Placement of my first Klipsch 5.1 set...

[FocusR]

Edit: sorry, placed in wrong forum I see, should be in 'architectural' I guess..

My first post here, since I'm new to the Klipsch family.

Because of my limited budget I bought used speakers and avr, but, despite that I am happy as a little child with my new toys!(if that's a correct sentence in English; I'm from Holland;))

I recently bought myself a nice set of Klipsch speakers to replace my small onkyo 5.1 set. My 'new' set exists of the SF-1 fronts, the SC-1 center and the SS-1 surrounds(used, of course). Heard them, and instantly wanted them!! Also a nice little subwoofer will support them.

They will be powered by my also just bought Onkyo TX-NR616, which is going to replace my Onkyo TX-NR509. And, to finish my little introduction, this all will be placed in a part of my living room that's being built right now:).

The question...

How to place all this speakers, especially the rears, in 5.1 setup, to get the most out of this all, to just enjoy watching movies the way they're intended..

I made a little sketch of the room that's being attached to my living room, it's roughly 5m long and 2,80m wide, with an open walk trough on the left of listening position, and door and Window on the right.

I hope the attached picture works and will be enough to get a bit of pointing in the right directions!

It's just how I -think- it should be, and really can use advice because of the wiring in the walls that I'm going to make in the new home theater corner of my living.

Thanks in advance!

Edited July 25, 2016 by FocusR

[mustang guy]

I like the layout just the way you sketched it. Your sub might not sound best in that location in the room, so be flexible on sub positioning. Other sub positions might be 1/on the right front, 2/by the flower pot next to the kitchen/bar, 3/where the flower pot is on the right rear wall, or 4/where the lamp is by the door. 

 

Send some pictures when you get everything done, and gongrats on joining the Klipsch family and forums!

[Scrappydue]

Yep i agree everything looks good. I'd do sub in the front right corner. Do the sub crawl and I bet that spot will be the best. L shaped rooms are one of the hardest to get bass correct in. Better to corner load on the opposing wall of the "L" in my experience.

[FocusR]

Thank you very much for your replies!

And for the nice friendly welcome:).

I'm glad to hear that my thoughts weren't too bad after all.

The position of the rear SS1's was what I was worried about most, since I only have had direct firing 'normal' before, but placement at the back wall seems good from what I read, which is a welcome surprise. Do I have to take in account the minimal/maximum distance from the corners of the room as well for those? And can my couch be this close to the rear wall?

And great to read advice for the subwoofer also!

I've bought a Visonik subwoofer, downfiring, with also the port facing down. It's supposed to diffuse the sound as much as possible I heard. For now I've got a sub with the port facing towards me, and I do not like the extra amount of bass when sitting while moving my head leaning back words to the read wall, instead of the 'normal' amount of bass when sitting slightly leaning forward.

Therefore I very much appreciate the advices, since I want to eliminate that as much as possible.

Thanks again for the kind advice!

[mustang guy]

The rears will get reflection from the side wall, but this might actually be a welcome thing since they are so close to the listening position. If those reflections cause problems, a acoustic wall treatment tile on the right side wall in front of the right rear surround would work very well.

 

You really don't have a lot of choices for seating and wall distance. Experimentation will prevail for that decision, but you are going to be seated on the back wall unless there is an option I cannot see.

 

Subwoofers are omnidirectional. If you are planning on another sub, you should considering adding it rather than replacing the one you have. Having 2 subs in 2 different positions of the room will not make the bass louder, it will however increase the modal density of the LFE. 

 

I would put the sub with the lowest frequency ability beside the sofa on the right, and the less capable one by the left front speaker.

Edited July 26, 2016 by mustang guy

[FocusR]

Thank you for this; it sort of confirms what I thought would work for the SS1's.

They will go a couple of inches (an inch is about 2,5cm isn't it?) from the corners on the rear wall. Great!

About the sub, my meaning is to try to work with one sub only if possible. This would be the Visonik.

The idea of placing it halfway on the side has something I've been thinking of too.

Wouldn't placing it right next to the couch make the one sitting on that side of the couch hear it louder, and hearing more clearly where the sound comes from..?

I know testing is the best way to know for sure, and it's more overthinking for now, but I need to place my pvc tubing for the cables (don't really know how that's called in English) in a couple of weeks, so this is why I'm so happy with this advices!

A little picture of the sub is added for a general idea of the type. As said there are now firering speaker or ports on the sides, only downwards. It's a 8" 100 W RMS sub.

[mustang guy]

That is a very attractive sub! I love it...

 

I would still keep the front ported sub and run dual subs. Research "room modes"... 

 

You can place the sub anywhere and not be able to tell where it is. Low frequencies are non-directional. The only disadvantage to having a single sub near the sofa is that it will be turned way down compared to the mains. As long as you are sitting on the sofa or chair, things will sound just fine. If you are moving about in the room, the main speakers will be far louder than the sub. If you had a sub by the sofa and one in the front corner, the balance of the speakers to the subs would be nice.

 

Give it a try before you throw out the old ported sub. All you need is an RCA y-adapter like this:

 

 

It would be a cheap experiment.

Edited July 27, 2016 by mustang guy

[BusaDude]

And great to read advice for the subwoofer also!

I've bought a Visonik subwoofer, downfiring, with also the port facing down. It's supposed to diffuse the sound as much as possible I heard. For now I've got a sub with the port facing towards me, and I do not like the extra amount of bass when sitting while moving my head leaning back words to the read wall, instead of the 'normal' amount of bass when sitting slightly leaning forward.

Therefore I very much appreciate the advices, since I want to eliminate that as much as possible.

Thanks again for the kind advice!

The "extra amount of bass" you're hearing has nothing to do with the type of subwoofer... It's because you are sitting right up against the back wall (not the best seating position).

As you've noticed moving your head forward helps to lessen the effect and sounds more "normal".

If you can do it, you should try pulling your couch away from the wall at least a foot, more if possible. This will help smooth out the sound all across the frequency range, but particularly the low bass region, because your ears will be farther out into the room.

As others have mentioned, running 2 subs will help smooth out the bass frequencies. And if you can pull your couch out, you could put one sub directly behind your couch (near field) along the middle of the wall.

Even if you can't do it in the long term because of lack of space, at least try it to see what a difference it makes to have the couch away from the wall... And having a sub behind or near your main listening position.

As always, try different setups and use what sounds best to your ears, in your room.

[FocusR]

Thank you all for the clear and helpful replies.

I've got even more info then I expected, and I'm happy to hear that the placement of the speakers like the idea I had doesn't seem to be that bad at all, except for the subwoofer that is, but you gave me lots of things to try and advice for that too.

At the moment the building of the mentions part of the house is the first thing to do of course, but when everything is finished I'll surely post some pictures and get back to this topic.

Until then, might there be things someone here thinks of, or any other tips or advice, is always welcome ofcours.

Anyhow, I'm very pleased of the help I'm getting at this community, and want to thank you guys for that!

[wvu80]

Hi Focus, and welcome to the forum! 

 

I prefer the L/R speakers closer to the center, directly outside the edges of the TV or outside the edges of the entertainment center.  In this pic I have the center speaker inside the entertainment center because of the Wife Approval Factor (WAF).

 

 

 

This makes a sound stage that is more connected to the TV instead of making the entire front wall a giant speaker.  The sub would go outside that closer to the front and side wall.

 

 

Although that is my preference your speakers are close enough you can try it according to your chart as well.  The most important thing is how it sounds to YOUR ears in YOUR house with YOUR speakers.  The room can affect up to 50% of how the speaker sounds.

+++

 

As far as the side speakers, the charts ideally place the speakers above the listener's ears and to the side.  I have mine very similar to your chart with placement of the speakers above the ears, but directly behind the seating position.  Mine are that way due to the limitations of my room.  I think they sound fine in that position because they play ambient sounds, birds chirping, various gun shots, people shouting or softly talking in the background, that sort of thing.

Edited July 27, 2016 by wvu80