6.1 with couch against rear wall???? (1 Viewer)

[KelvinMc]

The subject sort of says it all; can I have a 6.1 setup when the couch (main viewing/listening area) is against the back wall? I have already prewired for a 7.1 setup + 2 subwoofers, but was only going to go with 6.1 for now (hopefully). The rear center speaker would be about 4 feet above the couch. The center, mains, and rears will all be around 9 feet from the “ideal” listening area. The rears will be 2-3 feet above the listening level on the sidewalls.

So what do the experts say? Also anyone that is or has been in a similar situation, please tell me how it sounded.

 

[Steve K.H.]

Suggestions...

Don't fix the speaker at the rear immediately... you may want to elevate it (them, see below) and angle it downwards, given you some depth.

If you think that's too weird, imagine all theaters... they run the rears WAY above your head, given the angular seating profile.

Another option is in-wall speaker(s)...

When prewiring for the rear(s), be sure to run two sets to move up to 7.1 in the future. At least that option is available to you, even if you don't decide to move that route.

MANY will tell you that a single rear replaced with two speakers in series from the source is likely to provide the benefit of less localization.

Other benefits... you are stuck with another center channel if you up to 7.1 later. You're already set for 7.1. You can interchange your sides with rears to see which provides better fill.

 

[Roger Kint]

I had the same problem. My rear center was mounted on the wall about 8 ft high and the sound was going right over my head and I had absolutely no localization cues whatsoever. It was as if there was no rear center and the sound was bouncing off the front wall and probably the sides too. I then angled the single rear center downwards and it gave me the localization I was looking for. I could tell that I had an extra sound source there and it filled the gap between the side surrounds. It's a dipole speaker which helps the diffusion. I like this setup very much and am glad I managed to put in a decent 6.1 even though I don't have the ideal distance behind the listening area.

 

[VinceS]

I've got a similar problem to Kelvin but with an added rub - my rears (and soon the center) are against the back wall with my sofa also against the back wall. I have a side wall on one side but not the other so I am out of luck with that positioning.

If I put up on-walls I can easily point and direct them but if I put in-walls up then they'll fire right over my head. Since we all know the in-walls have a much higher SAF anyone ever angle their in-walls down? FYI - I have M&K s100b mains, s125c center, and am looking at the sw85 in-walls or s85 on-walls for surrounds.

 

[Joe Tilley]

I have a 6.1 set up with a pair of Polk RT55i wired in series behind my couch just above my head. IMO its not the best spot for them but I have no other choice right now.
If it is your only option just pull your couch out away from the wall some, that was all I could do.

As for how it sounds well it could be better, if you move about 3 feet forward from them it sounds better than on top of them, But I wouldn't go back to 5.1 or not consider 6.1 if your looking at receiver's.

 

[Juan M]

I read this on the dolby website. It is in reference to 5.1 rear speaker placement, but I would imagine you could try the same for the rear speaker(s) if your couch is up against the wall:

 

[Lee L]

I have a 6.1 system that started out as a 5.1 and my sofa is about 1 foot from the back wall. When the house was being built I ran wire for 6.1 speakers and moved in about a month before Denon and the like started allowing for 7.1, oops. I mounted my side surrounds about 3 feet from the back wall close to the ceiling and aimed at the sides of the sofa. When I upgraded the receiver, I added an in wall, with a moveable tweeter, in the ceiling right over the center of the sofa and angled the tweeter a click or 2 out to spread the sound around the room. Overall, the system sounds good for all the compromises but it is a living room theater after all.

 

[Stephen Hopkins]

You may want to look into getting a set of dipoles (or bipoles and re-wiring one side out of phase) and mount them 4-6 feet above the couch on the back wall. This would resemble a theater set up the most, and give a nice diffused nondirectional rear soundstage. You can get a set of Fluance Bipoles for $80, then rewire one side of each speaker out of phase. This would, in effect, make it a dipole speaker.

 

[Mike Sloan]

My couch is about 1 foot from the rear wall and to complicate matters I have no side walls...It's a "great" room that is open to everything. I used stands for the side speakers and mounted the rear centers (2) high on the rear wall (about 2 feet above ear level). I got too much localization with the rear centers in this position. Just for fun...I decided to experiment and place the rear centers just below the back of the couch but angled up at a 45 degree angle and pointing at the rear wall! All of a sudden I heard a very full and enveloping sound and that is where they have stayed! Give it a try!

 

[Neil Joseph]

I was thinking in-wall at a height of 6ft.