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Help wanted with speaker placement, pls (1 Viewer)

Aaron H

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Jun 28, 2001
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Hi everyone, here's a pic of the bonus room in our new house that's just about done. This is the initial layout that I had kind of thought about. The circles in red are the speakers, and the circle in blue is the SVS. :)
With this setup, I realize there's really only 1 sweet spot - and that's the couch against the back wall. For these side surrounds, would direct radiating, or bipole/dipole be best here. Probably 80/20 towards the theater. Also, since the couch is against a wall, what hope do I have for a rear surround?
There aren't too many wires pre-placed. This is the only room upstairs and there's a HUGE crawl space around the whole room, so if you think it'd benefit switching the couch and the TV to opposite ends of this drawing, that'd wouldn't be too too bad.
Please let me know what you think for the best possible home theater experience.
Thanks!
 

Wayne A. Pflughaupt

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Di- and bi-polar speakers rely on reflections off the front and back walls to generate their enhanced ambience effect, so in your situation I recommend direct radiating speakers.
Also, since the couch is against a wall, what hope do I have for a rear surround?
Personally I think it would be better overall to get the sofa off the back wall. The benefits:
  • Sitting closer to obviously “increases” screen size.
  • Front imaging (i.e., sounds panning left and right) is enhanced with a closer seating position (has the same effect as spreading the speakers further apart).
  • The feeling of “envelopment” (i.e., the surround sound effect) is enhanced with forward seating positions and speakers to the rear of the seating area. Having the speakers directly to the sides (especially with the seat against the rear wall) to me sounds like “sound to the side and front of me,” not “surround sound.” Just my opinion, but maybe that’s why things sound best in a theater with seating positions near center of the room.
The only trade off with moving the seat out into the room is that subjective sub level is reduced (bass tends to “chase” the boundaries). But I imagine your SVS has the “beef” to allow for a higher level.
Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt
 

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