First post: Hopefully a thoughtful question (with pictures!!!!) (1 Viewer)

[Stephen Jenkins]

Hello,
My name is Stephen Jenkins, I'm a 21 year old college student and I've recently been biten by "the bug" as it seems to be called on these boards! I've lurked in these forums for about 6 months, gathering opinions and ideas, and I must say, I've learned a lot.
EDIT:
I realized how boring this post is, so here are some of my favorite things:
Movies:
1. Rushmore
2. Bottlerocket
3. Seven Samuri
4. The Usual Suspects
5. Citizen Kane
Bands:
1. Pedro The Lion
2. Radiohead
3. The Gloria Record
4. The Anniversary
5. Jimmy Eat World
EXTRA INTERESTING FACT: I have dual citizenship between the U.K. and the U.S.
Well, after much planning, I went ahead and ordered my speakers and receiver that will go with my 32" Wega.
My main concern was price, and making the best, most futureproof sounding system for as cheap as possible, while still have high-quality sound. In other words, cheap, but not too cheap.
So right now sitting in boxes unopened my living room are:
JBL NSP-1 5 speaker package: $250
Pioneer VSX-D811S - $320
Sony SA-WM40 Sub - $160
110 Ft. Home Depot 12 guage speaker wire - $40
-----------------------------------------------
Total: $770 (includes all shipping)
I know these components aren't the highest quality, and I'm not expecting to be blown away, but do you guys (and gals) think I did okay???
Now for the real question.... I figure since I never posted the cliche question, "What kind speakers/reciever should I buy?", I'm good for one newbie question now.
Okay, so I've got all this stuff in boxes and I'm ready to install and I need help with the speaker placement. So, to make things easy, I've taken pictures of the room in question, and labeled different key points with letters.
Here are the pictures:
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I think I know the fronts will go either side of the two columns (points F and G) ,on the outside, not where the speakers are now. But my main question is, where do I put the surrounds, and how should they positioned???
I hope I haven't bored anyone to death. Thanks in advance for your welcome to the forum....
Regards,
Stephen

 

[Michael Lomker]

Surrounds for movies are typically pointed toward the seating position and a couple feet above ear level. You don't need to angle them downward...try them just firing across from each other.

The front speakers should be close to ear level. Powered subs are generally placed in the vicinity of a corner and preferably close to your seating position. You can experiment with sub placement to find a spot that doesn't sound too boomy.

 

[Andy_S]

Here is a guide from Dolby Systems:
http://www.dolbydigital.com/ht/Guide...ater.0110.html

 

[Stephen Jenkins]

Thanks for the advice, I'm limited as to where I can put the fronts, so they probably end up in between points E&F and G&H, this is obviously above reccomended ear-level, but I have to do it... Will toeing the speakers down a bit help?

Also, can I mount the speakers sideways? So that instead of being tall they are wide?

Thanks,

Stephen

 

[MikeH1]

Most people, when the center channel sits high on the big screen TV, will angle it down slightly. This helps fire the tweeter right to your ears instead of a lot of information flying over your head. The same can be done with the fronts although mounting them stable might be more of an issue than with a center. With speakers high like that they should probably be toed in/down. Its all experimentation, buy a mounting unit that you can adjust and you will find the optimum sound considering your lack of space.
As for the rears, put them in the 2 corners ( C & D ) but not all the way to the ceiling. Do what Michael suggested. What concerns me the most looking at the picture of the TV and the speakers up above is the distance between the left and right speakers. What is it? I really think it should be wider than what it is for better seperation. Of course its up to your ear but its just a thought. Also, you might want to take those heavy books off the shelf, it looks like it wants to snap in half.
Good luck and be sure to hire a maid!
Welcome to the forum Stephen!

 

[Stephen Jenkins]

Micheal and others,
Thanks for the helpful replies, after looking at what you guys have said, and reading the dolby guide, I think I'll mount the fronts on that white lip hanging down, three feet to either side of F and G to achieve the 60 degree angle that dolby suggests. The speakers that are there now are just for my dads stereo, and he doesn't care about sound at all really. To compensate for them being so high, I will angle them down a little, hopefull this will provide a better image. As for the rears... Micheal, I think the pictures are decieving, point D (the little arrow is supposed to point to the actual corner) is way on the other side of the room, I think point J would be more even with the way the fronts are set up, I will try both ways though, as it seems you know what you are talking about....
I think I asked this question poorly in my last post, but I can't think of a better way to ask it... Can front speakers be mounted on their sides? This would help in mounting the fronts up on that lip, I don't want people hitting their heads, we are a tall family!!!
Cheers!
Stephen

 

[MikeH1]

There shouldn't be any problems with mounting them on their sides. Keep the tweeters to the outside ( mount them on the side of the speaker so the tweeters are more far apart ) and angle them down a little.