Rear Speaker Placement

[dzirkelb]

Simple question, where do I put them? aka, how high and how far apart from the sitting are?

I'm assuming place them pretty much to the sides of the main sitting area, like a 3 person couch, put on the ends.

But, how high should they go up for best production?

[twill812]

Originally Posted by dzirkelb

Simple question, where do I put them? aka, how high and how far apart from the sitting are?

I'm assuming place them pretty much to the sides of the main sitting area, like a 3 person couch, put on the ends.

But, how high should they go up for best production?

Well, I currently have my rear speaker at ear level about 1 feet from the ends of the couch.

[dzirkelb]

The speakers would be hung on the wall also, so placing them at ear level is probably a no no. I'm thinking whatever makes the wall look ok, but just wanted to make sure there wasn't something terrible with doing that.

[Scooby Blu]

I have had the pros tell me to place them at eye level about three feet above and three feet away from the couch on the wall. This way your ears are not right on top of the sound. I'm getting ready to hang some speakers myself so any input on this subject would help me along with the OP.

[VinnAY]

I followed the recommendations from thx.com

http://www.thx.com/home/setup/speakers/index.html

[Aerodude73]

Originally Posted by Scooby Blu

I have had the pros tell me to place them at eye level about three feet above and three feet away from the couch on the wall. This way your ears are not right on top of the sound. I'm getting ready to hang some speakers myself so any input on this subject would help along with the OP.

+ 1

I've heard/read the same, and actually got my info from a tech at Polk Audio. Was told not to put them At ear level but Above (eye level would be too high, but whatever works best for each listener), so mine are about 12-18" above or so while on my couch.

[twill812]

Originally Posted by VinnAY

I followed the recommendations from thx.com

http://www.thx.com/home/setup/speakers/index.html

Thanks for the link. I was not aware of this. I will try a new setup this weekend.

[Riff Magnum]

I'm a little confused about the side/back surround designation for a 5.1 setup. In a 5.1 setup are your surround speakers gonna be side surrounds or rear surrounds? I would think it would be rear, but the 5.1 diagram on the thx website shows speakers right off a 90 degree angle from the listening spot.

[VinnAY]

those are typically called surrounds, L & R in a 5 speaker arrangement. The rears in a 6 or 7 spearker arrangement are called rear surrounds.

[surfdude12]

i had a pro-installer who recommend bipolar surrounds installed in the ceiling...he recommended against the satellites mounted behind the couch.

it really paid off because the bipolar surrounds shoot the surround in both directions all up and down the rear of the listening area (perpendicular to the viewing distance). a more involved installation, but for me, it paid off.

[AcePunK]

Originally Posted by twill812

Well, I currently have my rear speaker at ear level about 1 feet from the ends of the couch.

+1

[dzirkelb]

I can 't place them on the side as the left side has about 10 feet more than the right side does...it opens up to a fireplace area, so that is pretty much out of the question.

[Twitch9]

The right place is same width as front speakers or wider, 2' above ear hight or min 1' from ceiling. just a few guidelines to follow.

[Cisco in HD]

After looking a bit closer to the thx 5.1 link, I noticed the sub is placed underneath/infront of the display.

Anyone else notice that? I might have to try that.

[Twitch9]

That is more a reference point for the sub and a good starting point but depending on your room you should search out the best possible place for your sub where you don't get any standing waves, this will improve your sound dramatically.

[Cisco in HD]

ok, that's good to know for the .1 of a HT.

But what about the SBL & SBR? How many have put them together?
From the galleries I've seen on this site I haven't seen 1 person with their backs together. Seems kind of odd.

[Twitch9]

This is the way George Lucas sets his standard audio for mixes, but it's really more of preference in sound, most people like the look and sound of the Dolby or DTS surround backs, plus this is the way DVD's and Blu-rays are mixed in 7.1 so it makes more sense to keep them apart.

[moose4130]

Originally Posted by Cisco in HD

ok, that's good to know for the .1 of a HT.

But what about the SBL & SBR? How many have put them together?
From the galleries I've seen on this site I haven't seen 1 person with their backs together. Seems kind of odd.

You should click on the link at the bottom of the thx page. It says
"If you have an AV receiver with the ability to decode Dolby TrueHD and/or DTS-HD, and you are playing 7.1 discrete content, then you will want to separate the back surround speakers to produce a 60 degree angle from the main listening location. "

[prankster]

Originally Posted by Riff Magnum

I'm a little confused about the side/back surround designation for a 5.1 setup. In a 5.1 setup are your surround speakers gonna be side surrounds or rear surrounds? I would think it would be rear, but the 5.1 diagram on the thx website shows speakers right off a 90 degree angle from the listening spot.

surrounds are on the side. the 2 additional speakers in a 7.1 setup are the surround rears which are located behind the listener(s).

[Riff Magnum]

I was asking about a 5.1 setup.
It just seems they recommend your surrounds to be directly to the side of the viewing position in a 5.1 setup. To me the surrounds sound better when they're a little bit behind the viewer, but not directly behind. So, if i have a 7.1 AVR, but my setup is 5.1, i'll be using the side surround outputs on the AVR to my speakers, correct?