How are you guys placing your rear surrounds for 3 rows of seats? (1 Viewer)

[Frank Lee]

Hi

I am patiently waiting for my Paradigm speakers to show up. In the meantime I am trying to figure out how to layout my room and where I am going to mount my speakers. I am going to have Paradigm ADP-370s for the surrounds. I will also have a older center speaker I will use for the center rear with the occasional 6.1 DVD. My room will have three rows of seating. The front row will be my spot (the sweet spot). The other two rows are for the occasional extra people that come over. This doesn't happen to often. I was wondering if I should mount the rear surrounds where they would normally be mounted if I just had one row or if I should move them back to "surround" the other two rows. What have you guys done in similar instances?

Thanks

Frank

 

[Dan Halchak]

Move them back to behind all three rows. This is how you would normally want them. Then when you calibrate the system, sit in you sweet spot, measure the distances, put that into the receiver, then calibrate with the SPL meter. You will probably not even know they aren't right behind you and it will actually create a great surround field for you. As long as they are mounted high enough that they aren't hitting the backs of the seating (as if you were using full seating) you should be completely fine. This way too when people DO come over, they get a pleasureable experience too.

Although you might want to calibrate it to the middle of the entire viewing area to get the best sound out of most of the seats.

 

[Garrett Lundy]

Are you using regular speakers of the bipole sppeakers?

 

[Frank Lee]

Dan...Thanks for the advice.

Garrett...They are actually dipole speakers

 

[TimRP]

I put my side surround speakers just about a foot behind the front row of seating, which like yours is the prime location for my room. The back two rows are for only when guests come over. And mine are also dipoles.

 

[Frank Lee]

How does it sound for the back two rows? Do you have 6.1 also?

 

[Andy Goldstein]

i ended up using 2 pairs of radio shack minimus-7 speakers for the side surrounds. one pair about a foot behind the front row, mounted high up on the wall, firing straight across the room. the other pair, wired in parallel with the first pair, is mounted about a foot behind the second row of seats, up high as well. since the people in the front row are so far off-axis from the second row of speakers, and vice-versa, it seems that the surround sounds are just coming from the nearest pair of speakers. and the rear surrounds are also a pair of m-7s, placed along the back wall. they are to be replaced by a set of custom-built smaller advents, if i can ever get them back from my g/f (she loves them!).

ag.

 

[TimRP]

I think that was directed at me...it sounds fine for the second row. A little funny for the third row, but its flat against the back wall so its not a place to do serious listening. And yes I have a 6.1 set up with two small KLH bookself speakers. They fire right over the top of the heads in the third row.

 

[Frank Lee]

Thanks Tim

I may try something like that. I am going to play around with location before I mount anything permanantly. I'm not too concererned if the third row gets the short end of the stick. Most people will still be impressed.

 

[Jack Shappa]

I use bipoles placed about a foot behind the front row. Its a 7.1 system with two speakers behind the back row and all speakers about a foot down from the ceiling.

- Jack

 

[ChrisHeflen]

I just recently helped a guy set up his home theater room and here is what we found/happened.

Spks were all Paradigm:
Mon 11's
CC 370
Adp 370

He had three rows as well. We got it all hooked up and sat in the front row and thought this sounds like crap!!!
We moved the fronts around like crazy and nothing. Then we sat in the next row up/back and HELLO! It was all there in spades. So he determined that the second row would be his sweet spot. Before we mounted the ADP's we put them on ladders and then moved them around and tried music and movies and sat in the different rows. The best spot we found was (as recommended by Paradigm) so the null or side of the spkr was in line with our ears at the sweet spot. We put them about 80" up the wall.
It was a little diffused in the back row but it still sounded pretty good. This also was the first time any of us had heard dipoles (outside of the store) and we were more used to hearing direct firing so we didn't have anything to judge it by other than if we thought is sounded good.

I don't know if we did it right, but it sounded great when I left.

 

[Frank Lee]

I'll make sure I give that set up a try.