Question First Setup with speaker/equipment positioning

BionicPIG

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Hi Guys,

Was told to come here by a friend as you all maybe able to help me out with my first home theatre setup.

Ill do my best to describe what i'm trying to achieve with some crappy pictures iv drawn so you get the idea.

The setup i have is as follows:

LG 65" C9
Sony STR-DN1080
Kef E301's
Speaker Cable: Van Damme blue 2.5 (not bought yet)

Other equipment to be used with above:

Xbox one X
Sky Q
Amazon Fire stick

What i'm having trouble with at the moment is what speaker cable to choose and the position of my speakers.

Speaker setup 1 was the original idea i was going with, i was just going to put the speakers on floating shelves about ear height in each corner of the room with the centre speaker embedded in the wall between the fire and tv. I haven't had the wall built yet but its supposed to be started this Saturday. The only problem is i think it will look odd with just the centre speaker there and spoil the design of the wall. The alternative to this is to have the centre speaker above the TV but iv heard this isn't ideal? The other thing iv thought maybe a problem is having the speakers so far apart. Do the two front speakers ideally need to be closer to the tv?

Speaker setup 2 is to have the centre speaker embedded along wit the FL & FR speakers and just have the RL & RR on floating shelves. The L shaped sofa is where i will be sitting 100% of the time. The other sofa can be ignored because its only for when guests visit.

The ideal position would be to have the sofa directly in front of the tv with the 2 front speakers either side and the 2 rear speakers either side of the sofa. However the door way into the room is in the middle of the room directly opposite the tv.

Please can you advise me on the positioning of the speakers and if the equipment iv got is good enough for the size of the room and good enough for a decent setup.

Cheers.
 

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That's a big (by volume) and difficult room to try and sort out, especially with your preferred seating position. There are also a lot of bare wall and a wooden floor which is going to play hell with the audio. When you do a clap test do you get any echos I wonder.

The central position of the TV above the fire is the natural place in that room if nothing more than aesthetic reasons and there is room either side for speakers but I'm afraid looking at the photograph and the plans those small KEFs just aren't going to cut it. It's a big space to fill. I would also scrap the plan for a centre and perhaps look at a pair of better quality and certainly bigger speakers for just a stereo image on the front soundstage. It would be better to have a strong stereo image with just two speakers rather than a weak audio performance from three small fronts.

The trouble is that you will have to be careful with what speakers you pick to go with the fireplace so as not to ruin the overlook. I'd be quite happy to slap a pair of big KEF floorstanders there but I'm pretty sure that if I did my wife would be quite happy to slap me over the head with a frying pan.

Personally I would run a 4.1 in your room but with what speakers is the conundrum. The other problem that the rooms acoustics brings up is the choice of receiver. Sony doesn't have the best of room correction onboard which is going prove essential. At the very least I would go for a receiver with Audyssey XT32 on board and the entry Denon for this is the X3600. The best room correction is to be found on Arcam, NAD and Anthem receivers at a considerable cost.

Are you restricted by a maximum budget?
 
Thank you very much for the quick response mate. Sorry about the picture of the TV and fire, thats actually not my room. I used that photo to just show the look i was going for with the stack and by putting the speakers in the wall either side of the tv would it spoil the over all look. I should of explained the look of the room so apologies for giving the wrong impression.

The room is carpet and solid block work with just windows either side of the central wall where im building the stack. I haven't actually bought the receiver yet or the speaker cable. The kefs i do have and the tv i have just bought at xmas.

So even with clearing that up you still don't think the KEF's will do the job? I don't really want to go spending more money on new speakers as the KEF's are like new and worked really well in my old room which was a 3.5m x 3.5m. However i could put them in for the time being in the correct positions and then look to upgrade them at a later date. Im having the stack built and a false ceiling about a foot in from the wall all the way around the room with an LED up light. So im trying to get everything in place now so i dont have to do any work or damage anything at a later date. (basically all the stuff behind the walls and in the ceiling e.g. cable runs etc etc)

Its a brand new house so i have a clean slate to work with although the sofa kind of dictates where i can put everything and the wall between the windows seemed like the best position for the tv when the house was being built.

Cheers.
 

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That's a lot different to the first photograph you posted. Little point in posting it really. I take it this is an actual photograph of your room? I would put the TV on the short wall so that the audio is firing the long way down the room, audio always sound better if not bounding off too short a distance. In a room that size your speakers and amp will work.
 
yeh like i said i only posted the picture because the wall thats being built will look exactly like the one in the photo and not the surroundings. I just used the photo so you could see if putting the KEF's in the wall would spoil the over all look or even be a good position for them.

So going back to my original question. If the equipment i have or suggested is good enough where would be the best position for the speakers? the room has to stay in the layout it currently is so would they be better in the wall with the tv or in each corner of the room. Also is the cable for the speakers overkill and would the amazon basics or something like Cambridge Audio Symphony 100 suffice?

thanks again for your input, this is my first setup so i don't expect it to be perfect.
 
'Builders in this weekend' - you are about a month away from having a plan if you want to optimise your AV system :)

Speakers - your existing speakers are far from ideal, way too small and not ideal for the 'look' you are aiming to achieve. The ideal speaker system would be a set of In-wall Front LR either side of the TV or a LCR In-wall Speaker bar below the TV and above the 'living flame' fire.

Surrounds - I would wire for Immersive 'Overhead' plus side or rear surrounds (again ideally In-wall) and add those to the system when budget allows.

Sub - In-wall can be expensive so more likely an Active Sub sat to the Right or Left of the 'False Fire/TV wall.

Room - ideally you need something on the walls which will break up audio reflections.

Speaker cable - VanDamme Blue Series 2x2.5mm is ideal for pretty much any speaker system, we supply and install it on pretty much every system we supply; VanDamme Archives - The Media Factory

Joe
 

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