dbb Posted December 30, 2002 Share Posted December 30, 2002 I have an Onkyo receiver that is THX ES certified, and would like to set up my home theater with 7.1. Unfortunately, my room for all practical purposes is 14' square, with an 8' ceiling. What would be the a good recommendation for speakers in this environment? I've been looking at the Reference Series RB-3 for the front L/R pair, an RC-3 center, RS-3s for the L/R surrounds, and in-wall RCW-3s for the rear surrounds. Would use the RSW-10 sub. Does this sound reasonable, or overkill for a 14 x 14 room? Any other recommendations/suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael hurd Posted December 30, 2002 Share Posted December 30, 2002 A square room will be filled with standing waves - not too good in the bass/midbass regions. There will be plenty of peaks and holes in the response. Could you apply 2x4 framing to the sides of the walls, and effectively change the size of the room ? You could make a walk in closet on one side and an audio comonent rack built in the other. What's your budget ? Do you own your own home or are renting ? If you post answers to these questions, as a group collectively we can help suggest ideas from our own experiences. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HornEd Posted December 30, 2002 Share Posted December 30, 2002 You might look up the "White Papers" by Dr. Floyd E. Toole, V.P. of Hardin Industries and considered by many pros to be the top acoustics and psychoacoustics guy in the world. For decades he did research for the Canadian government on the subject. When he is a keynote speaker at a convention... those in the know perk up their ears! Even class Klipsch employees will tell you he knows his stuff. Well, one of Dr. Toole's favorite arrangements is putting the TV and center channel in one corner, the right and left channels in the corners opposite each other and the surrounds against the far walls aimed toward the sweet spot. You can tuck your subwoofers behind the TV and they will get a maximum boost from the corner. As I understand it, this configuration gives you a maximum sized sweet spot... even for people socializing and moving about the room (as in party time New Year's Eve) and also tends to minimize standing wave problems. It's worth a try. I did it once with K-horns in the opposite corners and a pair of stacked subs behind the TV... it sure worked for me. A variation of this is to flank your right and left Mains on either side of a big screen TV and put your side surrounds in the opposing corners. In that configuration I also used front effects speakers to widen the sound stage. Of course, I tend to use all monopoles strategically place. The placement and shape of the room is less important if you use WDST techniques... but that usually comes at an expense of lessened directionality and timbre matching benefits due to forced ambience beyond that recorded on a DVD. =HornEd PS: Remember 7.1 is really 6.1 with two speakers instead of one for the rear effects channel. In a 6.1 configuration I would put one rear effects channel in the corner opposite the TV and center. If I had an adequate" subwoofer system (no stray harmonics over 80 Hz and capable of hitting 121.5 dB at 20 Hz) I would consider putting it in the far corner and placing my two rear effects speakers also along the walls. The big advantage of 7.1 is that you can space the rear effects speakers so the dual cone angles will allow people to sit further back in the room and still be in the sweet spot. If you use a big screen TV, the viewing distance will probably have the ideal viewing spot about ten feet back from the screen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbb Posted December 31, 2002 Author Share Posted December 31, 2002 I've attached a .pdf drawing of the room in question. Michael, to answer some of the issues you posed, I do own the home and, as you can see from the drawing, have a walk-in closet, which I would rather like to keep as a closet. I'm hoping the 3x3 ft. entrance would act somewhat as a "trap" for some of the reflections that may find their way there. I'm trying to find out as much as I can about wall treatments, not just to enhance the listening experience, but to also keep the theater out of the rest of the home. This room is on the second floor, and even though at the time of construction I added insulation in the walls, ceiling and floor, I'm afraid the whole house is gonna "go to the movies" when I crank up my system... So, what about my speaker selection? Should I go with a more diminutive line of speaker for this environment? Thanks for responding, everyone! -David room.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael hurd Posted January 1, 2003 Share Posted January 1, 2003 The room doesn't look that bad in the drawing - what about adding a book case with stagged books - this will help a lot with reflections. What about picture's on the wall ? I think the speaker choice is good, although I would tend to lean towards the rb5 myself for the front ( main ) pair. Rsw-10 - this might be a little overkill in this room ? Maybe ? You could probably do alright with a ksw-12 in this room. It will play lower in a small room, compared to a larger room. Would rb5's for the rear surrounds be an option ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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