Surround Placement (1 Viewer)

[John_E]

I tried the search function, but I didn't see any situations like mine, so here goes: I have a 14x20 family room with the TV on the 20' wall. The couch is directly opposite right up against the back wall. There is no way around this setup. I would like to wall mount the surrounds on the side walls, but due to french doors and a fireplace, there is only about 12" of space on the left side wall. Should I mount the speaker that close to the back wall? If not, are there any other suggestions??
Thanks!!
John

 

[Scott Page]

Surrounds can be mounted on the side close to the back wall, but sound spaciousness is going to suffer of course. You could also try ceiling mount.
At the back of my HT the ceiling is under 7 feet. For my rear-center surrounds, I plan to mount a pair of Paradigm ADP-170's (dipoles) with their backs to the ceiling (normally the back goes against the wall with this speaker). I will use a heavy duty steel angle bracket from Home Depot to mound these securely so they don't end up on someones head. Dipole surrounds can be mounted slighly forward of the ear position, so that may work for you. In any case, I suggest moving the couch out from the wall as far as the wife will allow. Maybe you can put some floor plants to hide the sides of the couch that are out from the wall if that will make it more acceptable.