Rear speaker position - too near of too far?

[roger06]

Hi

Our sofa sits in the bay window recess directly opposite the TV. However, due to the shape of the room I'm not sure whether to put the surround speakers on the main walls or on the sides of the bay window either side of the sofa. The left rear, if on the main wall has to be about 5 metres away but if they're in the bay they are both really close (ie the left rear only about a foot from my ear).

What do you reckon is best? Any other suggestions? I've knocked up a really crude diagram to give you the idea - the red squares being where they are now, the blue where they could go...

I know if they're either side of the main sofa then anyone sitting elsewhere won't hear them properly - but it's only really justme or the two of us watching films etc.

 

[Andrew Everard]

I'd play the long game, rather than having them that close.

 

[Anonymous]

i would leave them where they are roger06, do you not think the rears would overwhelm the the fronts on heavy or loud action scenes having them that close, especially if you say one will only be about a foot away from your ear.

 

[roger06]

Thanks guys...

In that case - I assume they should be equal heights? and what height should that be? ear level, ceiling, a foot below the ceiling?

 

[scene]

This is the quandary I got into a few days back...

Same height - yes. Levels, hmmm. At ear level, if and only iff you're mainly going to listen to multi-channel music, otherwise go with the THX / surround sound option, which is 75cm-1m above ear height. Or higher, depends on the speaker style. With direct rears, if you place them high, you might want to angle them down a bit.

 

[roger06]

I'm using these.

Very old - bought them in '96 as part of my VHS / Pro Logic system. I've no idea if they're a good match or not for the Dynaudio fronts (they're certainly not in the same price bracket...)

http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page/moreinfo.cfm/Product_ID/491

 

[Anonymous]

i have played about with the height of my rears also much to the disliking of my mrs and have come to the decision to mount them at ceiling height but angled down and toed in in towards our seating positions as for me this seems to give a wider sound field and as i prefer to have the rears up quite loud it works as they are not blasting right in your ears. what hieght are they mounted at the moment roger06?

 

[Anonymous]

sorry to hijack your thread but the room in my new house(when i get in there) is similar apart from the tv and sofa being other way round

problem is i can only mount rear speakers to the wall directly behind sofa not on side walls, will this effect performance much?

only thing i can think of is moving the sofa away from the wall a bit when i put a blueray on

 

[Anonymous]

the one thing to try to make certain of is that the rears aren`t infront or even inline with you as this could affect the front sound stage quite a bit.

good advice is to try to get them at least 10 dgs behind you at ear level if possible or up to 300mm above but no more, levels can then be adjusted either using audyssey if you have it or a tape measure and SPL meter.

infact I prefer a mixture of both so audyssey sets the time domain and I set the levels to suit using the spl meter.

cheers Al

 

[Anonymous]

sound advice

 

[Messiah]

What is the distance from the sofa in the bay widow to the TV?

Do you watch all TV through the processor or just movies??

Depending upon this I would be tempted to go for the blue markers (or a bit wider) and pull the sofa forward.

 

[Anonymous]

Messiah: Depending upon this I would be tempted to go for the blue markers (or a bit wider) and pull the sofa forward.

I have to agree with you Neil spacing those rear effects and moving the sofa will allow for a much better positioning of the speakers, I did a dem yesterday using some MK tripoles which were at 20 dgs behind and to the side of the listening position and even the guys wife (any ladies out their thats not a dig, more of a compliment) commented how good the the rears sounded.

Positioning is key really to getting good rear effects, not that the fronts should be left out either but they are dedicated direct channels whereas the rear surrounds can make or break a good setup.

Al

 

[f1only]

Is your tv wall mounted? i ask this as personally i would move everything around anticlockwise in that room by 90 degrees, so the tv is situated in front of the window to the left & almost level with the door it would then make speaker placement easier for the surrounds IMO

If you have guests that are watching someone is always going to have to be compromised because of room shape. If it is only you & or a parntner watching then i would go for the considered option,or just move the left surround to the right above the armchair.

 

[roger06]

Thanks guys - lots of really useful stuff there!

Unfortunately, like most of us, we face physical and spouse-dictated constraints! The TV is wall mounted above the fireplace so moving it is not an option. The current front speaker arrangement is great for two channel.

The other half wouldn't allow the sofa to move forward and anyway, as it fits neatly into the bay it would look daft. It would also then be too close to the TV.

In the current position the rear sound is not behind me as in the pic

Hence considering moving them. There are two options.

1. on the window sill like this

This is at least behind me - but almost touching my ear!

Or on the wall like this:

This pic should give you an idea of the layout. The rear right is currently sitting on two speakers until I mount it on the wall.

The rear left (the one 5 m away) is a lot higher but I'm thinking of moving the CD rack...

 

[Anonymous]

Personally i'd mount them on the wall where you held them with a downward tilt so you have abit of height, think at present with the other way the speaker to far away to get a immersive soundfield.
Pull your sofa out slightly and if you find the rears are a bit overpowering, you can always back them down slighlty through the amp settings.

regards

 

[roger06]

Thanks Stu

Not sure I an angle them down... trouble is it's hard to test without drilling into the wall! I might be able to put them on a stack of books to test...

 

[Anonymous]

Empty cardboard boxes stacked up !!

Have you listened to a movie with them on the window sill Roger ?

Just had another look at your diagram are you happy with the sound from the right surround where it is currently positioned ?
If so couldn't you mount the left surround roughly above where your sub is positioned on your diagram?
Mount on the wall then swivel the speaker 90 degrees and pull the sofa slighly out so the rear speakers are of equal distance from your listening positionl and firing towards you.

I know its not ideal, living rooms usually aren't just a thought.

regards

 

[roger06]

Hi Stu

Well I guess I'm happy with the right rear. Trouble is, I've never had a house where I can actually mount the rears behind me so don't know what I'm missing.

I originally had the rears on the window sill - but wasn't convinced.

I guess the other option is to leave them where they are and add a second set of rears on the sill behind me? - My amp supports this but I don't know if all Blu Rays do..

 

[Messiah]

Personally I would put them on the window ledge.

Volume and delay can be adjusted on the amp. I think this would give a better experience than where they currently are. The problem at the moment is that the sound is firing across in front of you.

Alternatively get some waterproof speakers , stick them outside and open the bay windows

 

[roger06]

Messiah:
Alternatively get some waterproof speakers , stick them outside and open the bay windows

LMAO ! (as the kids say)

 

[roger06]

Thanks all for some great input.

All views considered but I've decided to put them on the walls of the bay. Aesthetically it's pretty awful but amazingly SWMBO doesn't mind too much (8 months' pregnant - other things on her mind

).

Haven't had a proper listen yet but it does seem more involving than the previous position. It's a bit like being in the back row on the cinema where the surrounds are above you rather than behind.

Now... where's that Gladiator disk?...

 

[Messiah]

 

[Anonymous]

Nice one

 

[roger06]

Did your new amp arrive Stu?

 

[Anonymous]

id stick the rear surround speakers where your trying to put some side surrounds and have a 7.1 setup