Back surround speaker placement ?

da5176

Hey guys, I need some suggestions for back surround sound speaker placement. I have a 7.1 speaker system. The room is 19.5' X 12.5' X 7.5'. The side surrounds are going about 3.5' from the back wall facing toward one another. They will be about 3.5' behind the main listening position. Any more forward to the sides of the main spot can't be done due to a 4' wide window. The question is this, the back wall is wide open for back surround speakers. The distance is 7' from the back wall to the main spot. How far apart should the back surround speakers be? Should they be at the same height as the side surrounds? I'm re-arranging furniture, flipping from one end to the other. Wife wanted a change, and think I can get better surround speaker locations than before. We have more room this way so I need to make things work. Any help would be appreciated, Thanks:)

danger boy

I don't have much experience with rear surrounds myself.. but the couple of friends of mine who do have them.. seem to place them to close to each other..

I'd say, and this is only a guesstimate... place them around 4 to 6 feet apart.... most people i've seen have them about 18" apart.. that always seemed to close together in my limited experience.

As for the height.. yes, you want them the same height as your side surrounds.. which is about 3 to 3.5 feet above your ears while seated.

good luck.. sounds like a fun project. pics please once you have them up and running.

cnjvh

here is Dolby's recommended layout - tweak to taste (click the PL IIx button to get the 7.1 layout:

http://www.dolby.com/consumer/home_entertainment/roomlayout.html

aaharvel

try placing the rear surrounds 1/2 the width of the side surrounds and 2/3 the width of the front L&R pair as measured with the center speaker.

a good example would be this: (forgive if my math is off)
Front- 6feet apart
Center
Sides- 8feet apart
Rear- 4feet apart