Question regarding rear speakers (1 Viewer)

[Tony Bee]

Hello all,

I have recently started putting together my first home theatre setup. This setup is actually inside my bedroom, but will be moved into a living room in the future. After listening to speakers, reading reviews, and looking for deals, I have purchased the following:

Pioneer VSX-D814
Athena AS-FS1 floorstanding front's
Athena AS-C1 center
Athena AS-P400 subwoofer
Good quality wires and cables

I am enjoying the sound of the system thusfar, but still need to purchase some rear speakers. Unfortunately, the listening/viewing position is from a bed against the wall, so I believe this will prohibit me from going 6.1. If I am wrong, please correct me. So I believe I am looking for 2 more speakers to add to my system. The obvious choice is to go with the Athena AS-B1 speakers. If I purchased these, they would have to be placed directly next to the bed on both sides, either on stands or wallmounted. Most likely they would not be able to sit behind the listening position. If I was able to use smaller satellite speakers, I would be able to mount them to the back wall at each corner, which would put them father from the listening position, and a little bit behind (or not, that would be my choice). The speakers in this case would have to be small, no more wide than 5", as the right rear speaker would be sitting in the area the door opens.

Would I be better off with matching Athena speakers very close to the listening position (much closer than the distance from the fronts), or with smaller satellite speakers at a better distance, but of a different brand? Also, am I right in believing 6.1/7.1 would not be possible with the listening position against the wall? There is no chance I can pull away from the wall. I've seen a pair of Infinity TSS-SAT750's which would be perfect size for about $200/pair. They do seem a bit expensive as the Athena bookshelf speakers are $50 less a pair, and much larger.

Any insight on my situation would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Tony

 

[Brad E]

If your listening position is against the wall, then you will not benefit from rear surrounds.

In my opinion a 7.1 setup is not much different than a 5.1.
There are a few movies where I can hear the sound in the back but most of the time I have no idea if it's coming from the surrounds or the rear surrounds.
And if I turn the rear channels off, I really don't notice much difference at all. Depends on the movie and scene of course. I even have my rears turned up 4 decibles louder than my surrounds and I still don't notice much difference.

In your room, as you described, you would notice no difference at all because your rears and your surrounds would likely be side by side.
I would just stick with the 5.1 for now.

 

[Tony Bee]

Thanks for the reply!

So that means that I'm definately looking for 2 more speakers. I still don't know whether matching Athena's (which are bookshelf size) very close to the listening posisition (~2 feet) would be better than smaller satellite speakers (such as TSS-SAT750 Infinitys) about 4.5 feet away. I'd prefer small speakers that I could wall mount as opposed to having 2 large speakers on stands directly next to the bed where they could easily be knocked over without using some sort of grippers on the carpet and speaker.

 

[mackie]

check out bi-polar or di-polar surrounds that can be mounted on the wall slightly forward of your listening position. They will use refections off the back and other walls and surround you in sound. I did a quick search - this might be what you need.

http://www.shopping.com/xPF-Athena_A...ver_Black_ASR1

 

[Dave Hahn]

Hello Tony, welcome to the forum!
I guess the question is, how soon in the future? If you're going to keep this system for awhile and don't think you'll be upgrading in that time period, I'd go with a pair of the Athena AS-B1's. Even though they will be very close to your listening position you can compensate for that when you set your "Distance" and "Time-Delay" during setup.

Or, you could get yourself some very inexpensive micro-speakers and mount them on your back wall. Although they will not be timber-matched to your other speakers, they are, after all, just the surrounds. This should be okay for movies but probably not for music.

Or, you could get the B1's, and see if you can live with them close as they would be. If not, put them in storage until the move to the living room and go out and get a cheap pair of micro-speakers for the surrounds.

Either way, I agree with Brad that 5.1 seems to be the best solution for your situtation.

 

[Sam_S]

Definatly go with the 5.1.

Mirage (Athena's big brother line) has the OMNI line that wound like it would help. Each of the OMNI speakers broadcasts omni-directionally, so placement of the speaker matters less when it comes to trying to get the sound to go where you'd like it to go. You could easily pick up one of the bookshelf/fx speakers (the FX would probably work better) and it would fit into a 6.1 or 5.1 setup perfectly.

If Athena has an FX model, that would probably also make more sense then trying to put a bookshelf speaker against your rear wall. If you take a look at the design of the bookshelf rectangle, and then the design of the FX, it should make a little more sense.

Anyway, good luck!

 

[Jack Briggs]

PLEASE note the instructions atop the main thread-listing page in the Basics area: If you are seeking specific purchasing advice about specific models, please post in the appropriate hardware area. The Basics area is for general discussion at the beginner level only. Thank you.

 

[TeresaLM]

If you are looking for dipole speakers, you can find the AS-R1's at Best Buy right now on clearance for 59.99 each.

 

[Tony Bee]

Thank you all for the replies.

The Athena AS-B1 bookshelf speakers are front-firing. I'm having trouble finding information on where to place this type of speaker as a surround with the restriction of the listener being against the rear wall. Would the tweeter be even with the listeners ears, or a bit above? Better to aim the speakers straight at each other over the head of the listener or into the room, or even at the listener?

Any advice on this would be helpful. I may install some small wall shelves to support the rear speakers against the rear wall meaning it wouldn't be too much of a hassle to go with the larger Athena AS-B1's versus a smaller sat speaker.

 

[Dave Hahn]

I like to go straight to the source. Here's a link to Dolby Labs where they talk about speaker placement:

http://www.dolby.com/consumer/home_e...html#placement

Good Luck and enjoy your gear!