Cathedral ceiling, all of my sound goes upstairs. (3 Viewers)

My living room is two stories high and there is a rail upstairs about 4 feet tall. Above the rail is open space as well.


I have an LG TV and a Sony surround system.


My issue is that the TV and/or surround system are both louder upstairs than sitting right in front of the TV. My hearing is probably not as good as it used to be, so I have to turn it up a bit louder to be able to hear what people are saying. I have trouble hearing what people are saying as the background noise drowns out the words.


I have a basement underneath as well, so I cannot run wires to make it a true surround system. All 5 speaker are mounted on the wall beside the TV. The TV speakers kind of stink, but the surround sound system sounds great at higher levels. If my son is asleep, I have to keep the TV turned down.


We typically listen using the TV speakers only, but like I said, it can be hard to hear.


I went to Target today and they have a BOSE all in one surround sound system that sits on a TV stand below the TV. It had great sound and I am thinking that it would improve my situation, but with the issues I have had, I am not sure.


I am hoping the experts here can suggest a better setup or recommend what I need to do to improve the sound.



What are your thoughts:

1. Should I try the BOSE system?

2. Is there a way to "direct" the sound forward (not sure how to word that) so that it comes through better?4

3. Does anyone have a similar setup? What did you do to make it better?


Thanks in advance for your hep and suggestions.

Your sound system is what?

The "rear" of 5.1 actually go to the sides, slightly behind your seating.

Run wire along the baseboards?

I've had a system that was located in a room with a high cathedral ceiling and open hallways to the bedroom. At night, when I got the most complaints, the most expedient solution for me, was to use headphones. However, that isn't always what everyone wants.


A high ceiling with open areas to the rest of the house has a couple of problems. You tend to have lots of sound transmission to other areas of the house that isn't always appreciated. Larger areas also tend to require larger speakers using more power to get the same effect as a smaller enclosed space. Most of what I've seen of the Bose systems seemed to be designed for small spaces, and in the past had proprietary connections that limited it's use with other equipment. It may not be a good choice for your situation.


Your system will probably sound better if it isn't all on the front wall. Get a roll of lamp cord from Home Depot, and experiment. Go to the Dolby web site, and duplicate the specifications for a 5.1 setup. You don't have to cover the power cords to experiment. Put the surround speakers at ear level where you listen and slightly behind you. If you are using bookshelf speakers for the left and right mains, elevate them to ear level as well. put the center speaker above or below your screen, angled slightly up or down, to aim it at the prime listening position, as required. If you like the sound, you can run speaker cables to the speakers in a way that makes them unobtrusive. cable the same color, that is hidden by furniture or potted plants, flush with molding or using flat cable.


I'd try this before considering any additional equipment.

andrewYoung said:

My living room is two stories high and there is a rail upstairs about 4 feet tall. Above the rail is open space as well.


My issue is that the TV and/or surround system are both louder upstairs than sitting right in front of the TV.

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I don't think there's much anyone can do to prevent sound from traveling unimpeded through air. Speakers are designed to disperse sound into an open space. Short of strapping paper cones to each speaker any equipment you get will likely have the same problem.

andrewYoung said:

I have a basement underneath as well, so I cannot run wires to make it a true surround system.

All 5 speaker are mounted on the wall beside the TV.

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Is your basement completely finished with drywall ceilings? If you have any access underneath the room with the TV, then you should be able to run wires.


If you really cannot run a "true" surround system, then abandon the extra speakers (and configure the home theater system accordingly). Putting all of the speakers on the front wall is like adding gasoline to the fire if your primary concern is that there's too much noise escaping to elsewhere in the room.


A properly set up speaker configuration (be it 2.0, 5.1, or 7.1) will always be better than a wacky, unconventional speaker layout that muddies the soundfield.

andrewYoung said:

I went to Target today and they have a BOSE all in one surround sound system that sits on a TV stand below the TV. It had great sound and I am thinking that it would improve my situation, but with the issues I have had, I am not sure.

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I can't bring myself to ever recommend a Bose product - they are overpriced for what you get. As Bob indicated, given your situation, I really don't think that different hardware is going to solve your problem.


The first thing I'd try is to ditch the surround speakers and set your system up as 3.1 (Left/Center/Right/Subwoofer). Read the manual on your current system and make sure it is configured properly (assuming it can be configured - many "all-in-one" systems lack the flexibility to allow for different speaker configurations).


If it's still too loud upstairs, try without the subwoofer. If it's still too noisy upstairs, then you're probably out of luck.

andrewYoung said:

What are your thoughts:

1. Should I try the BOSE system?

2. Is there a way to "direct" the sound forward (not sure how to word that) so that it comes through better?4

3. Does anyone have a similar setup? What did you do to make it better?


Thanks in advance for your hep and suggestions.

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1. Like others have said Bose is normally overpriced for what you get out of it. There are usually cheaper solutions that are better than Bose offerings.
2. I'm not sure there's a way to direct the sound more but I think you could play with the settings/config of your system to maybe improve it.
3. I have low ceilings so no.

Here are some questions/thoughs that I had.

• How large is the room that you have your system in? How far away are the seating positions from your speakers?
• I'm not sure but maybe try and use a night mode if your unit has it.
• Have you tried to boost the dialogue/center speaker level?
• How are your speakers installed? Are they wall mounted, on stands or just on furniture? Are your speakers at or near the correct height (should be around ear level while seated)? Try moving them to the correct height even if you have to use books ect. temporarily as stands. It's worth a shot. If they are installed higher up on the wall maybe aim them down and toward your seating positions?
• Did your system come with an auto setup feature/microphone? If it does have you tried running it without the "extra" speakers like Jason suggested? That right there might cure a lot of your woes
• If you don't have a an auto setup feature did you go in and set your distance, height, ect in your setup menu? That might also help out if you haven't.
• If it's too bass heavy same thing can you turn down the level on the sub so that it's blending better with the speakers?

Thank you for the responses everyone.


We normally use the TV speakers (not surround sound) as the surround is all but too loud. I like the idea of turning the sub off as it does add too much sound. I will check for the setup as well to see if I can configure it better.


I always thought Bose was about as good as it gets, so thanks for the correction.


We will move our couches closer as well. I will usually sit closer to the TV to help me as well.


The room is fairly large.. Probably 20X30 or bigger? It is a finished basement, so other than basically ripping out the ceilings, it is impossible to run cables/wires to the back speakers which is why we mounted them to the front wall. I have 6 speakers (including sub) and 3 of them are at the right height, but the other 2 are higher than they should be. The problem is just a lack of space for the speakers on the front wall.


Thanks again, I will try the suggestions.