Best position for Surrounds

[Jim90068]

Can anyone tell me what the best position for surrounds is.

I have the ability to mount them on the side walls, around 8 feet off the ground....I've been told that that's pretty good by a technician who wanted to install inwall speakers at that height.

I've subsequently decided to wall mount a few Paradigm Atoms that I have.

Or is mounting at ear level better....
or mounting on the rear wall better than the side walls?

I know that it all depends on the room....but i'm dealing with 18 foot ceilings in my living room, and have gotten to like music speakers generating sound from on high. ( 10 feet from the ground).

Thanks for any suggestions.

[WildWest]

Welcome Jim...

You know, I am not so hot on most in wall speakers. Seems they are still working on those ya know. What kind of "technician" wanted to use them anyway? I do a lil home theater install for people once in a while and would never use in walls unless I just had to. Some say that rear signal isn't much so in walls work. uhhh well ok, just don't fire up the Pro logic II surround music.

Personlly... I have liked surrounds a bit lower towards ear level and on the side walls yet behind me if possible. If you can pull your listening position off the back wall that would be ideal. Most people due to smaller rooms have to stuff furniture right against walls ya know? It's to bad. Anyway, that is my best choice.

[Robh3606]

Well what are they?? Dipoles or regular speakers?? I use regular speakers behind and above my head. I get a good diffused sound field that way but I think Dipoles would actually work better in my set-up. Dipoles are set-up so the null is aimed at you prime listening position. That way you can't hear them and you get a completely non-directional sound field.

Rob2:)

[Jim90068]

Thanks, Rob2.

These are just normal speakers, Paradigm Atoms, that are part of a home theatre system that I've assembled.

I haven't mounted them yet, but because of room logistics, I'm going to have to mount them high and on the side, just behind the sitting area.

[WildWest]

Normal/regular speakers? How bout direct radiating maybe? ;)
Anyway...
you're welcome Jim...

[Thatch_Ear]

Check out what your mounting bracket options might be, aiming them instead of just hanging them can get the sweet spot behind you so that the 3D of DTS works better. Your ceiling might be good for this too.

[Jim90068]

Thanks Thatch.

The mounts I have allow for a little play in rotation toward the seating area, and once mounted I may try different directional placement.

AS far as the ceiling, that's impossible, as this is in my living room, and the ceilings are 18 feet tall, and I can't string the cables through a ceiling ( flat roof and no attic space) ....so halfway up the side walls is the best I can do.

Thanks for the advice.

[Thatch_Ear]

Another thought, and this depends on corners, distance from wall, where the furniture is etc is to add a super tweeter to the setup that is used for reflection. Try and find a metal dome that is the the same SPL of your Atoms and cross it at above 15KHz so that only the very high frequencies bounce. Highs are pretty directional so most of it will be lost in the bounce but could add a lot in the spatial effect if you are tight on space behind the seating. There is not always a lot of info coming out the back channels but getting the feel of the back to front and crossing side to side all at once certainly adds to the experience.

[Jim90068]

Sorry, Thatch. You've lost this amateur with your description and etms about crossovers and domes.


Unless it plugs in or requires no custom wiring, I'm not the guy who's going to do what you constructively suggest. Thanks anyway.

[Thatch_Ear]

Basically you solder a capasitor and a resister on a tweeter, hook it up to your speaker and aim it toward the back corner to get reflection. It gives a false sense of depth. If you can wire and hang your surrounds you can do this. It makes a short space sound longer for little money. It is a easy cheap tweek that if you don't like it you lost $30. If it works you know...priceless.

[WildWest]

You know Jim...seems to me that you have plenty of room to play with there and this is all getting a lil bit more complicated than it really should be. Since you have all that room experiment with it. I have been in some interesting home theather stores in California that seem to typically have the rear surrounds more down at ear level (using direct radiating speakers) If you have an SPL meter or even if you don't...Set your speakers in place, adjust db levels to them and I think you will get the DVD to reproduce the 5.1 channel as it was best intended by the producers of that material. Another thought here too. When you go into a movie theater, how high typically are the many surround speakers? Your 10 foot preferance is likely similar to that eh?

[Jim90068]

Thanks Wildwest.... I thought of that movie theatre analogy as well. I'll see how it goes. My receiver allows my to tailor the sounds fields, for high or low, as well as distance...so I'm sure can tweak it til I get it right.

Thanks for all you guys' insights.

[Pete Mazz]

Dolby recommends side wall mounting a couple feet above the seated listening position. This supposedly helps with multiple listeners being able to hear directional cues without overpowering the closest listener.

Pete