Not sure if I can have a home theater (1 Viewer)

[RudyW]

Hi everyone, this is my first post and I'm really looking forward to some feedback. Here is my situation. I dont have a dedicated room for a home theater, but what I wanted to do was put a home theater/surround sound system in my living room (which is where I watch the most of my movies). Now here is the problem. It is not an enclosed room and the placement of the tv is in the corner.

Let me try and explain (since I cant seem to find a way to add a file). Imagine a square. On this square, there are only two walls: the one in front of you and the one to your right. The wall on your left and behind you dont exist because they open to another part of the room. There is a entertainment center cutout (where I put the tv) in the top left corner. Due the layout of the room, I had to purchase an L shaped couch that has it back against the right wall and where the back wall should be. Because of this, the tv is faced diagnally towards the back right corner.

The room also high celings (about 12') and wood floors. Given the lack of walls and wood floors, I figured it is best to use in ceiling speakers (left/right front and left/right rear).

Now my question - where do I place the in ceiling speakers to get a balanced sound when I sit on this couch. If I place the speakers to match a speaker in the corners of the squares, it seems as if the sound would be off centered. But if I place it with the assumption the the TV should be the top middle of the box, the in ceiling speakers would like weird and misplaced in the ceiling.

Thoughts? Thanks!

Rudy

 

[ChrisWiggles]

Wow. I think that was the most clearly worded room description I've ever read.

The wood floors should have no bearing on what kind of speakers you get, whether they be regular, or in-wall/in-ceiling. Obviously, you'll want to plan things out if you do inwalls/inceiling since you won't want to move things around, say puttinf the TV in the middle of the front wall instead, because then the speakers positioned for the top left corner in the ceiling would then be off. I would place the speakers according to where the TV and your seating area are, and less so much to the dimensions of the room. If it's possible, I would also consider moving the TV to the middle of the top wall, or if they aren't too in the way, use regular floorstanders or standmounted speakers and place them by the TV. This also gives you future flexibility.

Though, honestly, I'm pretty no-object about the sound, my speaker placement is perfect, but it blocks the entire entry to my house and an entrance to a hallway. So I'd be very inclined to place them where I want, screw where people have to walk around.

but that's just me .

 

[Garrett Lundy]

The bad news is that you have one of the worst possible enviroments for a HT set-up.



The good news is that this forum is populated by people who have nothing better to do with their lives than to help people like you with problems like yours. Be patient and someone else will post a well-written response shortly.

But I will give my $.02 and say that plain-jane stereo (with a big enough subwoofer) will actually sound good enough 85% of the time. So its not like this is the end of the world or anything.

 

[Chu Gai]

Read through the links in this post. where you'll find discussions on speaker placement (even square rooms!) and other useful stuff.

 

[RudyW]

Thanks you guys, I appreciate your responses!



Yeah, thats exactly my concern as well. Now how do I get around that?

 

[Mitch G]

I have a similar situation to you - maybe even worse. The TV is in the upper lefthand corner, and the seating area (i.e. couch) is against the back and righthand wall. Although I'm sure there will be all sorts of cringing in front of computer screens when I explain this, I set up my HT (a Paradigm Atoms/CC170/PDR-8) like this:

Center channel on top of TV, fronts about 12-18" on either side of the TV, sub behind TV. That's not too weird. But, the satellites are mounted a couple of feet above my listening position centered on the couch against the back wall. So, the distances between the the left front and left satellite is shorter than the distance between the right front and satellite. Although, I'm sure purists are concerned about the different separations between the fronts and the satellites, it still sounds great to me.

While watching Master and Commander the other night, I felt like I was on that ship. And even when I'm sitting on the couch that is along the righthand wall (i.e. not between the surrounds), the surrounds still keep me in the movie, so to speak.

I think what I'm really trying to say here is, don't let a goofy room configuration stop you from getting a nice HT set up. It'll still be better than the stereo speakers on the TV.

Just a couple of pennies worth,


Mitch

 

[DanielKellmii]

Don't forget to buy a calibration disk and a SPL meter from Radio Shack to calibrate your system. In a asymetrical layout like you room, it should help.

 

[Zen Butler]

Sheeeeaaaat please.

My front room in my flat is 32' x 18' hardwood floors, arched ceiling , toss in a fireplace, and New York City style traffic noise. I have a bit of sound reflection problem Uh, there is a point where you have to drop the theatrics and opt for "just crank the motha up"



If he can do it...