help with speaker setup please!!! (pics) (1 Viewer)

[RyanSoares]

my living room is not ideal for home theater, so i had to make do.... can you please scroll down and take a look at my setup and give me any advice on speaker placement or any advice in general?
edit.. the link to the pics are in the bottom post

thank you

Ryan Soares

 

[RyanSoares]

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[RyanSoares]

http://us.f1.yahoofs.com/users/3f061...a0ofBBxTXEtiyD

http://us.f1.yahoofs.com/users/3f061...a0ofBBdq3vCEIA

http://us.f1.yahoofs.com/users/3f061...a0ofBBkwpKkCr9

http://us.f1.yahoofs.com/users/3f061...a0ofBB2FUaratD

http://us.f1.yahoofs.com/users/3f061...a0ofBBhmdS_v9x

http://us.f1.yahoofs.com/users/3f061...a0ofBBv0USPo9l

http://us.f1.yahoofs.com/users/3f061...a0ofBBf2.InNuh

 

[RyanSoares]

http://us.f1.yahoofs.com/users/3f061...y9ofBB05vPSX9D

 

[ScottCHI]

well, is it out of the question to move the TV over to where the stacking tables and wall shelves are in that last pic?

that'd be my first recommendation. then spread your front speakers a little wider and maybe angled in a little bit.

 

[John Garcia]

I have a corner setup too. Basically, you need to pull the system out from the corner a bit, to allow for you to pull the speakers further apart. You have them out from the front of the TV a bit which is good, but you should probably pull them about 6" furhter out from the front of the TV. I'd move the center right out to the edge of the set as well.

Try posting links to the pics, it will be easier. The other post has red Xs.

 

[RyanSoares]

thanks guys, thats weird, the pics were working earlier i will post the link.... yeah it is out of the question to move the tv, i guess i will have to make do with what i got, is the sub woofer's placement ok? i sorta got no other choice with that too..

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/concei.../ph//my_photos

 

[Jerome Grate]

I agree with ScottCHI, it looks like a 32 or 36 inch t.v. and would benefit the move to the where those wall shelves are. You can spread the speakers wider and toe them in towards the listener. Your current set does have some flaws, first you have to turn your body towards and not get the full effect, it also appears that one surround speaker is more like a front channel speaker since you have to turn to face the set up. Your left front speaker has that wall to reflect sound from hence it may even sound louder than the right. Moving the t.v. would really give you a better sounding set up.

 

[Mary M S]

I have a similar setup to yours. My plus (over yours) is the fact that I too have a doorway next to my Right Front but it is several feet further down the wall. This gives me the same corner setup as you, - but with room for a greater spread between fronts. (approx. 6’). The Mains are toed in slightly.

Just a suggestion (I am no expert and have never documented my rooms response to adjust acoustics). But I found a good workround for me. It benefited me to think outside the box (so to speak) during my similar setup. Looks like you are running 5.1 Mine is currently 6.1 with a 7th speaker sitting in a box, - if I ever get the attic cabled to hang the second RearS. I will be running 7.1 instead of 6.1. At that time the only speaker position which will have to be moved a few feet in my current setup will be my 6th speaker (single rear surround) to allow for room to spread two speakers in that area. My fronts and side surrounds are already placed optimally for this setup. Because my couch is on a flat wall (like yours) but we are really sitting off axis to any flat wall when turned to our display. I started thinking about how to overcome my particular limitations. I drew an imaginary box on top of my room’s actual rectangle shape. This mind box has corners, which are 90% offset to the real room’s shape. To easier visualize what I am trying to describe start by drawing a box on a piece of paper. Just a square. Put a dot in one corner of this 1st box where your display sits now. Then turn your paper till the doted corner of your 1st box points straight up (north). Draw a second box on top of the first. You end with a 6-pointed star shape (two interlaced triangles) . When you draw your second box you are placing one of its flat walls across the corner where your TV/Fronts sit now. After both boxes are drawn. You turn your page so that you are focusing only on the 2nd box you drew. You will see that your 2nd box has one flat wall running across where your display sits now (not worrying about the corners being cut off) If you follow along this second box side walls coming back from your display to where your loveseat/sofa come together you are centering the sweet spot in the room to the area where the right end of your love seat (when seated facing display) and left end of your couch meet. You want to calibrate from that spot (another way to say it is that in this 2nd box your display is in the center of your imagnary flat front wall and your new imaganary 'back' wall would be where the ends of your two sofas come together.) Thinking of the space in this manner means you would not be hanging your surround equidistant behind your couch. Your secondary imaginary box would place your surrounds more towards the 90-degree corners of your room, not on the flat wall behind your couch.

If you ever intend to add rear surrounds (a 6th or 6/7 setup) you need to be thinking of this before you place your side (or front surrounds) to leave room to place the rear (or back) surrounds with a slight equidistant spread around the exact corner (opposite) your display corner Leaving room for this means moving your side surrounds a little more forward in the room towards your display, than you would otherwise..

Long story short I would leave your right surround which is to your right shoulder (when seated looking at display) approximately where it is now. But would move the left surround to the area near the (pass through window) over the shelves attached to the wall. This means if you are sitting on the right side of the loveseat or the left side of the couch (which is our main seating location in a room/ furniture placement very similar to yours). Then your left /right surrounds are a better equidistant to your bodies when turned at an angle facing display.

This works very very well for me in creating an even soundstage weighted for the way we really sit (when two or three are viewing) in my room. However I would not have attempted this off-axis placement without calibrating the speakers. Calibration and distance setup in my prepro for speakers groups makes this work.
I had to bust the recommendation for ear height placement and hang (surrounds only) from the ceiling to get this arraignment, but again, -- WITH calibration it effectively balances my soundstage for main seating.

 

[RyanSoares]

thank you so much for your replies, and mary, thanks for your indepth analysis of my setup, i will take all your suggestions and advice into consideration, i am planning on moving that left surround, and the only place i could possible put it without much grief from the lady of the house is maybe where the sub is then just fix the delay and dis etc.

 

[Mary M S]

I had to ‘talk’ my husband into my out of norm setup. The acoustic DIY gurus here might have some concerns over wall reflections, length of opposing walls (to the speakers in this setup…not symetrical) I have the advantage of being just a novice who is willing to try all kinds of novel (crazy ) things. When I came up with the thought to try this, we were just moving from a 5.1 system to 6.1. After purchasing new floorstanders and matching center, (all packed in the corner!) this freed up one original speaker to wire as a 6th speaker (rear surround) which caused me to really think about how to align each speaker more effectively in our limited space. Furniture could not be moved..so something had to give.
When I told himself what I was thinking, I had to explain it twice and he was not very keen about my off kilter idea.

If she is excited about your HT, get her involved in a test run. Have her sit on the couch staring at TV. Have her listen to a DVD with existing setup. She will have her right ear turned in direct line towards the wall on which you currently have both you L&R surrounds. Then have her listen again after you run some spare zip cord across your floor (if your cabling is already in wall) and temporarily set your left surround onto one of your wall shelves.

(If you just do a quick couple-second calibration on the surrounds, - it gets you a very good approximation of the final product before tweaking and spacing speakers exactly.)

Now when your wife is sitting on the couch with head turned to display; she will hear (to me, the more natural arraignment) the LS coming from the left side of her head, - and the right surround from the right..

My guy heard it for just a few seconds and quickly agreed to revamp our system to this orientation. I’d be very curious to know what you think (positive or negative) if you try this!.