Advice needed to optimise home theatre sound!

bhavanchopra

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Hi,

Attached picture for visualisation. Speakers are all shown with the direction in which they are pointing. I have added in the sofa and the smiley face being the most used seating position. I have some general understanding of speaker positioning and a good knowledge of speaker connections. So I have tried to position the speakers as best as possible!


Recently built a home cinema room which is looking great and getting some good use during lockdown. I'm just not feeling 100% happy with the sound and was hoping to get some help and advice on what I may be doing wrong!

My audio setup:

Center : Kef Q650c
Front LR : Kef Q550 x 2
Rear Surround : Kef Q350 x 2
Ceiling : Monitor Audio C165 x 4
Subwoofer : KEF Kube 10b
Amplifier : Marantz SR7012


I have setup the speakers and amp to 5.1.4 so that they are Atmos compatible where necessary.

I ran the Audyssey calibration using the mic supplied with the amp which worked well and calculated all the distances and adjusted the levels. So far so good - sound is good and clear and loud enough.

What I am lacking is that true surround feeling. I'm not turning my head when I hear sounds beside me or behind me. I understand I don't currently have any side surround speakers, but even as a 5.1 with rear surrounds, I believe I should still have a pretty good surround feeling. The same goes for the ceiling speakers - I'm not yet wowed by any sounds coming from above - I have checked the speakers and they are working and playing Atmos sounds with a verified Atmos soundtrack. But I'm just not getting the feeling I was hoping for! Same goes for my rear surrounds - I have checked they are working and if I really pay attention I can experience some surround separation - but just not good enough!

The sub is working well and I can feel its presence, but again, I'm not being wowed by it!

I'm clearly doing some things wrong and I appreciate there are so many tweaks and changes that can be done to improve my sound - so here I am! If anyone has any suggestions on what I can try that'd be super helpful!

Just an FYI, as you can see the amp is all the way at the back of the room - Dad is an electrician and handily fed all the speaker cables through the walls and ceiling. Speaker cable being used is of high quality and thickness.

On the side surround speaker note - I know that adding these should help the surround sound. But I'm looking for advice for my current setup. I want to get the most out of what I currently have.

Appreciate all the help!
Cinema 1.001.jpeg
 
Post a photograph of your room. It's hard to tell off a plan as to how the room is interacting with your speakers or indeed the height of your surrounds. At the moment I would say that your surrounds are too far back at the moment are in a good position for rear surrounds. In a 7.1.4 you would have the surrounds at the same level (on the plan) as your happy face.
 

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