need help positioning 2.1 setup

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233

Soldato
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currently remodeling the living room and have opened up one side of the tv wall to fit shelves and house av stuff etc etc.


not sure on where I should be situating my bits and bobs


equipment

50" lg 570T television
Onkyo 606 av amp
Mordaunt short alumni bookshelves sitting on a pair of pixel t50 stands
Mordaunt short alumni 9 sub

usual gubbings sky ps3 etc etc


now the onkyo sky box ps3 etc are going on the shelves


and the tv is mounted next to the shelves centred on the wall as per before it was opened up these things are set in stone and not being changed.

what I do need advice on though is positioning of both sub and speakers

I was thinking sub tucked away in the corner and speakers sitting maybe in the corners also pointing toward the couch in front of the tv. but will having the sub and a speaker in the same corner pose any problems?


heres a fantastic scale diagram I drew earlier

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v360/GlasgowRob/positions_zpsa0c534cc.jpg

top drawing is side on bottom is top down in case anyones in any doubt


and this is how it looks atm boxed in section is where av amp and sky etc are sitting with shelves above




the big rectangular shape drawn on the wall is where the tv is being hung
 
Your sub is side-firing, so it will live quite happily in a room corner.

Don't forget to chase in for connection and power cables for the audio gear, sub cable, and TV cables.
 
233 said:
don't plan on using conduit either, plaster straight onto cable :)

is there any reason you don't run cables diagonally (genuinely interested in this)

you'll love the rest of the house its a right hodge podge

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18283118
Click to expand...

Its a regulation, prescribed zones etc. If someone was to do work to your house they would expect the cables to be going up/down and not diagonal. Not really the safest of work and I wouldn't be so proud to be showing pictures of what you've done.
The same goes for the conduit - its done for a reason, imagine if every trades man took the same approach and put the cables where he 'thought' would be best.

If you are genuinely interested do some research to improve your DIY skills.

Routing cable behind plaster
  • The cable can be run horizontally or vertically but never diagonally - and cannot be routed through thermal plasterboard.
  • When running cable behind plaster it should be run in oval PVC conduit.
  • If you are unsure, then use a wiring detector or bradawl to check that the route will not come into contact with any other pipes or cables in the wall. When you are ready to begin, lightly cut along the lines you have drawn with a sharp knife.
  • Next you should use a masonry chisel and hammer to chip out the plaster between the lines. It is advisable here to wear safety goggles.
  • Make sure that the chiselled space is deep enough to hold the cable and for a layer of plaster to cover it. (A plaster covering of 6mm (1/4 inch) should be sufficient to produce a sturdy fill for the wall.
  • If your route leads you behind a skirting board then it should be possible to chisel away the cable space behind it without having to remove it completely.
  • Position the cable in the channel and fix it into place using the galvanised nails. Don't forget to leave enough cable to be able to reach the mounting box.
  • Add the finishing touches by neatly plastering over the cable in the wall.
 
so other than the dodgy chanelling any thoughts on positioning my speakers?
 
233 said:
so other than the dodgy chanelling any thoughts on positioning my speakers?
Click to expand...

well i think his point is ... that if any work needs doing , the guy doing the drillign is going to be at risk as he won't expect the cabling youv'e done :(

so just brushing off his remarks sounds abit poor imo .. and you don't really deserve a resonse after that
 
speakers should usually be pointing toward the centre of the room. Good hi-fi speakers will be designed to "fill" the room with sound, such as most of the kef uni-q's, so shouldn't matter too much where they go.

Your mordaunt shorts look ok but if you can afford it you might be better off using those bookshelves as rears, getting yourself some nice floorstanders to use as main speakers and a good quality center to make use of your glorious onkyo amp. id recommend some kef uni-q's like the old q55.2's, mine sound phonomenal in 5.1 with the keff eggs which are VERY small.

cabling though... the guys got a big point, but why the hell plaster them in anyway? sounds like a pain to me. what happens when you get a different tv, and when cable types become obsolete... rip the walls down? lol
QED do a nice "flat" cable, its great quality and you hardly see it. Tv cables will be behind tv anyway? mmmmmmmmmm maybe im just lazy!!
 
QED Qontour Ultra Flat Speaker Cable is the stuff. Dobly true HD and DTS HD-Master will sound great on your amp (blu ray), believe me, use it use it use it!
 
TALON1973 said:
well i think his point is ... that if any work needs doing , the guy doing the drillign is going to be at risk as he won't expect the cabling youv'e done :(

so just brushing off his remarks sounds abit poor imo .. and you don't really deserve a resonse after that
Click to expand...

I would hardly say I brushed his remarks off I genuinely asked if there was any reasons against it and he gave me a list. Then steered the thread back on topic.


I certainly took his points on board and have already thought about remedial actions I really didnt want to get into a whole discussion regarding badly channelled walls when all I need to know is where to point my speakers :)



Slim as for not running conduit it makes things easier for me, the walls are brick with a skim of plaster over top. The less depth I need to channel out the better. Is ruddy hard work. That and as the cables are only mounted a couple of m, below the wall it should be easy enough to dig out and ski over if required.

Sod's law I
M going to have a cable failure within a week now :)


Tell me more about this qontour cable. Sounds expensive
 
Somewhere in this thread is a suggestion about putting the front speakers in the corners of the room. I think that's a bad idea for lots of reasons, but here are the main two:

First, the room layout means that one couch is partially hidden. That's not good. It means that that seating position won't get as much direct sound from the right speaker if it is in the corner.

Second, with the speakers spaced so far apart there will be a hole in the middle of the sound field at low to middling volumes. In effect, the sound will be disconnected from the picture.​

If it was me then I would have the speakers flanking the TV. The sound will fill the space better and reach the corner couch too. Also, speakers tend to image better away from the side walls.



As for the sub, unless there's some reason that you haven't told us, I'd be tempted to put it in the corner on the window side of the room. Whenever possible I try to avoid putting a lot of bass energy right next to the equipment position.
 
233 said:
I would hardly say I brushed his remarks off I genuinely asked if there was any reasons against it and he gave me a list. Then steered the thread back on topic.


I certainly took his points on board and have already thought about remedial actions I really didnt want to get into a whole discussion regarding badly channelled walls when all I need to know is where to point my speakers :)



Slim as for not running conduit it makes things easier for me, the walls are brick with a skim of plaster over top. The less depth I need to channel out the better. Is ruddy hard work. That and as the cables are only mounted a couple of m, below the wall it should be easy enough to dig out and ski over if required.

Sod's law I
M going to have a cable failure within a week now :)


Tell me more about this qontour cable. Sounds expensive
Click to expand...


Its just really nice sounding quality speaker cable, great for bookshelfs and sartelites, as is very easy to hide when running up down walls, under carpets or tvs etc.
Its about 2.50 per meter sonot too bad, check on amerzon.
 
233 said:
I would hardly say I brushed his remarks off I genuinely asked if there was any reasons against it and he gave me a list. Then steered the thread back on topic.


I certainly took his points on board and have already thought about remedial actions I really didnt want to get into a whole discussion regarding badly channelled walls when all I need to know is where to point my speakers :)



Slim as for not running conduit it makes things easier for me, the walls are brick with a skim of plaster over top. The less depth I need to channel out the better. Is ruddy hard work. That and as the cables are only mounted a couple of m, below the wall it should be easy enough to dig out and ski over if required.

Sod's law I
M going to have a cable failure within a week now :)


Tell me more about this qontour cable. Sounds expensive
Click to expand...


With out sounding as if I'm having a go, because I'm not, its rather if I came in and did a job like that you would not be happy with it. Its more for the safety of who works in your house and more importantly 'legally' you. If I was to come to your house install cables how I felt and then you drilled through those cable when putting up a shelf and got an electric shock - me as the responsible installer would be in big doodoo.

As for things being easier for you... well oval conduit is not going to require you to channel out much more. It will offer better protection for your cable, will be easier to get out and will less likely cause the plaster to crack. Do the job properly and you wont have to do it again etc.

You would like me to torque up your wheel nuts after changing your tyres, right. It would be easier for me to not and for you to do it when your wheel comes loose!
 
just to update this, ended up encasing the cable in some conduit (was down in b & q anyway so thought what the heck :)


not going to bother rechanneling the wall (for all it is) that and theres a ruddy great big airbrick in the way.


points taken on board for the rest of the house though
 
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