Surround (RS-7) Placement

[SteveB]

Hi,

I just bought the Klipsch RC-7 (center), Klipsch RF-7 (pair mains), and 3 of the Klipsch RS-7 surrounds (the odd one for the rear center of my 6.1 setup). I am going from tower surrounds to these and I am not quite sure where to place these new dipoles.

My room is 21' x 14' approx. My TV is along the longer wall with the 'sweet spot' almost smack in the middle (slightly closer to the back of the room).

<b>Should I place the RS-7's in the corners or to my side? </b>

<b>How high should I place them in relation to the ground?</b>

<b>Should I keep my rear center RS-7 at the same height as the other two surrounds?</b>

Thanks in advance,

Steve

[HornEd]

SteveB, since your question is so important in these transitional days from ProLogic ambiance to 6.1 discrete orientation in spearker systems that you posted the same question in two areas. I will agree with you in posting my response on both. Hopefully, that will give more Forum friends and lurkers a chance to reflect upon our changing audio world.

So, if you read the other one, you can skip this:

Well, first, congratulations on your front array, SteveB... even if the center is a tad week (compared to the mains) for optimal enjoyment from 5.1 (and above) for the discrete sound mixing that responds best to five (or more) identical speakers. This of course is for reasons of timbre matching and accuracy in projecting the sound as intended by the audio engineers who mixed the DVD for home theater. Since upwards of 75% of the total HT sound is directed through your center channel, it would be nice if it truly were the equal of the left and right mains. But, your question was about surrounds... so here goes...

You have purchased three of the finest WDST speakers Klipsch has ever made. By there design, they mechanically change the recorded mix by spraying the sound of two horn tweeters to bounce off walls before they hit your ears... creating a "diffuse" sound. And that is okay for weak, outdated, surround sources like ProLogic or to jazz up films of yesteryear. The saving grace is that they have an 8" woofer to direct high bass and midrange toward the sweet spot as intended by the audio engineers of 5.1 (and above).

The answer to your question is that sound sprayers have the ability to sound "good/okay" just about anywhere you put them since by bouncing sound off walls before they reach your ears they depend less on location... but this raises a bit of an issue because your sidewalls are far from your sweet spot if your TV is on the wide wall.

Generally, surround sound speakers do better when they are mounted and aimed about a foot (or so) above your ears when seated in the sweet spot. For 6.1 (which I prefer), the side surrounds should be a foot or two behind your ears when seated in the sweet spot and the rear effects speaker directly behind.

If you drew three identical equilateral triangles sitting on a common plane... with one facing left (Horn Tweeter), the center facing forward (midrange cone) and the third facing right (Horn Tweeter)... you would depict the cones of sound emanating from a single WDST speaker. Thus, the side surrounds are throwing Horn Tweeter sounds toward the TV and the rear wall (which creates a mechanical, tweeter range 6th channel effect). Obviously, if you put a third WDST speaker on the rear wall, you are overlapping the tweeter range spray toward the side walls.

Again, the saving grace is the 8" woofers that will be sending the midrange of the original signal toward the sweet spot. I am a fan of WDST for unusual or difficult listening spaces... such as my 30' motor home. And, though an admitted horn fancier, do appreciate the sound quality of the minimalist horn design found in the Reference series. They are good, solid, accurate speakers by any account... and play a wide variety of source material without being as much "in your face" as fully horn loaded designs.

While not knowing as much about your room, gear and listening preferences... here is what I would suggest in Reference level listening. (Well, ideally it would be six RF-7's by my audio standards...)

Take back two RS-7's and upgrade them to two RC-7's. Put the remaining RS-7 on your back wall directly behind your sweet spot and about 6' high. Put the RC-7's (either horizontally or vertically) on the sides a foot or so behind the sweet spot and high enough for the horn tweeter to be aimed slightly above ear level. With a room as wide as yours... there is plenty of room to have an abundance of ambient sound... your challenge is to get the appropriate discrete sound that makes 6.1 technology a real winner!

The RC-7 is such a well designed speaker that you could mount six of them in your room for a 6.1 system and, with the addition of an adequate subwoofer, have a system that would outperform the one you bought on all quality 5.1 (and above) source material.

Please understand, SteveB, that the intent of this post is to help folks understand when WDST helps and when other Reference series are a better choice... it is not a slam against Klipsch or using WDST where it is of most benefit. Klipsch Reference speakers are so well designed that you could please most folks even if you had six RS-7's instead!... but, IMHO, you would not be getting all the benefit that RF-7's and well mixed source material have to offer.

There is a reason that higher end Klipsch systems tend to have a monopole design even for 6.1 HT and multi-channel music... particularly SACD. Enjoy what you have... but as you grow in understanding of your audio opportunity... please remember this post when it comes time to upgrade. -HornED

PS: I was writing this reply when Shape Shifter gave his sound advice of getting past the overlapping sound sprayer effect. If your TV were on the short wall, I would have probably recommended that approach. His counsel, on the original post, to have the right to bring back rear array speakers if they do not perform well in your room is excellent advice! H.E.

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Photo update soon! -HornEd

This message has been edited by HornEd on 04-16-2002 at 10:18 AM