How high should my surround speakers be?

[scene]

This is a practical question, as I've just got my new MA RXFX rears and am debating how high they should go. I've had a couple of suggestions on another thread, but now I'm confused. I was going to place them so that their tops were in line with a door frame one of them was near, about 33cm down from a 2.4m ceiling - this means that the top of the speaker will be 2.06m from the floor.
I know that ideally front speaker heights should be aligned so that the tweeter is in line with your ears. But what about the surround speakers?
I've seen articles for multi-channel music that say that surround speakers should also be at ear height, and others that say for cinema surround sound the speakers should be anything from 30cm to 1m above ear height, if they are bipoles/dipoles.
Am I placing them too high, or as someone else has suggested, not high enough?

 

[Anonymous]

I have direct fire and had them about 1 foor from the ceiling, it was ok.

But now have the RX1 on 1000mm stands which are about 2 foot above head height and I am liking that a lot more

 

[Anonymous]

I have direct fire and had the old Mordaunt shorts about 1 foor from the ceiling, it was ok.

But now have the new RX1 on 1000mm stands which are about 2 foot above my head cause my sofa seats are low and I am liking that a lot more

 

[Anonymous]

scene, ive had mine about the same height you are considering, about 2 metres, and set to dipole, but both my friend and i agree that they sound better when sat on the corner shelves that i had my br1's on, set to bipole at 1 metre high. id check out both ways and see what you think. i wish id kept my br1's to be honest..

mine are the brfx btw..

 

[Anonymous]

My RXFX are mounted about 1.9m from the floor and they sound superb.

My room is only 3.6m wide and they are mounted on the side walls of the rectangle (if that makes sense).

I could have had mine lower this would have been to close to my listening positions.

I checked with my dealer and monitior audio before installing at this height, and they both confirmed this would be the best position / height.

But I suggest you try it out, I suppose you never see surround speakers at a cinema at low level, but then again they will be another class level, and probably direct radiating rather than dipole!!

 

[scene]

Oh well, looks like I'm going to have to "suck it and see"... Wonder if Mrs S will mind me drilling lots of holes in the walls

Might ping an email of to MA over the weekend (and maybe Sevenoaks) and see what they suggest...

 

[Anonymous]

scene:Oh well, looks like I'm going to have to "suck it and see"... Wonder if Mrs S will mind me drilling lots of holes in the walls

Might ping an email of to MA over the weekend (and maybe Sevenoaks) and see what they suggest...

I sent an email with a picture of my living room to MA and they got back to me a couple days later, advising the RSFX were not suitible, so returned for a full refund and kept my direct fires. but I would do that, and they can advise their opinion.

I just grabbed boxes and piled them up and tried it that way.

They didnt sound as good as my direct firing, but MA advised you need the right type of room for the FX series.

 

[scene]

canada16:
scene:Oh well, looks like I'm going to have to "suck it and see"... Wonder if Mrs S will mind me drilling lots of holes in the walls

Might ping an email of to MA over the weekend (and maybe Sevenoaks) and see what they suggest...

I sent an email with a picture of my living room to MA and they got back to me a couple days later, advising the RSFX were not suitible, so returned for a full refund and kept my direct fires. but I would do that, and they can advise their opinion.

I just grabbed boxes and piled them up and tried it that way.

They didnt sound as good as my direct firing, but MA advised you need the right type of room for the FX series.

Errk, as these were an eBay purchase, I hope that's not the case for me!

Question is, what is the "right type of room for the FX series"

 

[Ravey Gravey Davy]

Looking at the original link on the other thread, returns are allowed if there is a problem.

 

[scene]

Ravey Gravey Davy:Looking at the original link on the other thread, returns are allowed if there is a problem.
Oh, thanks for that. I'm at work, and can't access eBay here...

 

[Frank Harvey]

Dipole speakers like the RXFX's are better high up - around 1.8-2.0m high. They're best suited to rooms where the seating position is away from the back wall - so the seating would ideally be about 2/3rds of the room length from the screen. The speakers should then be situated on either side of the seating position, allowing them to fire up and down the room with no close reflecting walls. Obviously all rooms are different so this isn't always possible. Some rules can be bent

 

[Anonymous]

scene:Ravey Gravey Davy:Looking at the original link on the other thread, returns are allowed if there is a problem. Oh, thanks for that. I'm at work, and can't access eBay here...

I bought mine from them, full refund and postage as well without me asking,

I bought mine as they looked cool, but looks are not always best. but for the RXFX in white gloss I might make an exception

 

[scene]

FrankHarveyHiFi:
Dipole speakers like the RXFX's are better high up - around 1.8-2.0m high.
So set them to Dipole, and stick them high - OK
They're best suited to rooms where the seating position is away from the back wall - so the seating would ideally be about 2/3rds of the room length from the screen.
OK, my room / seating layout is pretty close(ish) to that...
The speakers should then be situated on either side of the seating position,
OK on that too.
allowing them to fire up and down the room with no close reflecting walls.
Hmm. Might be a small wrinkle here...

LHS: there's a (fake) chimney breast about 1m in front of (i.e. along the wall) from the speaker, and the wall bends 45 degrees in about 0.4m to behind the speaker.

RHS: There's the door in front of it (keep closed when watching a movie

), and the wall behind it is at 45 degrees

Obviously all rooms are different so this isn't always possible. Some rules can be bent

So will all that work is the question?

 

[scene]

canada16:
I bought mine as they looked cool, but looks are not always best. but for the RXFX in white gloss I might make an exception

LOL

 

[bigboss]

Mine is right at the top, near the ceiling corner, installed by Sevenoaks. Check my home cinema pics. Sounds perfect to me, as they're slightly tilted downwards.

 

[aliEnRIK]

The THX standard is 1m above your head. This is for movies

Music standard is ear level

I would assume the vast majority of home cinema owners watch a lot more movies than listening to surround sound music

 

[Anonymous]

another option and this certainly works with MK surrounds, if well above ear height, try mounting them so the tweeter is at the bottom. As its more directional than the other drivers having it lower and nearer to your lugoles can be very beneficial

and it won`t hurt to try it, good luck

cheers Al

 

[scene]

albriscoe:
another option and this certainly works with MK surrounds, if well above ear height, try mounting them so the tweeter is at the bottom. As its more directional than the other drivers having it lower and nearer to your lugoles can be very beneficial

and it won`t hurt to try it, good luck

cheers Al

It's a good idea, but not really an option with the design of rxfx

 

[Anonymous]

yeah I have to agree, not all speakers lend themselves to being inverted, MK do have a point though and even suggest it in some of their literature.

Same as centre speakers as well I suppose, unless the center is specifically designed to be horizontal and not vertical laid on its side, it will alter the characteristic of the speaker and sound different to its supposedly same left and right speakers which isn`t really a good thing is it thinking about it.

But thats another thread

 

[scene]

OK, I think I'm going to go with the "tops level with the top of the door" height", as this puts the tweeters about 1m above ear level.

If the worst comes to the worst, I can always move them right up, as the original holes will be covered.

It's drilling time!