Help choosing/setting up home theater surround sound/projector (1 Viewer)

[jheiser]

Selden- Yes, the front left will be just left of the screen and just right of the slate and stone for the fireplace. The right will be just to the right of the screen. I would like to mount the center directly under the projector screen and a few inches under the TV. This will be just ear level practically with the viewer. Yea I figured not having everything rectangular or square would present some sound problems. Is there anything you did to fix this? Or is there any ideas to re-organize the room?

Yea that's exactly what I was thinking. I can deal with the imperfections and possible come up with some sort of rig to tighten the screen when viewing.
Would I have any issues with having the futon against the wall? If so, I'm thinking I'll just pull it about 3' off the wall when watching movies.

 

[Selden Ball]

James,

I'm not an extremely critical listener. I've lived with offset speakers for years. I had been using a graphic equalizer to try to minimize the worst effects, although I don't think it really was very effective, since I didn't try very hard. My home-theater/living room has its walls lined with full bookshelves, so it has minimal reflections. I've never even considered applying any "room treatments."

When a speaker is close to a wall, the reflection of the sound off the wall essentially increases its volume by several db, since the direct and reflected sounds arrive at the listener with only a very small time difference. The automated room equalization filters provided by modern AVRs seem to be able to correct for some of the effects, at least.

For example, when I inspected the results, I found that Audyssey MultEQ (provided in my Marantz pre/pro) had decreased the overall volume of the speaker that was next to a wall. I did notice a slight difference in the sound after converting from using a graphics equalizer to using Audyssey. The results still sound quite good, though

 

[jheiser]

Okay great because I am hearing that the speakers should never be mounted in the corners and should be atleast 3' from the wall. My next best idea is move my projector screen to the wall with the futon that doesn't have the projector over it. Then I would move that futon against the wall next to the stove and mount the projector over that. The drawbacks with this setup are that I would be working with the shorter sides of the room. Therefore, I would not be able to get my projector to cover the full 120". Would this have sound drawbacks as well? Or am I better off just leaving the room as is and balancing everything through the AVR? The room would be more squared up with this setup but I would just be using the shorter sides rather the long sides.

 

[Selden Ball]

James,

I'd be somewhat concerned about whatever speaker is near the stove, just because it's be warmer and its materials would tend to dry out and age faster than the other speakers. Were you planning to mount the surround speakers on the walls? Hot air does rise, after all.

As I wrote, I'm not a very discriminating listener. I'm sure audiophiles would have a hissy-fit with my configuration

However, my understanding is that starting with a good speaker layout (with them away from the walls and corners,for example) results in better sound whether or not room equalization functions are being applied by an AVR. Good positioning plus EQ sounds that much better.

Personally, I'd probably go for the layout which produces a larger on-screen image. When you're watching a movie, the details of the sound aren't quite so important because you're being distracted by what you see. Just listening to music tends to make you notice the audio defects more.

 

[jheiser]

I was thinking either mounting them on the walls or purchase stands. I'm not a huge audiophile either however, I don't want to be annoyed by hearing differences from speakers.

I agree with you in the fact that while watching a movie, viewers tend to be immersed in the screen especially if you have a good sound system. As of now I think I will keep the same setup and worst case scenario I can flip everything over and square it up in a day.

 

[jheiser]

 

[jheiser]

I came up with a new design for the room. Let me know what you think of this design. Mounting the projector inside the wall and in the other room will help alleviate losing the size of the screen. I would only lose a few inches by doing so but I could live with it.

Would I be better using this setup or my first setup in regards to sound? Does going against the rectangle have any effect on sound?

 

[jheiser]

Of course that diagram is not to scale and everything will line up perfect with center of room. So the center channel will be dead center of the room and dead center of the futon and screen.

 

[Selden Ball]

That layout looks fine to me, although it doesn't seem to include a subwoofer. Subwoofer placement can be a challenge sometimes.

 

[jheiser]

Yea I havn't figured that out yet. Any ideas? I'm loving the new design because the projector will be hidden and will shoot through the wall just like a movie theater. Also this centers the room much better and utilizes the space best. I also intend on putting acoustic panels on the back wall to aid in the square room.

Thanks for everything. You've been a huge help.