Finalizing Speaker Placement and a Few Components for 5.1.2 HT (1 Viewer)

[sine_here]

Hi all,
I've got just about everything picked out for my new living room HT setup. I just have some final questions as I figure out placement for a few speakers. Thanks in advance for any and all advice!

A few key pieces of information:

• Room is 12'4" (front to back) by 9'5" (side to side)
• Room is open on the left side
• Glass windows are directly behind the couch (Glare is only during the day, and not that bad - north facing), curtains are planned in the future
• Couch is directly against the wall on the right
• I plan on using at least Audyssey with the Denon receiver for room correction. May splurge on Dirac Live depending on results.
• I've attached drawings and pictures of the living room, items are mostly to scale

Legend:
Rears

• R1R = Option 1, Rear Right
• R1L = Option 1, Rear Left
• R2R = Option 2, Rear Right
• R2L = Option 2, Rear Left

Heights

• H1R = Option 1, Height Right
• H1L = Option 1, Height Left
• H2R = Option 2, Height Right
• H2L = Option 2, Height Left
• H3R = Option 3, Height Right
• H3L = Option 3, Height Left

Items Decided On:

• Receiver: Denon x3800h
• L/R: ELAC DBR62
• Center: Monolith THX-365c
• Subwoofer: RSL Speedwoofer 12s (maybe 10s MKII if room is small enough and I need more room for the sub to breathe)

Things I thought I decided on but still in flux as I dive further down the rabbit hole:

• Height:
  • Initial thought: Monolith by Monoprice THX Certified Satellite Speakers
  • Other options: ELAC DOW42 or SVS Prime Elevation
• Rear surround:
  • Initial thought: ELAC DOW42
  • Other options: SVS Prime Elevation

Onto the things I'm unsure about:

• The wall the TV is on is not that long. The subwoofer will take up most of the floor space either to the right or left of the entertainment stand, leaving no room for a bookshelf speaker floor stand. I know being able to move around the front L/R bookshelves is ideal but would I suffer much sound degradation from using a wall mount (like this), specifically with the ELAC DBR62s? Or would it be okay to put a bookshelf floor stand in front of the subwoofer?
• The couch is directly up against the wall to right and there are large glass windows starting 1/3 from the right of the couch. I'm struggling with placement of the rear surrounds. I do have a gap behind the couch of about a 1'5". Would it be okay to mount rear surrounds close to the ceiling (option 1, basically becoming rear heights lol)? Or would it be better to bring them down lower, right rear mounted to wall, left rear on stand to left of couch (option 2)?
• If I were to have only one set of heights, what's the best placement for them? Front above L/R speakers (option 3)? Rear above surrounds (option 1)? Directly overhead (option 2, not sure if this is possible due to wife constraints)?
• Finally, am I overthinking the decision on which speakers to get for the height and surrounds (see my initial thoughts on which speakers I decided on)? Are there any others that someone would recommend?

Feel free to set me straight and tell me to stop over thinking things. Thanks again for your help!

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Why not stick w/ ELAC for the center speaker to match the front L/R? That's generally the preferred/best way to go, perhaps especially if you're gonna spend the extra on the Debut Reference model for front L/R.

And don't wall mount those DBR62s. IMO, kinda defeats the purpose of getting them in the first place. Go w/ good stands and place them away from sound reflective obstacles, especially walls, as much as feasible.

IF it were me, I'd probably reorient the whole space shifting 90-degrees to the viewer's right so that the glass doors to your patio/yard is to the viewer's right instead... and maybe add some retractable, full length curtains to block out at least some of the light, if you plan on significant daytime viewing... and maybe just go w/ 1 pair of surrounds (unless you really wanna dangle a pair from the ceiling for rear surrounds perhaps combined w/ just 1 pair of height speakers for Atmos in that case).

IF you must stick w/ your orientation of the space, I might suggest considering moving the setup to the middle part w/ that extended space instead so that there's more length as well as likely better symmetry for the HT space w/ no longer the wall immediately to the right (though no idea how that impacts the overall usage of the larger space)...

_Man_

 

[sine_here]

Hey, thanks for the reply!

Why not stick w/ ELAC for the center speaker to match the front L/R? That's generally the preferred/best way to go, perhaps especially if you're gonna spend the extra on the Debut Reference model for front L/R.

I wanted a 3-way with good speaker pattern that had a wider sweet spot to allow more spots have a good experience as well. The THX-365c is widely regarded as a great center for those reasons. I've read that ELAC doesn't perform as well. The DCR52 is only a 2-way and the UCR52 (which is a 3-way), doesn't really outperform the THX-365c either.

And don't wall mount those DBR62s. IMO, kinda defeats the purpose of getting them in the first place. Go w/ good stands and place them away from sound reflective obstacles, especially walls, as much as feasible.

The rear of those front speakers would be about a foot away from the wall if I did wall mount them. If I don't wall mount them and go with stands, the subwoofer will have to be moved to behind the couch since one of the stands will have to be right in front of it. No other spot for it to go (except along the right wall about middle of the room which seems weird).
EDIT: After additional research, it seems if the speakers are sealed or front ported (which the DBR62s are), wall mounting is an acceptable practice)

IF it were me, I'd probably reorient the whole space shifting 90-degrees to the viewer's right so that the glass doors to your patio/yard is to the viewer's right instead... and maybe add some retractable, full length curtains to block out at least some of the light, if you plan on significant daytime viewing... and maybe just go w/ 1 pair of surrounds (unless you really wanna dangle a pair from the ceiling for rear surrounds perhaps combined w/ just 1 pair of height speakers for Atmos in that case).

We tried ALL orientations of the living room (and actually had that orientation most recently but decided to rearrange) and from a pure functional/comfort perspective, the current orientation works best for us, so that's what we're sticking with. Curtains are still planned, just not implemented yet.

IF you must stick w/ your orientation of the space, I might suggest considering moving the setup to the middle part w/ that extended space instead so that there's more length as well as likely better symmetry for the HT space w/ no longer the wall immediately to the right (though no idea how that impacts the overall usage of the larger space)...

That extended space is actually a hallway that goes all the way to the front door, I just didn't render it fully. And the left side of the living room extends, continuing into the dining room so not really possible to extend into that area.


So, given all that information, it seems the takeaway is:

1. Wall mount the L/R speakers
2. Go with 1 set of surrounds, side or rear (where to mount still?)
3. Go with 1 set of height (front, above, or behind?)

EDIT: Added info on wall mounting the ELAC DBR62s

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

So, given all that information, it seems the takeaway is:

1. Wall mount the L/R speakers
2. Go with 1 set of surrounds, side or rear (where to mount still?)
3. Go with 1 set of height (front, above, or behind?)

EDIT: Added info on wall mounting the ELAC DBR62s

Actually, no, do not wall mount those speakers. It is always best to have good speakers, especially the front ones, away from walls (and on good stands, if not floorstanding) as much as feasible -- wall mounting will generally compromise sound quality. But if you refuse to listen due to your own preferences (vs actually best sonic results), that's your prerogative of course.

Likewise, best to go w/ all ELAC for the front channels, but again, your prerogative. You can go w/ all UniFi 2.0 or Reference models for instance for better center channel that matches best... although I would think a UniFi center would still likely match better w/ the DBR62s than the Monolith center, if you want to stick w/ the DBR62s, but don't want the DBR center. I have no idea why you're stuck on those DBR62s and yet choosing to use them that way. I expect you'll be best off going w/ the UniFi 2.0s for front LCR instead...

To be clear, spending significant extra $ on better speakers just seem a waste if you do not plan on (reasonably) optimizing their setup at all, but will actually compromise their sound (by wall mounting). IF you must keep the front speakers close to walls, then probably consider applying acoustic treatments to help reduce to impact of those walls (though people are almost never interested in that for this level of performance and budget, so I didn't bother to suggest that before).

You can go w/ either 1 pair of surrounds + 2 pairs of height OR 2 pairs of surrounds (w/ the rear ones high up where you want) + 1 pair of height (probably somewhat toward the front) -- the latter might be preferable just because more soundtracks will make more/better use of the rear surrounds than 2nd pair of height speakers (and your rear surrounds will already be high up based on your apparent need).

Anyhoo...

_Man_

 

[Type A]

Man has given some great advice, going with a center to match your front LR is preferred....its more about the best blend and pan of all channels and that's easiest to achieve if all front channels are the same. TBH I dont think your space constraints will make surround or heights worth the effort, seating too close to speakers and speakers too close to each other. Know its probably not what you want to hear but your space only makes 3.1 sense.