Best position for surround speakers (1 Viewer)

[Mark Rodrigues]

Hi everyone!
I bought a new HT system a few weeks ago - I wish I knew about this great forum before then ... I would have had a little more confidence in the product I ended up getting
Anyway I got a Sony HT-DVDPACK2 (http://shop.store.yahoo.com/coshoppe...htdvdpach.html) at what I think was a good price and I am really happy with it so far.
I have read the Dolby Guide to Home Theatre Sound (which I found by looking through old posts on this forum ) which indicate that the best position to put the surround speakers is pretty much to the left and right of the main viewing position.
It also takes about the speakers being about 2-3 feet above the viewing position.
In this document they didn't talk too much else about placement, but my receiver manual recommends setting them at about the same distance from the main viewing position as to the front speakers.
My receiver manual doesn't mention too much about preferred height of the speakers.
I was wondering if this is the common set-up used by the community out there, and what your experiences with surround speaker placement have been.
Thanks for giving me the forum to voice such a question - and based on the other threads thanks in advance for the great responses
Mark
ps. I will play around with the placements anyway and see what sounds best for me ... or as we say in Australia "Suck it and See" ... but it is nice to get this information to start off with.

 

[Chauncey_G]

Hey, Mark. Welcome.

Currently, I have my surrounds about a foot behind the listening position, facing directly at each other. I've got them on stands that put the speaker height just about at ear-level when seated.

It's been working pretty well for me so far. Give it a try and see what you think.

 

[Tim Kline]

A lot of people have different ideas A friend of mine has a small room with the main spot right against the back wall, and he has the 2 rear speakers pointing straight ahead at the tv, on either end of the sofa, about a foot above ear height, and it sounds good. Me because of the giant and annoying window in my room, I have the 2 rears up high at the celing pointing at each other, with the sofa between them, and it sounds pretty good. They say the perfect place is to be about 3 feet above ear level, on either side of your main spot, pointed right at each other. But really I think you just need to experiment a bit and find what sounds best to you

 

[Ted Lee]

I will play around with the placements anyway and see what sounds best for me

hi mark! welcome to HTF!
you are right on the money. lots of factors come into play when placing your surrounds. the best advice anyone can give is to pick a starting point (you can always go with dolby's recommendation) and then experiment to see what works for you.
as long as it sounds good to you, then that is all that matters!
fwiw, i have my rear's about ear level, right next to either side of my couch, toed slightly towards the listener position. this was dictated more by room and furniture limitations than by anything else. it is probably a little too "in my face" but it'll have to do for now.

 

[Mark Rodrigues]

Thanks guys for the replies ...
I will play around with the system and see how I go.
Now, can anyone recommend a good reference disk (and section) to do my testing with
I think I might try the pod race from the phantom menice ... any other suggestions

Mark

 

[Tim Kline]

when I want to test sound I'll do the beginning war scene in Gladiator, or the slingshot-around-the-moon part in Armageddon, or the first Trex scene in jurassic park

 

[Chauncey_G]

Mark, you may want to try to get yourself a test disc like Video Essentials. This DVD will allow you to test your sound as well as your video. This will give you the most objective means of tuning your system properly, then you can pop in your favorite "demo scene" and know that it's being presented in the best way.

Best Buy has the VE DVD, but it's kind of pricey. I'd recommend looking around on the Net to get a better deal.

 

[Scott Kroll]

I too am setting up my new Home Theater, but I have 2 additional questions. 1. Are the surround speakers the same as the rear? And if they are, my second question is this. A few of you have mentioned that you point them directly at each other. Doesn't this method cause poor sound when the sound waves collide?

 

[Jerry AZ]

Yep, the surrounds are the rears. I have mine pointing at each other about 8 feet on either side of my listening position; they sound fine. Remember, the volume out of the surrounds isn't very high.

 

[Mark Rodrigues]

Hi guys,
After some playing around, I set up the surround speakers either side of the listing position.
Interestingly (or maybe not ) I got the best sound not by pointing them at each other (and across the listing position) but pointing them to the back of the room.
I still need to do some fine tuning of the position, and make some minor adjustments once I get me hands on a sound meter.
Thanks all for your help.
It is much appreciated
Mark