Sstereonett Posted January 24, 2024 Posted January 24, 2024 Hi, I need some advice on the placement of my surround speakers. My couch is against the wall and also edge to edge to the room walls. I have included a photo of it. I am setting up a 5.2.2 getting Klipsch RP502S II for the surround speakers. I have included a photo of my room. should I place the surround at the back wall? I already have a Yamaha MusicCast 20 there as a temporary setup. Should the klipsch exactly where the Yamaha is or should I place them where the red circles are? If I place the klipsch where the Yamaha is won’t the sound coming from one side drivers of the klipsch be too close to the side wall? or should the surround be on the side where the green circles are? I have a window on one side but I can put a plank or some thing there to mount the speaker there if it has to be on the side. please advise.
Hi-Fi Whipped Posted January 24, 2024 Posted January 24, 2024 See Dolby Atmos layout attached you would be better having the corner mounted pointing towards the centre seating position of the couch.
Grant Slack Posted January 24, 2024 Posted January 24, 2024 Hi Venkatesh, The listening seat against the back wall is strongly discouraged. Not just for surround sound, but for the front speaker sound too. If you cannot do anything about that, then so be it, but if you can move the listening position away from the back wall, then do it. Also, speakers at 90 degrees to the listeners is strongly discouraged. So, the green circles are bad. The red circles or the Yamaha positions are your best option with the seat there. The red circle position might irritate people sitting off-centre on the couch. The corner/Yamaha position will need EQ to deal with the sound colouration from the corner proximity. If you have room correction it will help with this, but I suggest limiting it to 500 Hz maximum. The side wall reflections will be a lesser issue, but you could do some good with thick absorbers where the green circles are, if you wish. cheers, Grant 1
fordriver1 Posted January 25, 2024 Posted January 25, 2024 On 24/01/2024 at 11:30 PM, Grant Slack said: speakers at 90 degrees to the listeners is strongly discouraged. why is this? I was advised from a well respected speaker manufacturer to do just this in a 5.1.2 setup, albeit 500mm or so higher than listening position, as the wall mounted speaker have a downward angle.
Grant Slack Posted January 29, 2024 Posted January 29, 2024 I can’t remember exactly. I’ll have to dig into my sources, but can’t at the moment as I am traveling on a holiday. cheers Grant
betty boop Posted January 29, 2024 Posted January 29, 2024 (edited) On 26/1/2024 at 8:57 AM, fordriver1 said: why is this? I was advised from a well respected speaker manufacturer to do just this in a 5.1.2 setup, albeit 500mm or so higher than listening position, as the wall mounted speaker have a downward angle. its generally recommended to be 110-120 deg on sides to rear for a 5.1 setup as per dolby recommendation as posted by @Hi-Fi Whipped above... in practice 90 deg can work if not firing directly at you ... eg with bi-pole speakers .. whcih fire up and down the sides but still can localise sound pretty well. ie not firing directly in your ear.... in 5.1 speakers theres no rear surrounds so hence they place them slightly to the rear ie behind listener at 110 to 120 deg .. in a 7.1 setup this changes since there are rears and the side speakers dont have to cover any rear aspect so can be as much as directly on the side at 90 to slightly to rear 110 deg ... see below.... i in the past went from 90 deg bi-poles in a 5.1 setup to adding rears for 7.1 and it worked a treat before and all the better after adding the rears .... Edited January 29, 2024 by betty boop
KentL Posted January 29, 2024 Posted January 29, 2024 On a side note, when I ran 5.1ch I first I had my surround in the back, sounded ok but not right. I then moved them to the side which sounded perfect. Now in my 7.1ch the sides are actually on the sides still but 5 degrees forward. I would not put surrounds behind. Are you able to mount the speakers on a stand and test what sounds the best? behind or on side?
KentL Posted January 30, 2024 Posted January 30, 2024 This is my actual room, still not perfect, but life is all about compromises. If possible, equal distance to the speakers and the "golden triangle" still matters. Object based sound requires you to be on-axis or as close to as possible.
fordriver1 Posted January 30, 2024 Posted January 30, 2024 very interesting @KentL Is there a general rule of thumb for reflections and where to place sound absorption panels, or only by using a sound meter?
KentL Posted January 30, 2024 Posted January 30, 2024 (edited) Well as a general rule of thumb you would be able to place absorption/combo panels at the first and second reflection points. Those you can locate by someone walking on the side walls with a mirror, while you are in the MLP. When you see a speaker (left right or centre), there's a reflection point and you can treat that area, You can also treat the latheral and ipsilateral reflections. That's just a general rule, and a trick way to get you started. This topic continues, things like room decay measurements goes well beyond and require some serious instruments (very expensive sound metre). But if you wanted to treat your room, the mirror trick will work, treating your rear walls or ceiling with some diffusion also helps, but again be mindful that if you can't measure, then it's only a guess and hope game. In my own room I have achieved very good channel separation and very clear dialog, but my room is not silent, and that's a big downfall. Dynamic range it out the window, specially at low volume. I mainly watch late at night for that reason. On a side note, REW can measure room decay, there are some videos out there on that topic. The room treatment will effect the decay time. Edited January 30, 2024 by KentL
Willco Posted January 30, 2024 Posted January 30, 2024 41 minutes ago, fordriver1 said: very interesting @KentL Is there a general rule of thumb for reflections and where to place sound absorption panels, or only by using a sound meter? Hello There, I don't have a multi speaker setup such as KentL -and his advice is exemplary above for that --but if you are running simple two channel Stereo then the basics below should give you a starter for experimentation. Bear in mind if your room has natural furnishings /etc then some of those will suffice instead. As you specifically asked re Panels note the placements as pictured with Diffusion on wall behind speaker and Absorbtion along side walls. The diagrams relate to ASC products which I use but today there are a plethora of similar units available which may suit your room needs just as admirably--. Good Listening . Willco 1
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