5.1 Speaker placement in challenging room

[completelyhis]

Not my main theater (which is downstairs in the basement) but I'd like to setup our room where we have a 42" plasma with 5/1 surround. Problem is, it is a really wierd layout. I've attached a rough sketch of how things are currently. The TV has detatchable speakers on the left/right that could be used for either L/R or center...I go through many many MANY thoughts as to where speakers should go...so I thought i'd ask some of the smarter-than-me crowd!

(I'm planning small/medium wall mount/bookshelf speakers, or in wall, if possible.)

 

[mdesmarais]

Ouch. Is that a wall directly behind the couch? Are you trying to get good sound at the recliners and the couch (at the same time)?

 

[brotsten]

I think one of your surrounds needs to go in the backyard, and the other in the side yard.

Brian

 

[completelyhis]

Yeah, that is a wall behind the couch. I'm looking to get the best sound from the right side of the couch and the recliner closest to it (the recliner closer to the kitchen). I was thinking about taking the speakers off the tv and moving them to the right and left, then installing a center channel under the tv. I was thinking put left surround centered on the wall the couch is on, and putting the right surround at the corner nearest the recliner that is closest to the door/dining table.

Sub would go in the bay window area.

If I go with that setup, should the surrounds face the listener or the TV?

 

[TonyNo]

It seems like putting the sub in the window area would be worse than corner loading it.

 

[completelyhis]

maybe under the tv then, either to the right or left?

 

[CollinR]

I would be looking at 2.1 if I were you, much easier to pull off in this case and you already have a theater.

 

[completelyhis]

2.1 would be just adding a sub, which would be fine, i guess. my main reason for wanting to do surround (5.1) in this room is because i think all my years of shooting guns, racing motocross, and running power tools has impacted my hearing. I find that watching most movies I really struggle to pick up most of the dialogue...i actually have to have the captions on (I'm only 32 yrs old, too, dang it!)

The current setup is a cheap dvd player going directly to the tv speakers.

Do you think a 2.1 setup would fix the problem? It seems that most dvds are made for 5.1/7.1 and the action/music drowns out the voice when it is all output to a standard stereo signal. anyway, those are my reasons/ thoughts for things.

 

[AnthonyZ]

I'm with Collin on this one. That room is an absolute nightmare and were you to push for 5.1, you're throwing good money after bad. When it comes to dialog intelligibility, you'd be better off, in my opinion, to 1. upgrade to highly transparent speakers (not to be confused with "bright" and definately not the display's speakers) and 2. treat the room.

 

[completelyhis]

yeah...the hardwood floors, floor to ceiling brick fireplace, and sloped ceiling probably don't help the audio! Gosh, don't know where to begin to do the treatment...


Can you suggest a speaker that is "transparent." I'm not familiar with that term.

 

[mdesmarais]

Headphones? ;-)

I hate to say this, but you might want to try one of those all in one speaker units that give the surround effects by processing- I've heard that the new ones are very impressive.

Sub placement really should be done by measuring with an SPL meter as opposed to aesthetics/convenience. . . if it is a small unit, you may need to corner load to get enough output. With a large space your modes will be all over- measure at your listening position(s) to make sure you are not getting a null or peak.

Sloped ceiling can actually be good for reducing 1st reflections- additional acoustic treatments might help your dialog intelligibility more than more speakers. Your side walls are far enough out that you might be ok, but you probably want to treat the floor, and the fireplace behind the speakers (if it is rough brick, you might be getting pretty good dispersion already).

Markd

 

[paulw11]

I agree with Markd.

Have a look at something like the Yamaha Digital Sound Projectors.
My cousin has one in his living room (He also has a main theatre elsewhere in the house) and is pretty happy with it.
You set it up using a microphone so you can optimise performance for a particular listening location by running the auto-setup with the microphone at your preferred listening position.

Paul

 

[TLCNORM]

I've used the Polk surround bars and they sound real nice.

 

[AnthonyZ]

I agree with Markd.

Have a look at something like the Yamaha Digital Sound Projectors.
My cousin has one in his living room (He also has a main theatre elsewhere in the house) and is pretty happy with it.
You set it up using a microphone so you can optimise performance for a particular listening location by running the auto-setup with the microphone at your preferred listening position.

Paul

The sound bars are not going to offer convincing surround in this case, though, as they require side walls to effectively (debatable) mimic surround sound.

As for the "transparent speaker recommendation, well, that's more difficult to define. I personally believe that no other company comes near as close to the ultimate bang for your buck than Toetm Acoustic but there are many, many other options. B&W, Tannoy, Revel, PMC, some Thiel models, Triad, Totem Acoustic, Meridian and others represent higher dollar options. Mid level options would include PSB, Totem Acoustic, Def.Tech, NHT, Atlantic Technologies, etc. Brands that will never be accused of absolute faithfulness include Klipsch, Infinity, Bose and Sony. All of these suggestions are, of course, subjective and there will be those who disagree with me.

As for the suggestion of corner loading the sub...rubbish. A suggestion to sacrifice accuracy in favor of output is absolutely contrary to the OP's quandry.

 

[completelyhis]

Maybe I'd see some improvement just running dvd player through an old pioneer receiver i have sitting around. I could use the existing speakers as a R/L and get a nice center channel speaker. at least then I could have "3.1" and boost center channel volume to my needs. I could run digital audio from the dvd player to the receiver, and have the receiver dsp to 3.1

what do you think of that?