In ceiling rear surround speakers versus front high/wide speakers (1 Viewer)

[Tommasini]

I'm finally wiring my DYI system tonight and still haven't made up my mind on my rear surround speakers. My receiver is an Onkyo TX SR608 and I'm installing a 7.1 Polk Audio M50/CS20 and inwall (RC85i) speaker system. I have a dilemma and would like everyone's opinion. I'm reluctantly placing my side surround in the ceiling on an angle (we have a vaulted ceiling) at about 12' angled toward the primary listening position due to window and door configuration. Due to the high ceilings and the position of the bathroom and bar my rear surrounds are going to be really high (at least 14') and 7 feet behind the primary listening position. My question is..... Would front high/wide (in addition to my R/L front and center channel of course) offer a better movie/sport/gaming audio experience than rear surround?


Thanks in advance for your help,

Tommy

 

[Tommasini]

Not many opinions here I guess. I've decided to wire it for both, install front wide and high instead of rear surround and if I don't like the set-up then I can purchase some speakers for the rear surround. I could actually do both (rear surround and front high and wide) and set it up for 9.1 but to do that I lose my zone 2 capabilities.

 

[gene c]

I have two 5.1 systems so I probably shouldn't even reply to this but what the hey.


The jury's still out on the effectiveness of front-height speakers. I think front-height would be better for movies/games than for music but I really can't say for sure. I would rather have a 7.1 system than a 5.1 + f/h but I listen to a lot of music and my experience is limited in this are. But 9.1 might just work well too. The biggest issue is speaker placement and how they sound from the different possible locations. It's much harder to do a dry-run with in-wall/ceiling speakers than it is with traditional stand-alone models and impossible to "guess" on the internet which location might sound better. But speaker placement, regardless of the type of speaker, has a much bigger impact on sound quality than many people think. A few inches one way or the other, up-down-sideways-whatever, can make or break a surround sound system. Audyssey can help with this as well. If/when you get this up and running please let us know what you think.