Need help with speaker placement in a tough room

Dave Bugg · Joined: 01 Aug 2007 Posts: 182

Jdguay wrote:
> Hi,
> I am slowly building my home theater. I have a 60" Sony sxrd and I
> just bought an Onkyo tx-sr805. It is more receiver than I need but
> for only $529 I had to do it. Now I'm looking for a 5.1 system
> around the same price. However I am very concerned on where to place
> the speakers in my room.
> I would be glad to describe my room layout here, but I think it may be
> confusing and hard to explain, (vaulted ceilings, picture windows,
> open stairways, etc.). Is there a site where I can post pics and get
> advice on where to place my surrounds?
>
> Thanks for all your help,

Jeff, the Audio-Video Science (AVS) forum would be an excellenct place to go
to. You can place pictures into your post. There are a lot of very
knowledgeable folks and professionals that participate.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/

The overall forum is divided into sub-foums by topic, so it will be easy for
you to go to the right spot.

--
Dave
www.davebbq.com

Archived from group: alt>home-theater>misc

Jdguay · Joined: 01 Jan 2008 Posts: 1

Hi,
I am slowly building my home theater. I have a 60" Sony sxrd and I just
bought an Onkyo tx-sr805. It is more receiver than I need but for only $529
I had to do it. Now I'm looking for a 5.1 system around the same price.
However I am very concerned on where to place the speakers in my room.

I would be glad to describe my room layout here, but I think it may be
confusing and hard to explain, (vaulted ceilings, picture windows, open
stairways, etc.). Is there a site where I can post pics and get advice on
where to place my surrounds?

Thanks for all your help,

Jeff

Duff · Joined: 24 Dec 2007 Posts: 10

On Tue, 01 Jan 2008 15:13:25 GMT, "Jdguay"
wrote:

>Hi,
>I am slowly building my home theater. I have a 60" Sony sxrd and I just
>bought an Onkyo tx-sr805. It is more receiver than I need but for only $529
>I had to do it. Now I'm looking for a 5.1 system around the same price.
>However I am very concerned on where to place the speakers in my room.
>
>I would be glad to describe my room layout here, but I think it may be
>confusing and hard to explain, (vaulted ceilings, picture windows, open
>stairways, etc.). Is there a site where I can post pics and get advice on
>where to place my surrounds?
>
>Thanks for all your help,
>
>Jeff

Try to avoid ceiling placement if you can. Ear level is best.

Rear speakers do NOT go in the rear. They should be about even with
the listener, not behind him, and be about at the same level as the
ears of the listener.

The woofer should be low and in the front of the room. Placement is
not critical at all on the woofer. Corners work fine. And the center
speaker should be as close to the screen as you can get it. I prefer
top center of the screen. Front left and right should be definitely in
front of the listener but do NOT have to be in the front of the room.
For best results they need to be separated from the center speaker.

Kalman Rubinson · Joined: 01 Aug 2007 Posts: 37

On Tue, 01 Jan 2008 16:10:36 -0600, Duff wrote:

> Try to avoid ceiling placement if you can. Ear level is best.

Agreed.

> Rear speakers do NOT go in the rear. They should be about even with
>the listener, not behind him, and be about at the same level as the
>ears of the listener.

Nope. Standard placement is not in the rear but it is behind the
listener at about 110deg. from front/center.

> The woofer should be low and in the front of the room.

OK.

>Placement is
>not critical at all on the woofer. Corners work fine.

Nope. Subs excite the major room resonant modes and should be placed
where they do not boom. Corners are usually (but not always) the
worst places unless you have a room equalizer to compensate.

>And the center
>speaker should be as close to the screen as you can get it. I prefer
>top center of the screen. Front left and right should be definitely in
>front of the listener but do NOT have to be in the front of the room.

?? Yes, they must be in the front of the room although not flush
against the wall and certainly not on the sides.

>For best results they need to be separated from the center speaker.

Of course.

Kal

Phisherman · Joined: 01 Aug 2007 Posts: 472

On Tue, 01 Jan 2008 15:13:25 GMT, "Jdguay"
wrote:

>Hi,
>I am slowly building my home theater. I have a 60" Sony sxrd and I just
>bought an Onkyo tx-sr805. It is more receiver than I need but for only $529
>I had to do it. Now I'm looking for a 5.1 system around the same price.
>However I am very concerned on where to place the speakers in my room.
>
>I would be glad to describe my room layout here, but I think it may be
>confusing and hard to explain, (vaulted ceilings, picture windows, open
>stairways, etc.). Is there a site where I can post pics and get advice on
>where to place my surrounds?
>
>Thanks for all your help,
>
>Jeff

I used "Home Theater for Dummies." This book describes speaker
placement. You might borrow from your local library.

Ethan Winer · Joined: 01 Aug 2007 Posts: 11

Jeff,

> I would be glad to describe my room layout here, but I think it may be
> confusing and hard to explain

There are two ways to set up speakers in room - the correct way and every
other way. I agree with the others here that ear level is best for all
speakers, and you can see the other "correct" information in the article
"How to set up a room" on my company's web site:

http://www.realtraps.com/art_room-setup.htm

--Ethan