Surround Speaker Placement - Pics Provided

phorts

Hey polkies! (sorry if that's lame/overused) This is my first post. I recently acquired a nice Polk 5.0 system from a member of the AVS Forums and have got them all setup in my new HT setup. I'm blown away by the quality upgrade of these speakers over my old Panasonic HTIB setup and would content in just leaving them in their current setup, but I wanted to throw some pics of my setup at you folks and see what you thought:

Current Setup

TV: Pioneer 5080HD
AVR: Onkyo TX-SR605

Speakers:

Fronts: Polk RM6901
Center: Polk RM6902
Surrounds: Polk RM101s
Sub: CSW Basscube 10S

Room Size: 13 x 20 (Couch/TV sit on the long walls)


Pics of Setup

Center Seating Position - 11' Away










The Surrounds are about 2.5' above ear level when sitting down and about 8' from Center of the couch. They are pointed down and in directly at the center listening position at the couch.

I haven't "calibrated" my speakers yet using the Audessy Speaker setup that is included with my Onkyo Receiver, but i've set all the Crossovers to 80hz and the sub to 80hz.


I've been told that it would be ideal to have them on side walls, but that is not an options since there isnt a side wall near the right surround for about another 12', while the left surrounds nearest side wall is only 4'. I COULD get some speaker stands, but am not investing in any since I'll be moving soon, hence the speaker wire still dangling.


My questions are:

1. Where would YOU place these speakers in this living room?

2. How would you angle the speakers?

obviously i'm looking for the best dispersement of sound that offers the most realistic experience, mostly for HT and gaming.

Thanks for any and all advice! I'm happy to be a Polkster!

Phorts

danger boy

Welcome phorts!

you're on your way to a good home theater experience.

placement for home theater speakers is more forgiving than it is for say music listening.

One suggestion I would offer.. and certainly you can play with it as you see fit. but point your surround speakers more so they are pointing forward as opposed to directly at you. This will give you a more diffused surround sound.

then use your Onkyo receiver and calibrate the sound levels. that should be about all you need to do..

also, you may want to place your left and right front speakers outside of the TV cabinet for more openness.

xandra

placement for home theater speakers is more forgiving than it is for say music listening.

...This will give you a more diffused surround sound.

-- danger boy

So How would you place for music listening? thought I'd read somewhere that you want more focused for music...

Phorts: that's one gorgeous entertainment center. Sorry can't advise, as I'm in similar situation, and have yet to resolve.
see: http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=65758

sorry, no beautiful pics - just a simple plan drawing...

phorts

danger boy wrote: »

Welcome phorts!

you're on your way to a good home theater experience.

placement for home theater speakers is more forgiving than it is for say music listening.

One suggestion I would offer.. and certainly you can play with it as you see fit. but point your surround speakers more so they are pointing forward as opposed to directly at you. This will give you a more diffused surround sound.

then use your Onkyo receiver and calibrate the sound levels. that should be about all you need to do..

also, you may want to place your left and right front speakers outside of the TV cabinet for more openness.

Dangerboy, thank you for the suggestion. I tried this last night and watched Contact on HBO w/ DD 5.1 and I was truely blown away. Even my GF who could usually give a crap about stuff like this noticed a difference. The sound was less localized and my mind couldnt discern which direction most of the sound was coming from, which i guess is what we're looking for in surround.

So just to clarify, I pointed my speakers UP and OUT. They are 90 degrees parallel w/ the floor now and they are pointed i would say towards the TV if you drew a straight line out from them.

I didnt play any Call of Duty last night, which is where i noticed the really localized directional sound, so i'll give that another shot tonight.

I also used the Onkyo to set the distances on the speakers. I havent yet calibrated the output levels yet, but plan to do that soon as well.

The last thing I did was to move the fronts and center (along w/ TV) forward so that the baffles are outside the boundaries of my ET stand. This seems to open the sound up a bit more. I was originally planning to place my fronts in the towers to the left and right of the console, but I would have lost 2 "picture" shelves and that wouldnt pass the WAF test. I was worried everything was going to sound directional from the front and not "surround" me as much, but this is not the case...

Also, I am going to order the pewter grilles for the fronts and center to match the surrounds and TV/ET stand better. I got this set used so the fronts/center were titanium and the surrounds were pewter. Polk said they could sell me the grilles, but at $20/ea.. ugh.. Hence becoming a member to get the discount.. whatever that is...and free shipping

Even if i were to leave it as is, this is one million times better than my previous Panasonic HTIB setup.. WOW. And all for under $700 for my sound setup (Speakers: $300 used from forum member, Onkyo: 300 refurbed from Onkyo refurb website, CSW Sub: $50 from friend, optical cables, speaker wire and banana jacks: $50 from monoprice.com.

Good sound doesn't have to cost a fortune! Thanks for your help..and Polk Rules!

phorts

xandra wrote: »

-- danger boy

So How would you place for music listening? thought I'd read somewhere that you want more focused for music...

Phorts: that's one gorgeous entertainment center. Sorry can't advise, as I'm in similar situation, and have yet to resolve.
see: http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=65758

sorry, no beautiful pics - just a simple plan drawing...

Xandra, thank you very much. Got it from Bob's Discount Furniture in NH for $800. It was a no brainer compared to their other models and compared to the $2000+ Versions at Jordans, Bernie and Phyls, Hooker, etc...It sure beats having it on top of our old ET Stand where my 27" CRT was..lol!


I wish I could help you w/ music placement, but i dont know much about audio yet. I will say though that music sounds fan-freakin-tastic on my speakers. These polks are really really impressive for their size. I can't turn them past 3/4 volume cuz I live in a condo, but at that level I have to turn them down cuz they're too loud. And at that level, everything is crisp, clean, but not so overly detailed that it's distracting.. at least i find overly detailed clarity from speakers distracting. I like some that are a little more forgiving. These really are the perfect speaker for my setup.

I also listen to most my audio in Stero. Unless it's encoded in 5.1 then I go that way, but all my CD's, MP3, Radio, Music HD Channel or whatever I listen to in 2 channel. I havent had much time to play with it though so i'll have to listen to it in neo6 surround or something to see...

good luck!

danger boy

phorts, congrats! sounds like the minor adjustments you made to the speakers improved the sound. that's great.

xandra, i don't use my surround sound rear speakers for music listening.

Sansui

What's the possibility of buying some plastic "wire mold" and painting some pieces the same colors as your wall? It looks like your back wall is flat sheet rock so after cutting the pieces to the right length and painting them it wouldn't be hard to attach them to the wall with the double sided "sticky" tape they come with. If it were me, I'd try to "fish" the wall first. You could make those black wires almost disappear. Just a thought...

xandra

danger boy wrote:

xandra, i don't use my surround sound rear speakers for music listening.

I have some 5.1 SACD's, so surrounds matter

snoboarder77

love the double plants!

louthewiz

:):eek:

louthewiz

These might also help with placement.:)

jaysonbarnett

another thing you could as well to seperate the fronts is to get mounts or stands. You need to separate the fronts some, but they look so good where they are. That has to be the most beautiful entertainment center i have ever seen. cheers