5.1 Speaker placement?

[~Divine~Wind~]

hey guys,

well my cabling has arrived and Im ready to chase it into the walls and bury under the floorboards but I just thought am I cabling to the right place? lol

It's a small room, 2.6x2.6 and just shy of 3m tall.

I was planning on putting the fronts on each end of the desk, the centre at the middle of the desk sub under the desk at one side and then the rears at the corners of the room at around head height (when sitting), but then my mate asked why I wasn't putting them higher out of the way... my answer... not a clue

At the momennt I'm still leaning towards something like the Boston acoustics XS so they would be small speakers anyway.

just wanting a bit clarification on wether to mount them head height or at the top of the walls pointing down. If it makes any difference the setup is gonna be used for gaming, music and movies mainly thru my PC.

I'm still planning on wiring upto wall plates so Ic an just plug speakers into those when I get round to buying em.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Kanpai]

I would mount the two fronts and rears in all corners off the room, centre speaker under the TV, and the sub in the corner.

Downstairs we have the sub in the corner of the room just underneath the rear right and it feels like it's the best position to get the best of the sub to travel around the whole room, plus you can feel it on the sofa too. Seeing as you have a fairly square room and small it may be better to put four speakers in each corner so it doesn't come in the way, leaving the centre speaker on the desk. The sub placement shouldn't be a problem for that room size actually as I'm sure the bass will travel across the room easily.

Let us know how you get on

 

[lucid]

Room corners work OK for subs that need a lot of boundary reinforcement....but the risk is always that the sub will sound very boomy.

Corner placement for satellite speakers a not the best idea. A lot of people do it because it looks neat, but that doesn't make it right.

The problem is first reflections. That's where the sound from the speaker hits the nearest side walls. In a corner this will happen with the two side walls and the ceiling.

First reflections from hard surfaces produce that fuzzy, not-focussed, brittle sound that makes it harder to place the action. There's also too much distance between the centre and fronts for effective panning.

Have a look at the Dolby web site for some good advice on surround sound speaker placement.

 

[~Divine~Wind~]

Well the room Is pretty much square, door on rear wall at the left window on right hand side wall. Means that the side walls pretty much cant be used unfortunatley.

Don't really have any otehr option for the rears due to the shape/size of the room

 

[lucid]

Well then make the best compromise you can. Place the front speakers correctly and do what you have to with the rears.... Simples

 

[Somnambulist]

As Lucid said, look at some of the placement guides; Dolby, THX e.t.c. e.t.c.

For the sub, the general rule is to put the sub where you sit, then crawl about while something that works the sub (google 'Woofer Cooker' lol) listening for where you get the cleanest, least boomy bass response. When you find it, put the sub in that position.

 

[Somnambulist]

Make some stands for the rears!

 

[jaybee]

It's always about compromising between practicality/aesthetics/sound. Ideally you would have them placed perfectly and all at ear height when sat on the sofa, but in the real world we compromise slightly. Suck it and see before finalising. I would run them for a few days atleast with speakers in differetn positions with cables all over the lounge if not just to annoy your other half if you have one