Surround-speaker-placement question

[kalrith]

I, like many others, have to use my livingroom as my HT room. I am finally getting around to installing my surround speakers to fill out my 5.1 system. They are Polk R15, and I will be hanging them on the wall using their keyhole slot. Our couch is basically right up against the back wall, but I could pull it out about 6 inches if necessary. To get the surround speakers at a 90-degree angle to the listeners the sides of the speakers will have to be about 3-4 inches from the back wall. I'm wondering if that setup would be best, or if it would be better to pull them 6-8 inches from the back wall and to have them project the sound in front of the ears of the listeners. I plan to place them about 3 feet above ear level. Also, I did read the general home audio thread and the Dolby speaker-placement recommendations.

Thanks!

 

[alkemyst]

Best is actually probably right there. You want them just slightly behind you/more to the side...with your couch on the wall and them mounted to it...you should be fine. Just make sure they fall behind your ear when seated.

Tweeters for an easy alignment should be at ear level when standing....but rear surround is more flexible that a front setup.

 

[kalrith]

Thanks for the input. I'd like to ask for a bit more advice. Is the 3-4 inches away from the wall even necessary? I ask because that distance will place the tweeters either directly to the side of the listeners' ears or just barely behind them.

Basically, would it be better to have the sides of the speakers right up against or an inch from the wall in order to get the sound behind the ears of the listeners?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: kalrith
Thanks for the input. I'd like to ask for a bit more advice. Is the 3-4 inches away from the wall even necessary? I ask because that distance will place the tweeters either directly to the side of the listeners' ears or just barely behind them.

Basically, would it be better to have the sides of the speakers right up against or an inch from the wall in order to get the sound behind the ears of the listeners?

I think you could do it either way. Can you try both to test out how it sounds for you in a non-permanent way?

It would probably be a good idea to get the couch away from the back wall if not just for the surrounds, but bass response tends to not sound so great along the back wall, so getting a bit of distance away from it would be a good thing to try.

 

[kalrith]

Tonight I'll go ahead and pull the couch away from the wall a bit and see how the speaker placement looks then. I might be able to set the speakers on something to see how the proximity to the wall affects them, but I probably won't be able to get them at the appropriate height unless my wife is willing to hold them up for me.