HELP with my speaker layout (see pic) (1 Viewer)

[Terry Wysocki]

I bought a house with four Sonance speakers built into one wall and the ceiling. I want to place a 120" screen in an archway between the room and a dining area but I'm having a problem with speaker placement (see pic)

I'm thinking I'll place some JBL cabinets that I have on either side of the arch to serve as my main speakers but I'm new to this and don't have a real clue if this is ok. If I absolutely had to have a center speaker, could I put a very thin one along the back wall behind the dining table? The dining area is all windows and I figured the screen will serve to block out a lot of ambient light in the daytime in this position. Since I can't really move the wall/ceiling speakers, what's the best thing I can do here?

 

[Kendal Kirk]

Terry,

After looking at your layout and reading your post, I just have one question. . . Are you planning on having the screen in place all the time or will it be a pulldown? Just a little confused . . .

You do have a few options with the speakers that you have in place, but we might want to know what type of receiver/pre-pro that you have or are getting. If you are doing a 5.1 system, the speakers that you have in place may work, but I don't think that it wouldn't be the most desirable. Try your JBL's up front, try the ceiling speakers as your center (probably not going to be the best option) and use the rear speakers in the wall as rears.

If you are doing a 6.1 or 7.1 system, get a center speaker that you can mount to the ceiling pointing toward your listening position, use your JBL's as front, ceilings as surround sides (again, probably not going to work because they are in front of your seating area), and inwalls as your surrond back.

Are you set on the furniture arrangement??? If not I would totally reverse your arrangement and use the inwalls as your fronts, get a screen that fits between them, buy a center channel speaker and use the ceiling speakers as your surrounds. I think that this would be a sleek setup and look a lot more 'at home' than a screen hanging down dividing your living room and dining room. Just a thought . . .

Let us know what you will be doing, and welcome to this forum . . .

later

 

[Terry Wysocki]

I'm going with a Denon 4802 receiver so I have some flexibility with the speaker arrangement. I'd like to use the built-ins but I have a lot of other speakers that I could place as well. The reason I'm placing the Grayhawk electric dropdown screen in the archway is that the dining area is VERY bright and the screen back will eliminate a ton of light in daylight hours (curtains are not an option in there, unforturnately).

You're right about the ideal spot being between the inwalls. I think the guy that owned the house before me thought it through that way. maybe I'll not mount anything permanently and see how it all looks before I get the saw out.