Speaker Placement (1 Viewer)

[Chad Fetter]

Ok, so I am thinking about building a new house. One of my biggest obstacles is how can I place my speakers for my 7.1 system around a great room. The easiest solution would be to place the speakers in the ceiling, or close to the ceiling in a soffit that comes down from the ceiling a foot. The room dimensions that I am building are 18' by 18'. Will I be sorry placing the speakers so high? Would it be better to have them in the ceiling pointing down, or in a soffit pointing in towards the center of the room? In that dimension room, where would you place the speakers? (How many feet back from the front wall for the side speakers, How far apart for the rears?)

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

 

[Ted Lee]

i don't have a 7.1 system, but here's my random thoughts.

i think a lot depends on where you'll be sitting. it sounds like you'll have some flexibility there.

i've heard that the side speakers should be slightly behind the listener, a bit above ear level. the rear's should be at the same height directly behind the listening position.

are you going to be using in-wall speakers?

also, see if this dolby.com article on speaker placement helps.

 

[Chad Fetter]

Thanks, while I know what you mentioned is ideal world. What I would like to know, is how much of a mistake would I be making by either placing them in the ceiling, or placing them in the soffit? Yes, they would be in-wall speakers.

 

[Ted Lee]

my concern is that by placing them in the ceiling (or soffit) they'll still be firing straight down. you'll lose all the high-frequency information that should be pointing at your head.

unless your in-walls have an adjustable tweeter - that would help.

 

[Chad Fetter]

If I were to put them in the soffit, I was thinking that I would have them directing to the middle of the room as opposed to straight down. Would this be a better option? I realize that they would still be way above me.

Thanks again.

 

[Ted Lee]

oh...i see what you're getting at.

yeah, i think that would be a MUCH better option. how high up are we talking about? it still sounds like the speaker would be firing the sound above the listening position, but i think it's still a better choice then firing straight down.

also, are you going to be putting any lighting fixtures (low voltage?) into that soffit? if so you'll want to consider any electrical interference issues.

 

[TimForman]

This might be a silly question but why aren't you just using ceiling mounts with some dipole surrounds?

 

[Chad Fetter]

The reason I am do not want to use ceiling mounts, is for looks. I want to be able to hide them in the wall.

 

[TimForman]

I think 7' high is ok since that is about 3 feet above the listener's ear isn't it? That's in line with Dolby specs. If you can angle them correctly you're golden!

 

[Owen Bartley]

If you're building the room from scratch, I would just make an angled soffit. Just set it so that its angled to the listening position and then fix up the volume/distance compensation at your processor and it should be fine.

 

[ChrisTheg]

In doing this for a living, my professional opinion is that one would have to know much more about the design and composition of your room before they could recommend either speaker locations or types. While you can use in-wall speakers for almost anything, they can't be used for everything. I do, however, think that they would work in your application. I don't think that you have included enough information in our thread in allow an accurate recommendation.