Home Theater at 45 degrees to walls? (1 Viewer)

[Darby Wing]

I have been planning on putting my television in a corner of the room and sitting in the opposite corner. How badly will this affect the sound and please, if you can, give me a technical explanation of sound wave propagation, etc. Thanks for all replies as I am very skeptical of advice from strangers.

 

[Leo Kerr]

I've often considered doing something like it, although I've never had the chance to do so.
Anyway, some of the points/concerns that I would imagine to exist are....
There's a good chance your center channel speaker would get a hefty boost from corner loading (the positive reinforcement that speakers get from being in a corner; even more than being against a flat wall.)
It would probably limit the reasonable spread of left-to-right for speaker placement. However, it might be easier to place the speakers equidistant from the "sweet spot", given that there would be space to throw the center further back, or the main speakers forward to fit to the radius.
I would speculate that the sound might be more "open" in that the reflections would probably be longer and coming from different directions than in the more traditional set-up. I dunno if it's a good thing or not.
Placing the surrounds might be strange, too. And if you sit too far back into the corner, you WILL get strange effects, as, in essence, you will be corner-loading your ears. Sitting out of the corner, but perhaps not quite in the center of the room, would probably be best. (Closer to the center rather than the corner would be my guess.)
I would also suspect you might have to make your amplifier work a little harder to get the same sound level.
NOW, an important caveot:
All of the above is TOTAL SPECULATION.
Leo Kerr
[email protected]

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

quote: Thanks for all replies as I am very skeptical of advice from strangers.[/quote]
Darby, ol’ buddy, how ya been?
Seriously, Darby, the 45º layout is always problematic, in my opinion.
To begin with, the left and right speakers are always significantly closer to the viewer than the center speaker. Unless you have them right next to the TV, that is. If you sit relatively close to the TV, this might work fine, but if you are more than 10ft. away, you will want them spread apart more. With a 45º layout this always means they have to be much closer to you than the center speaker.
In addition, 45º layouts means both the L/R main and rear surround speakers need to be situated at 45º angles from the wall if you care anything about proper imaging. This usually looks very peculiar in a room.
The biggest problem comes if your rear speakers are in-wall or wall mounted. Trying to rig a 45º position for a wall mounted speaker is extremely difficult. And once again, it will look really weird.
Then there are the positioning issues. If your chair or sofa is all the way in the rear corner, the rear speakers will have to be very close to you, which is always a bad idea. Unless you want to locate them in front of the seat, which is also a bad idea.
Of course, in walls are a lost cause for proper imaging.
Personally, the only way I ever would use a 45º layout would be if it there was absolutely no other option.
Cheers,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt
P.S. Welcome to the Forum!

 

[Darby Wing]

Thanks fellas, for the replies, I thought that it might be the case that this would be problematic. It's just that the room I plan on putting this into will have a wood burning stove in the middle of the wall opposite the seating area and without putting the television into an alcove above the stove (heat problems as well as depth problems as I can not afford a flat unit or projection) I must put the t.v. in the corner and the rear speakers essentially facing me from the sides as my room is small and I must be seated against the rear wall (corner). If you have any other thoughts that may help, please continue to respond and thank you all. Darby