Need home theater setup advice!

[BurtonMercer]

For those of you like me who have to squeeze their HT system into a smaller size family room (sofa against the back wall), how do you arrange your rear speakers? Do you put them directly to the side in the corners? And what about the new rear center - is this even an option when it would need to be directly above your head? Surely this is a dilemna many face. Any suggestions/advice would be appreciated.

I have yet to buy rear speakers yet so I'm open for ideas on the best rears for this kind of setup. Up front I already have RF7s and RC7.

Thanks!!

[Deang]

Ready to take some advice from a 2-channel only guy

Do you have walls on either side of the couch that's against the back wall?

If so, I would hang them ABOVE my head on each side, facing in torwards the couch, and I would put the rear channel above my head on the back wall.

I see these speakers as providing mostly directional and ambiant cues. The idea is to create a diffuse soundfield. Setting them low and pointing them right at you kind of defeats the purpose of the effect that is trying to be achieved.

Your setup won't be the ideal -- but it will certainly be closer to the ideal.

BTW -- you absolutely should be buying the RS7's for the rear channels. All the speakers utilized in a HT environment should have similiar, if not identical sonic signatures. Mounting a RC7 on the rear wall may not be practical. You could put it on a shelf, if you can use the studs -- because it is rather heavy. However, you might do better with a single RB5 in your situation.

This message has been edited by deang on 09-25-2002 at 04:59 PM

[klipguy]

if i were you i'd put the rears to the sides of you and well the center rear , you can leave it out for now if its a small room i dont think you will hear a diffrence with the center rear , but if you must have a center rear try tilting it abit downwards

[skonopa]

I have a small room (14x14) for my HT setup also with the couch against the back wall. I ended up moving the couch out a little bit (about a foot or two) and mounting the rear center channel (an RC-7) directly overhead on a shelf and pointing down as much as I can get it. Not an ideal setup but the best I can do given the space. It seems to work pretty decently.

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Steven Konopa

Fredericksburg, VA

Denon AVR3802 (Receiver)

RF-7 (Fronts)

RC-7 (Center)

RC-7 (Rear)

RS-7 (A Surrounds)

Infinity RS2000.5 (B Surrounds - recycled)

REL Storm III (Subwoofer 1)

Yamaha YST-SW40 (Subwoofer 2 - Recycled)

JVC XV-S65GD (DVD)

Sharp DX-200 (CD - ancient)

RCA DWD490RE (DirecTV/Ultimate TV receiver)

Sharp 32 inch (TV)

[T2K]

And as BobG has suggested here from ancient home theaterdom, try placing them on the floor facing up.

Keith

[boa12]

i meself advocate using a direct radiating like the rc-7 or rf-7 for the rear surround duty. unless you have an extremely wide space between the side surrounds.

the rc-7 would match up directly w/ the front rc-7 center for fly-over effects.

also perfect timbre match to the side rs-7.

since the rs-7 are dispersing wide for fly-over, front-back & vice versa effects, the rear directs in effect tie or anchor the wide dispersion to the rear center.

& for 6.1 discrete, most effects in the 6th channel are directional. such as a noise directly behind your head, or when a plane flys directly over your head from front center to rear center.

really the best way to find out is to demo the different varities at your place.

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My Home Systems Page

[BurtonMercer]

Thanks for the suggestions. One other idea I have is to mount RCR-5 (in-ceilings) for the rear three speakers. Has anyone done this or have any thoughts?

[kjohnsonhp]

There's some good pictures and discussion on surround placement at the DOLBY web site. Speakers on the floor firing up is one of the alternative placements pictured. Speakers facing the sides of the coach 2-3 feet above your ears is recommended--as mentioned you don't them firing straight at you.