Front/Suround Speaker Height

[Aerodude73]

Let me 1st say that I just spent 20-30 minutes going thru some various threads on this topic. So hopefully everyone can be Patient w/out 25 "Already posted in thread______" blah blah blah.

That said, the Fronts should be at Ear Level when viewing from your preferred seat (per a Few listings and a Crutchfield short video), and the Rear Surrounds a bit Above Ear Level. For now, all my speakers are on stands until I get my new ones (shortly I hope!), so I was able to break out a tape measure to make the Fronts the same heights, and a bit higher for the Rears. So now i'll be spending the rest of the night really Listening to see if there's any discernable difference from what I've been used to, as I had all 4 of them quite a bit Higher than I suppose they should have been. According to all I read, the Fronts should have the Tweeter almost aimed direct toward the main listening area, and the Rears a few inches or so higher.

Most helpful was a link to the Dolby.com's Room Layout & Speaker Setup Guide. - Ideally, your front speakers, high-frequency drivers, or tweeters should be positioned at ear level (when you're seated). Our recommended height for the surrounds is above ear level, as soundtracks are likely to be optimized for that location.

So for anyone out there with the RM6750 set up and similar, do you pretty much use the recommended info above in your Home Theaters? If not, what reasons - if space is not a major factor - or ideas have you used for your speaker height placements?


* Note: Per my info below, I'll have either Monitor 30's or 40's, and T90e's within a 2-3 weeks. So obviously the fronts will be set where they sit, and for the Rears I guess I'll be looking for substantially Stronger/wider stands shortly to "raise them up".

[Aerodude73]

Wow, I know it posted this kind of late last nite, but no replies? Maybe I should have put "Watchmen" in the title thread.

[Hammie]

This is the rule I have always heard and have tried to follow.

- Fronts -- ear level of sitting position

- Surrounds -- 12-36 inches above sitting position.

Currently, my fronts (Polk Audio RTi4's) are wall mounted with the tweeters at 68 inches off the ground but pointed directly at the sweet spot (I used a laser pointer to get the angle correct). My surrounds (Polk Audio FXi3's) are mounted with the tweeter at 70 inches. My ears while sitting are right around 40 inches.

The most important thing in my opinion is that your speakers are contained in a square area (for a 5.1 setup). Meaning that your surrounds and fronts create the 4 corners of a square. I think it makes it look cleaner since everything is equidistant and uniform from one another. The pre/pro/receiver doesn't have to compensate as much on pushing any one channel a little harder. My thinking could be wrong and very far off. Just thought I would share where my head was/is when setting up my system.

[Aerodude73]

My fronts are at Ear level as noted, and the Surrounds were Higher before, but a bit lower now -- Not 12-36 inches Above my sitting position though. What I wrote was found on the Dolby site and from a Crutchfield video on 5.1 set-up on their site. I gathered the surrounds should be just above ear level so I'm taking it meant 6-10" or so above when viewing. Actually, i'll have to raise mine up a bit now. They were prob. lowered to a couple inches above, and I Definitely noticed I could hear the surrounds More last nite than usual.

Originally Posted by louhamilton

This is the rule I have always heard and have tried to follow.

- Fronts -- ear level of sitting position

- Surrounds -- 12-36 inches above sitting position.

Currently, my fronts (Polk Audio RTi4's) are wall mounted with the tweeters at 68 inches off the ground but pointed directly at the sweet spot (I used a laser pointer to get the angle correct). My surrounds (Polk Audio FXi3's) are mounted with the tweeter at 70 inches. My ears while sitting are right around 40 inches.

The most important thing in my opinion is that your speakers are contained in a square area (for a 5.1 setup). Meaning that your surrounds and fronts create the 4 corners of a square. I think it makes it look cleaner since everything is equidistant and uniform from one another. The pre/pro/receiver doesn't have to compensate as much on pushing any one channel a little harder. My thinking could be wrong and very far off. Just thought I would share where my head was/is when setting up my system.

[Hammie]

If you look at page 17 of your Onkyo's user guide, it states surrounds should be 2-3 feet above ear level.

[Johnny Vinyl]

Follow your OWN guidelines! Use your ears instead! Every room is acoustically different, we all have different equipment. Experiment with different setups and you'll find one that pleases you. If that goes against the grain of what has been suggested by any number of companies, so be it. They would be wrong in this case.

John

[Aerodude73]

Originally Posted by louhamilton

If you look at page 17 of your Onkyo's user guide, it states surrounds should be 2-3 feet above ear level.

- Well, I guess i'll try them higher then! - that's almost where I Had them before last nite. Maybe i'll find an in-between happy medium. Thx.

* Just saw your note "John" * - Yea, many people have this answer for various applications, and it can work just as well. Whatever works for Each Individual best, is usually all that really matters. I was just trying to see some other people's ideas, & thoughts also.

[Fors*]

Originally Posted by aerodude73

- Well, I guess i'll try them higher then! - that's almost where I Had them before last nite. Maybe i'll find an in-between happy medium. Thx.

* Just saw your note "John" * - Yea, many people have this answer for various applications, and it can work just as well. Whatever works for Each Individual best, is usually all that really matters. I was just trying to see some other people's ideas, & thoughts also.

So, are looking to set up those 40's, finally?

[Aerodude73]

Originally Posted by forsberg21

So, are looking to set up those 40's, finally?

hahaha, maybe. Still waiting to hear back from that guy. I have another possible option for the 40's also, but I'm waiting on that person as well.

I finally hooked up the 2nd PSW-10 last nite, to the left of my couch under a table (though the table is actually resting ON IT ( ), so I may have to move it. The coffee/end table is Light so i'm not too worried. But, I had to keep turning it Down as being right next to the couch I could "Feel" it more than the one to the right of the TV obviously. Luckily, I found a nice Balance between the two and really enjoyed it at times last nite. I'll try some Blu's over the next couple days to Really see what 2 Subs can do though.

I hope my CS10 will be here tomorrow, still waiting for that. (Note: just checked, shows due 3/13/09 - of course. Friday the 13th!!)