width but has two windows, a fireplace, and a recessed entertainment center. The back of my room opens into the kitchen and hallway, so no rear wall to speak of. I've had two different proposals from A/V installers about what I should do. We all agree that the rear speakers can be in-ceiling. The fronts are a different story. One installer is maily concerned about width, so is suggesting new angled in-ceiling speakers like these from Atlantic Technology http://www.atlantictechnology.com/default.asp?NodeId=167. You can see from the photo of my room (sorry for the poor quality) that I currently have them about 4.5 feet apart, but they are a little too high. To have them lower would require them to be even a little closer. One installer said the new angled in-ceilings would be best for the front of this room, other guy just agreed with whatever I said. I've been thinking about floor speakers, placed inside of both windows. Should the center channel be under TV still, or should it be centered? Thougts?

Distance from you(as in lowering the left one I guess means mounting it to the facade of the fireplace) is compensated for in the AVR(which is???). In-ceiling fronts are NEVER the right idea. What I would do(budget please)... http://www.amazon.com/Pinnacle-Speakers-QP-15-15-Driver/dp/B002OB49KK/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1359749489&sr=1-1&keywords=pinnacle+qp15 Mated with an AVR that does width and place the "wides" over by whatever that red vase is and in the corner "not covered" by the curtains. Or you could place your main speakers over "there" where I'm suggesting wides. It looks like whatever you have can be mounted vertically, which would probably help when mounted farther out.

Originally Posted by Caboosh
I've been thinking about floor speakers, placed inside of both windows. Should the center channel be under TV still, or should it be centered?

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Whatever you go with (and I agree with Sam that in-ceiling speakers are the LAST thing I'd ever do for fronts), the center channel should be localized to the TV (the center produces the vast majority of the dialog - and you don't want voices coming from "off to the side") and the mains should be roughly equidistant from the center.
I would avoid putting them both "inside" the windows - the result will be oddly asymmetric. Because of the fireplace, your choices boil down to either right below where the speakers are now, or the left speaker just inside the left window, and the right speaker just outside the right window.
You may also be able to find some "on wall" speakers that are larger than what you have, but will still fit in the space currently occupied by your mains. I don't have any specific recommendations, though. It's been a long time since I've shopped for speakers.

My AVR is a Yamaha HTR-4065. I know, that wall sucks, I almost had the guy talk me into in ceiling speakers. My main concern is the symmetry issue. Should I be less concerned about width if I keep things symetrical. Probably doesn't matter as much for rear surrounds?. Current speakers are Bose 161 which I want to replace with LCR of good quality.

Does the fireplace facade cover the entire area to the left?

No, there's an equal amount of space on either side which is 10 inches. I have listened to a few different speakers that would fit. One example is the MartinLogan Motion 4 which is about six inches wide.

IF you aren't averse to just sitting speakers on the floor... http://www.amazon.com/Yamaha-NS-F210BL-Bass-Reflex-Floorstanding-Speaker/dp/B002JCSG12/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1359757508&sr=1-1&keywords=yamaha+ns+tower

Thanks everyone. I think I may go with floorstanding speakers and compensate for the different width from the center with my AVR controls. Anyone see a problem with doing this? The left would be angeled at about 30 degrees and the right about 20*. I think this would still be better than the 10 degree angle with the speakers right next to the TV.