Unorthodox 7.1 setup

[BluLobsta]

I have a question on a 7.1 setup. Since my receiver supports 7.1, with a lot of good titles with 7.1 audio already and a promising future repertoire of 7.1 titles (LOTR anyone? ), I was thinking of doing a 7.1 configuration. Only problem is, my couch is against the wall and there is no room for rear surrounds. Would it be possible to move the surrounds to the center of the room and place the rear surround channel speakers beside the couch, in the normal surround position? Granted, sounds coming from behind you would now be beside you, but wouldn't the overall sound quality of the movie be improved, with audio features present that never would have been present in the first place? Or perhaps place 4 speakers in the surround position? Or should I just save my money and call it a day??

[Fors*]

Could you position a pair of rear surrounds on the wall behind you, up by the ceiling and directed down towards the couch? I think this may be adequate to get the sufficient 7 channel production you are looking for. Or is there a WAF to be considered as well?

Of course, if you could move the couch away from the wall a couple of feet, it will really solve alot of the problem....

[Aerodude73]

Originally Posted by forsberg21

Could you position a pair of rear surrounds on the wall behind you, up by the ceiling and directed down towards the couch? I think this may be adequate to get the sufficient 7 channel production you are looking for. Or is there a WAF to be considered as well?

Of course, if you could move the couch away from the wall a couple of feet, it will really solve alot of the problem....

Good idea Fors' - But if he can't (like Myself), he could Maybe do what I did -- Put the Rear Surround Speakers on the wall behind the couch (if they're Bipole hopefully, as I think this would make things work Smoother if you will) - & the Side Surrounds to the side of the couch, out a bit of course, vice in the Center of the room (which I would think, might Interfere with your Front L/R Speakers Audio-wise, not "interference" per se').

Check the pics of my POLK FXi3's in my Gallery below to get an idea of what I'm talking about. They work Great for the same type of sitation with a couch against the back wall for Rear Surrounds in a 7.1 set-up.

[progers13]

I'll second Forsberg's recommendation. If you can swing it, that would be the way to go. Otherwise, you might be better off staying with 5.1 until you can do something about the room constraints. While I certainly support going to a 7.1 environment (I loved it when I finally took the plunge), no sense in forcing it into a room that doesn't allow for it. 5.1 is still plenty good if you're calibrated.

[BluLobsta]

Originally Posted by forsberg21

Could you position a pair of rear surrounds on the wall behind you, up by the ceiling and directed down towards the couch? I think this may be adequate to get the sufficient 7 channel production you are looking for. Or is there a WAF to be considered as well?

Of course, if you could move the couch away from the wall a couple of feet, it will really solve alot of the problem....

Originally Posted by Aerodude73

Good idea Fors' - But if he can't (like Myself), he could Maybe do what I did -- Put the Rear Surround Speakers on the wall behind the couch (if they're Bipole hopefully, as I think this would make things work Smoother if you will) - & the Side Surrounds to the side of the couch, out a bit of course, vice in the Center of the room (which I would think, might Interfere with your Front L/R Speakers Audio-wise, not "interference" per se').

Check the pics of my POLK FXi3's in my Gallery below to get an idea of what I'm talking about. They work Great for the same type of sitation with a couch against the back wall for Rear Surrounds in a 7.1 set-up.

Nah, I don't own the property and no wall mods are allowed even though Aero's setup does look pretty sweet and it would just look too hacked to move the couch out a bit. Ah, the joys of doing a basement setup where all this would be possible

[BluLobsta]

Originally Posted by progers13

I'll second Forsberg's recommendation. If you can swing it, that would be the way to go. Otherwise, you might be better off staying with 5.1 until you can do something about the room constraints. While I certainly support going to a 7.1 environment (I loved it when I finally took the plunge), no sense in forcing it into a room that doesn't allow for it. 5.1 is still plenty good if you're calibrated.

Yeah, you may have a point. Rear surround channels were made to carry sound from behind the listener. I would just be trying to force 7.1 into a 5.1 environment. Has anyone ever upgraded their home as part of their HT?

[progers13]

Originally Posted by BluLobsta

Yeah, you may have a point. Rear surround channels were made to carry sound from behind the listener. I would just be trying to force 7.1 into a 5.1 environment. Has anyone ever upgraded their home as part of their HT?

Yup! Plenty of us have!

[Aerodude73]

Originally Posted by BluLobsta

Nah, I don't own the property and no wall mods are allowed even though Aero's setup does look pretty sweet and it would just look too hacked to move the couch out a bit. Ah, the joys of doing a basement setup where all this would be possible

Dude, you Think I ASKED my landlord about my fabric-covered foam on the walls & ceiling, or the speakers on the wall? Lol. I've been there 6-8 yrs now so I figured, wtf, & just did it. They can all come off WHEN or IF I move & a tiny bit of spackle & sanding will fix any little holes. The Side & Rear Surrounds are just 1 #10 Screw into a stud so that's just 4 little holes to fix later on down the road. And the "Raceways" (from Home Depot) have a sticky back to go on the walls that you don't have to peel off the ENTIRE backing to have them work - you can just take off a few inches at diff. locations to make them still adhere to the wall surface.

Just a couple ideas Lobsta'

[BluLobsta]

Originally Posted by Aerodude73

Dude, you Think I ASKED my landlord about my fabric-covered foam on the walls & ceiling, or the speakers on the wall? Lol. I've been there 6-8 yrs now so I figured, wtf, & just did it. They can all come off WHEN or IF I move & a tiny bit of spackle & sanding will fix any little holes. The Side & Rear Surrounds are just 1 #10 Screw into a stud so that's just 4 little holes to fix later on down the road. And the "Raceways" (from Home Depot) have a sticky back to go on the walls that you don't have to peel off the ENTIRE backing to have them work - you can just take off a few inches at diff. locations to make them still adhere to the wall surface.

Just a couple ideas Lobsta'

Ok, lemme check into it Hey, I have pictures on the walls...