[devo]

Hi all

Apologies if this is in the wrong place. I'm wondering what my options are for getting surround sound in an open plan living room. A normal 5.1 speaker set-up is out because of the wires and a lack of suitable places to put rear speakers, so I guess I'm relying on virtual surround sound. Being open-plan also means that I'm looking for a system that doesn't work by reflecting the sound off walls.

I've had a quick look at soundbars/surround bars/sound projectors from Yamaha, Denon and Philips and am more than happy to do some more research. I just wanted a couple of pointers as to:

1. other soundbars I should be looking at; or
2. alternatives to a soundbar.

Thanks in advance.

[infrno]

without seeing the room layout it's difficult to say but why not ceiling mount the rears?
Or alternatively get small standmounts and stick them directly behind the sofa facing towards each other?

[devo]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll do a rough drawing of the room tonight.

Originally Posted by infrno

without seeing the room layout it's difficult to say but why not ceiling mount the rears?

Where would the wires (if any) go for these? How easy is this to do?

Or alternatively get small standmounts and stick them directly behind the sofa facing towards each other?

Not sure if this would work in our room. The sofa divides the living room and the dining room so the speakers would have to be right behind it (even this might look strange) - would this sound ok for the people sitting directly in front of each speaker?

To be honest, I was pretty set on a virtual surround sound system so I wouldn't have speakers at the "back" of the room - I don't think it would look right (hopefully you'll agree when you see the room layout).

[harryh44]

Hi Devo,
I have been doing some research along similar lines and polk audio do a good looking soundbar. Not sure how good it sounds as i have yet to have a demo

[quantumAV]

pre seeing anything suggestions include :-

Q Acoustics Q-AV 5.1 Home Cinema Speakers - Quantum Electronics (UK) Limited

The above has descrete rear speakers that can be mounted at coving height.

Yamaha YSP-40D Digital Sound Projector - Quantum Electronics (UK) Limited

Soundbar option.

[infrno]

Originally Posted by devo

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll do a rough drawing of the room tonight.



Where would the wires (if any) go for these? How easy is this to do?

Easy way is to get some small white trunking with a sticky back and run it up the wall and across the ceiling. Mounting should be relatively easy, just make sure you find a joist to stick them in.

Not sure if this would work in our room. The sofa divides the living room and the dining room so the speakers would have to be right behind it (even this might look strange) - would this sound ok for the people sitting directly in front of each speaker?

To be honest, I was pretty set on a virtual surround sound system so I wouldn't have speakers at the "back" of the room - I don't think it would look right (hopefully you'll agree when you see the room layout).

It's not the optimum soundstage but don't forget these are surround speakers and generally only get used for effects. Whether it has a high enough WAF for you is another matter...

[devo]

Here's the layout:

I had a look at Polk Audio as well and that's definitely an option.

Regarding the Yamaha ones - do these work by bouncing the sound of walls? Not sure if that would work for me.