Need help with speaker placement (1 Viewer)

[bilwil]

Good afternoon, We are rebuilding part of our master bedroom. The area we sleep in is raised two steps above the rest of the master bedroom. We have a pass through fireplace being installed and there are 5' wide steps on either side leading up to the sleeping area. I have attached a copy of the floorplan and dimensions are all accurate. The yellow area is where our TV will lower from the ceiling. We will be using an 85" TV. With the distance from the head area of our bed it would be better with a 110" TV but the height makes this difficult for us as the area is only 8'4" high because of the raised floor in this area. The bed has a large log frame that is 45" tall. If we used a larger TV the bottom would get blocked by the footboard of the bed I fear.

Here is my dilemma. Where we will be watching the TV from our heads are really close to the back wall so should I use ceiling speakers for the rear channels or use in wall down closer to ear level . . . but the speakers wouldn't be very far from our heads.

The front center channel I can place in the wall of the fireplace enclosure slightly above the top of the TV and I think this will be okay.

My real concern is the left and right channels. The TV is going to be 76" wide and the fireplace enclosure is only 66" wide. This means I can not mount speakers in the wall of the enclosure without them being blocked by the TV. If I mount them in the enclosure facing the bed low enough to be below the TV then I feel the audio will be dramatically impacted in a negative way (but you guys may tell me otherwise). The other option would be to use in ceiling speakers for right and left channel but I do not read good reviews on this placement.

I have a 150lb dog and another large puppy on the way so freestanding speakers in front of the TV would not work.

I am open to all suggestions on what might work here.

Thanks!!

Bill

 

[JohnRice]

Surround speakers in a 5.x system, which is what you're doing, are NOT at the rear wall of the room, but on the sides aimed toward each other, pretty much straight out from the viewing area. It's a very common mistake. So, the surround speakers can be in-wall or on small shelves on the side walls. Do not, NOT put them in or on the rear wall.

A good solution for the L/R speakers isn't coming to me. The best I can figure is to have all three front speakers above the TV. It's a big TV, so that'll allow fairly decent separation. That's the only solution I see, and it should be fairly decent. Much better than in-ceiling. Your front speakers will be rather high, so I'd probably install the side surround speakers at the same height.

 

[bilwil]

Thanks John! That is good to know for the rear speakers. I can have them placed appropriately now.

I wonder if I can get a heavy duty lift that would also support the weight of front right and left speakers to lower down with the TV?

 

[Bobofbone]

You might consider wall mounted bookshelf speakers for the front right and left. Bass would not be as good as floor speakers, but a subwoofer would compensate for it. The center speaker would probably have to be mounted above and directed downward slightly.