Someone please talk some sense into me...

kneedragger37

OK, so I finally got my RTi A3 / CSi A6 fronts situated last week. I have 4 TC60i in-ceilings that I'll be installing as surrounds. Because I have 4 speakers, I figured I would use 4 speakers, and make a 7.1 system.

The room does not call for the surrounds to be placed so far apart that there would be a sonic "hole" behind me. The configuration of the room calls for the seating to be backed against the back wall. This is just my living room, not my dedicated home theater room. I could sell a pair of the TC60i's, make some money on them, and save myself what I would have spent on 50 feet of speaker cabling.

BUT, I have 4 speakers! I REALLY want to install them. It's like a sickness. Someone please help.

comfortablycurt

If you don't have the room to properly place all the speakers in a 7.1 setup, it's not going to net you any gains. It's going to make it sound worse than a properly placed 5.1 setup will for that matter. Ideally the surround back channels should be placed 2-3 feet behind the listening area.

Sounds like you don't have the room for 7.1...so you'd really be better off sticking with a 5.1 setup.

Sell a pair of the TC60i's and put the money towards something else to upgrade your system.

kneedragger37

thanks... this is helping....

So let's assume I'm going 5.1 -- I've never used in-ceilings for surround channels before, so let me ask this: with coventional, directional speakers, with the seating backed against the wall I would place the speakers as far to the back as possible aimed towards each other. Obviously this won't be possible with the in-ceiling speakers -- the drivers have a 15-degree offset so they can be crudely aimed; the tweets are only slightly more aimable. The manual says when using them as surrounds to aim the tweets toward the back wall to create a diffuse sound-field -- should I do this with the drivers as well, or aim them towards my listening position?

kneedragger37

OK, possible change of plans...

The puffy cushions on my couch put the true listening position about 12" off the back wall. After some precise measuring, I could push the couch 10" off the wall and fit a shelf behind it. The shelf would be the same height as the back of my couch, 27.5" off the floor.

So, if I were to do this, would I be better off sticking with two in-ceilings, or selling all 4 TCi's and getting 2 FXi A6's and putting them on the shelf behind the couch?

comfortablycurt

That's the route I'd go personally. I've heard in-ceiling setups at a few peoples houses, and I was never really too thrilled with the sound quality of them. Because the speakers are down-firing from the ceiling, they don't seem to really capture the surround effects quite as well.

You can improve it by aiming the tweeters at the back wall to create more of a "simulated" surround...but it doesn't have anywhere near the same affect in my experience.

That would keep you roughly 2 feet in front of them, which would probably work well. How far apart would they be spaced? Are they going to be directly behind you in that position, or are they going to be off to the side more?

kneedragger37

My front speakers are about 8 feet apart so I was going to start there and see how they sounded -- I could go as far as 11 feet apart. I was also going to try aiming them at each other and towards the front to see which sounded best...

comfortablycurt

8 feet would be sufficient. Ideally they should be the same distance apart as your fronts to create a more balanced soundstage. I typically like mine toed in a little bit. I don't like them facing straight forward, or directly inwards.

That's a little less critical in a speaker with a bi-pole/di-pole configuration like the FXi's though. Since they radiate sound in two different directions, I think they are best off being directly forward. I'm not to familiar with speakers of that design though myself.

Like you said, just play around with placement and see what sounds best in your ears.

jps

Hey Kneedragger, do you decide to keep the TC60i's? Are you interested is selling them?

skrol

I am toying with putting together a HT system and have a similar situation. If ceiling speakers don't play well because they are down firing, how about rear surrounds firing at the back wall for diffusion?

ViperZ

skrol wrote: »

I am toying with putting together a HT system and have a similar situation. If ceiling speakers don't play well because they are down firing, how about rear surrounds firing at the back wall for diffusion?

If you are so keen on trying the "diffused" sound, why not try getting dipole/bipole surrounds?

comfortablycurt

ViperZ wrote: »

If you are so keen on trying the "diffused" sound, why not try getting dipole/bipole surrounds?

x2. That would give you a much better "diffused" sound than firing your back speakers at the wall.