Rear Surround Speaker Location Problem (1 Viewer)

[Bob_F]

I’m putting together my first surround sound system and I need some advice with my rear speaker placement.

I'm installing four rear speakers as part of a 7.1 surround system. For the left and right "rear" speakers I will be installing two Polk RC55i in-ceiling speakers. I figured that I would put those several feet behind the primary seating position.

But I’m having trouble picking locations for my left and right "side" rear speakers.

Because of the configuration of my family room, I have only two workable locations for my wall mounted speakers. (This are Polk f/x300i bipole/dipoles.) I am unable to mount them directly to the left and right of the primary seating position so I’m forced to mount them in one of the following two positions:

2 feet forward of the primary seating position

or

5 feet aft of the primary seating position

Which location would be better?

Thanks!

Bob

(I posted this in the Speaker Forum a few days ago but I didn't get any responses.)

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Bob,

Sorry you’ve had a hard time getting a response.

It’s hard to say definitively since you didn’t include the dimensions of your room (and that’s probably why you didn’t have any luck before).

But since you said that the rear ceiling speakers will be “several” feet behind the seat I’m going to say that putting the side ones five feet to the rear of the seat will put them too close to the ceiling speakers.

What you might do is run some temporary “throw down” wiring and try them out at both locations. That way you can know you’re making the right decision before you do everything permanent.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[Bob_F]

Wayne,

Thanks for your help. (I have actually gotten some helpful replies in the other thread since I posted this one.)

The room is about 17 foot deep by 15 foot wide. There's no aft wall as that opens into a kitchen and there's a "missing" section of wall on one side that prevents a more optimal location for the left rear/side surround.

I can make a diagram of the room and scan it but I'm not sure how to post the image on the forum. Can anyone offer any tips on doing that?

I also have a lot of flexibility on locating the rear ceiling speakers. I was just going to place those at the same distance from the TV as the side speakers. Should I instead move them further back?

Thanks,

Bob

 

[John S]

The 5' aft would probably work well / better in a 6.1 system. So how far are we talking about distance wise from these side surrounds to your 7.1 rears? How far between the two 7.1 rears? Moving them closer together, thus creating more distance from the side rears to the 7.1 rears, would probably make it better as well.

Of course if your doing a pre-install wire job, you won't have the luxury of try'n the positions.

Choices, choices...

 

[Bob_F]

John,

Thanks for the help. I just posted some additional info as you posted your reply.

And yes, choices, choices...

Bob

 

[Bob_F]

OK, I decided to place the surrounds 5 ft aft of my primary listening position.

Should I then place my rear, in-ceiling, surrounds at the same "5 ft aft" distance from the screen? Or should I place them further back?

I don't know if this is a factor, but I'll be driving these speakers with a Denon 3801 receiver. I can adjust the speaker output levels and I can change the delay times with this receiver.

Any suggestions or comments are welcome as I'm getting close to cutting drywall.

Bob

 

[John S]

I'd place them further back. How far?? Gosh, that would be difficult as well. Placing them a little closer together at center would be prudent here though as there are very little benefits to 7.1 -vs- 6.1, but there are a lot of negatives with having the side surrounds to close to the rear surrounds in a 7.1 configuration.

But in my opinion they should NOT be on the same plane, but even in the case where say the sofa is butt up against a wall, with careful calibration and fine tuning the speaker placement, you can get 6.1 and 7.1 to work ok, but not even close to optimal.

It will be neat to get your impressions after it is all working on exactly what way you decided to go with it.

 

[Bob_F]

Thanks John,

That's very helpful advice. Maybe I'll move the in-ceiling speakers back 2 or 3 additional feet and nudge them a bit closer together.

I'll report back with my impressions after I get everything assembled.

Bob