Speaker Position Confusion (1 Viewer)

[Chuck_K]

OK - i read what i could find in section III of the ht faqs/basics document (btw - the dolby link is busted) but i'm still confused. i want to assemble a 5.1 ht system.

my first question is, where do the 2 rear speakers go?

my second question is, are they referred to as 1)Side Surround speakers (L & R) or 2) Dipole/Bipole/Tripole Surround speakers (L & R) or 3) Monopole Rear Surround speakers (L & R) ?

and my third question is - i've got a processor (acurus act-3) which supports front and rear subwoofers. if subwoofer placement critical for best bass, where should they be located? are they best sounding when placed in the corners of the room?

thanks for any help!

 

[Chu Gai]

Please consider the following link: http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf...threadid=129639 which deals with several papers by Floyd Toole regarding speaker positioning and related matters. The various PDF's ought to be printed out for later examination and you may even like them so much, you might want to archive them somewhere.
Subs are invariably best placed in corners. This link, http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...hreadid=196649 goes into this in more detail.

 

[Chuck_K]

chu - document on subwoofer placement very good!
your first link appears to be busted however...

thank you!!

 

[Chu Gai]

Try this one...strange, it used to work...I think?!
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...hreadid=129639

 

[Chuck_K]

Thanks a million chu. that link works. lotsa good reading!

 

[Chu Gai]

You might also find some of the articles at the bottom of this link useful too. Best of listening.

 

[Torgny Nilsson]

If you want an overly simple short answer, I just went through this same issue and learned the following:

The 2 surrounds in a 5.1 system should be placed a bit behind the listener and to the sides. Maybe angled in toward the listener a little.

The 2 surrounds are side surrounds, not rear surrounds, on your processor.

Place the sub in one of the corners of your room up front (if you have one sub). If you have two, put them in opposite corners in the front of your room.

 

[Chuck_K]

torgny - thanks a million for the quick 'surround' speaker description. that's kinda what i thought. based on the ht systems i've seen in friend's homes, there are lotsa people who seem to think they belong behind the listener. these appear to be the people buying ht-in-a-box lol.

one last question folks - why would you use a dipole over a standard speaker for this side surround channel? i do not have/plan to use dipoles. will i loose something?

 

[John S]

Well behind the seating sweet spot and spread out decent isn't totally out of the ball park either really.

In a living room environment, you do what you can ya know.