Couple of questions about setting up 5.1

scorps1212

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I have just read jake 101's thread about optimum height for surround speakers and its made me realise i got mine all wrong.

I didnt realise that the rear surround speakers were supposed to be on the side walls. And i got the height all wrong too.

I cant do anything about the walls that they go on cause i have got the front room window to the side of the sofa so im gunna have to keep them on the back wall unfortunately. And i will bring them down a bit as i have set them at 1.8m above the floor. I will bring them down to 60cm above ear level.

Got a question though. I have got my rear speakers angled as followed. My right surround speaker is angled so its facing the front left speaker and my left surround speaker is angled so its facing the front right speaker.

1 - Is this correct?
2 - How high and what angle should the front left and right speakers be, as they are on swivel brackets?
 
they should be angled to point toward where ever your head is when in the listing position

I would have though 1.8m was about 60cm above ear level when seated?
 
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It's more that in a 7:1 system you can have both rears and side surrounds.
I've always had rears and that's where they're staying.
My 7:1 has front highs instead.
The rears are slightly above head height, angled slightly towards the listening position, horizontally and vertically.
 
they should be angled to point toward where ever your head is when in the listing position

I would have though 1.8m was about 60cm above ear level when seated?

Hey James. So the rear speakers should be pointing at my head when im, sitting in position? Wow. Im never gunna be able to get that angle from the back wall. Damn it.
 
It's more that in a 7:1 system you can have both rears and side surrounds.
I've always had rears and that's where they're staying.
My 7:1 has front highs instead.
The rears are slightly above head height, angled slightly towards the listening position, horizontally and vertically.

So in a 7.1 system, the rear speakers should be facing the front left and right speakers? Yeah? I have got 2 little satelite speakers to form my 7.1 actually. And i have them in the front top left and top right hand corners.

So is this a good enough set up:-

-Centre under the TV
-Front left and front right approx 10cm from the TV and facing straight out
-Rear left facing front right and rear right facing front left and 1.8m abover floor level
-Front effect left and right speakers in the top front corners.

Thats how i have got mine.

Should the front left and front right speakers be a set height from the floor? Or is the top of the speaker being level with the top of the TV good enough?
 
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The standard setup of 7:1 takes two forms:
Bass unit anywhere you like, usually front corner.
Centre above or below TV, facing very slightly downward if above viewing level.
Fronts rather further than that either side of the TV, at its height, and facing slightly inward toward viewers.
Surrounds on side walls, at or behind viewing position, same level as fronts, maybe facing slightly downward.
Then either:
Front highs higher;) than viewing position, facing slightly inward and downward.
or
Rears on back walls, behind viewing position, same level as fronts, facing slightly inward and downward.
Left and right mean from the viewer position with viewers looking forward, not, in the case of sides and rears, turning to look at them!
 
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James - thanks for the link. Ill check that out in a bit.
Logiciel - thanks for the info. So the rears only need to be the same height as the front speakers? So in my case that wont be 60cm above ear level as i have my tv at eye level when sitting down so the fronts will be the same. And it looks like i gotta bring the 2 front speakers out further away from the tv then. And have them facing inwards too.
 
Just watched the video mate. And noticed that in the tutorial they have got their 7.1 with the extra 2 speakers on the side walls rather than on the front wall. Again, this is something i cant bloody do cause i got a window in the way. Lol.

Im gunna have to make do with rear surround speakers on the back wall and the extra 2 speakers in the front corners as front effects.

One day i might have the ideal room with 4 walls and no windows. Lol.
 
Experiment with the height of the rears, depending how close they are to you it might sound better abit higher otherwise it will sound too direct and you will be aware there is a speaker blasting at the back of your head rather than immersing you in sound in the whole room
 
Yeah ok. Ill have to balance them on something though while experimenting as i dont wanna attach them to the wall, then have to move them again leaving holes in the wall. Lol.
 
So the rears only need to be the same height as the front speakers?
You can be flexible on that as J V says, and they could be better placed higher than the fronts.
I wouldn't want the fronts as close to the TV as 10cm, but the slight inclinations down and in can also be taken flexibly and decided on by trial and error.
For 7:1 I find that the front high method is better than the rear as it adds a lot to the effect when used in conjunction with the Onkyo's setting that's especially for it.
As you suggest the surrounds can then be positioned as rears and still work well.
 
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Cool. Nice one. I have a bit of tinkering to do. Lol. Well with the front speakers definitely.
 
:thumbsup:
The fronts' location depends on the their size, and the size of the TV, but 10cm does seem rather close!
If they had to be that close they could face directly forward.
 
Just to say that you can bend the 'rules' and still get a good result. My side surrounds couldn't go anywhere near level with my fronts due to a patio door, but they work fine where they are: I often hear sounds right down on the floor next to the sofa even though there is no speaker there. :D It might depend on which speakers you have since my side surrounds (PMC Wafer 1) are designed to 'beam' the sound downwards. However, even when I used to have my little M&K speakers up at the sides they still sounded good.

IMHO the more important thing with going 7.1 is to have some distance behind the listening seat otherwise you're too close to the speakers and they become more directional and easier to locate.

 
Right nice room by the way. Very clean. Lol.

I cant pin point where your speakers are. Or can i? I can see 2 small speakers on the back wall. 1 above the patio door and 1 next to the wooden door. Whats that box in the centre of the back wall? That a speaker too or some sort of projector?

So the 2 speakers by the doors are your effects speakers and the 2 on the rear wall are your surround speakers?
 
2 backs on the back wall, 2 surrounds on the side walls, all high at ceiling level, 1 PJ on the back wall.;)
I agree on the rule-bending; place them all wherever you like the effect the best.
 
Logical has spotted them all correctly. That's a JVC X35 on the floating shelf at the back of the room.

The bigger speakers above the patio door and wooden door are the side surrounds (where a standard 5.1 surround speaker might go) and the two smaller ones each side of the projector are the surround backs. My AV processor is an older model and doesn't have height or wide effects speakers, it just sounds really good especially with stereo music (Arcam AV9 plus 2 x power amps). :cool:

Front of the room for comparison. I couldn't really have front wides since my left/rights already are quite wide to clear my projector screen:

 
In 7:1 they're usually front high rather than wide, you do seem to have room for them, and the fronts could come closer together and lower beside the centre.
It all looks fine as it is though, with no changes really needed.;)
 
Wow. Very nice set up. I really dont belong on here with the set up i got. LOL.

The issue i got with all my places i've live in, is, i've never been able to have the sofa in the middle of the room like you have. It has always had to go against the back wall of the front room due to size of the room and space. So im always gunna have to have the rear speakers only a tiny distance back from the viewing position.

I am moving soon and will have to experiment with the new front room. Again the sofa is gunna have to go up against the back wall but i might be able to stick the side surround speakers on the side wall above the window and the other one on the other side wall. Then have rear surround speakers on the back wall.

I will experiment with both these set ups:-

Centre under TV - Front left and right further out from the tv than i got them now and same level as tv - Side surrounds on side walla - Rear surrounds on back wall

or

Centre under TV - Front left and right further out from the tv than i got them now and same level as tv - Rear surrounds on back wall - Front effects in front top corners
 
My room is long, with doors and windows sensibly placed on the long walls, so that gives plenty of space for TV in centre of one short wall with fronts, front highs, and centre there; viewing position two thirds of the way from the front; and surrounds on back wall with option to change to surrounds on sides and rears on back.
Your two options are the ones under my "either....or" in post #7.:thumbsup:.
 
Lucky git. I'd love to have a long front room with room to walk round either side of the sofa in the middle of the room. God damn it. Lol.

Ill take a pic of my front room and set up i got now, and see what you guys think anyway. Then when i move, in July, ill take a shot of that too.
 
Wow. Very nice set up. I really dont belong on here with the set up i got. LOL.

There's no 'minimum standard' needed to be on here as everyone is welcome. :smashin: It's taken 16 years so far to build up my setup of mostly secondhand pieces and it's by no means as good as many others on here. My earlier set ups were very basic (Pro Logic 4.0 and only a Nicam stereo VHS player as a source for one), despite that they gave me lots of enjoyment, which is the important thing.

Getting the best out of whatever you have has always been my motto, so hopefully some of the posts on this thread will help you to do that. :thumbsup:
 
I thought he meant the whole room.:)
I agree either way.
 
Right here is my set up. Please excuse the mess. Its not usually this cluttered. Mother in law is moving out soon so i will get my clean, spacious looking front room back again. Lol.

It consists of a Sony KDL37EX503 tele, Yamaha DSP-A2 amp, Sony BDP-S300 blu ray player and a Sky HD box. Gale centre speaker, Mordaunt Short front and rear surround speakers and very basic Samsung front surround speakers. Its cheap and basic but good enough for me. Would like better but cant afford better just yet. Lol.
 

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