# Need advice on speaker placement... which wall?



## DrPhanster (Dec 17, 2012)

Hi folks,

I'm building out my home theater room and I'm down to deciding the final speaker placement. But which wall!?!? My theater room is under my bedrooms, and I'm doing a moderate job on the soundproofing. The room brick over cinderblock on two walls, which are external basement walls and two internal walls. I've got to decide which wall to go with for LFC before I run the wires. Does anyone have any feedback on whether placing two full range speakers up against cinderblock will hinder or help sound transmission? Would it be better to put the speakers on the internal wall and soundproof the out of it?

As always, thanks for the feedback


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## vidiot33 (Dec 12, 2013)

Hi: I would not place your speakers directly up against ANY wall, as nearly all speakers will sound better at least a foot (better further away) from your walls. The brick/cinderblock should be inert enough not to affect the sound in a negative way. Another consideration is to align your speakers along the long axis of the room, assuming it's rectangular. If it's square, it shouldn't matter much unless there are openings to other spaces. Many acousticians recommend placing the speakers well out into room 1/3, or a multiple of 5ths) but this is often impractical. You would also do well to have your speakers a few feet from the sidewalls also to improve the sound, but again, this is within the limits of your particular space. Please let us know how your project is going and if you'd like further input. I'm finishing up a 9 month home theater project myself...


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## DrPhanster (Dec 17, 2012)

Thanks for the reply. I'm running klipsch quartets (fortes) as my mains, and I plan to bring them about 1/3 the room length from the projector wall. What I'm really wondering, is if the cinder block/foam/stud/fiberglass/Sheetrock is going to be better stc and less noise coupling than an internal wall as far as having the speakers facing too or away from. Or maybe I'm overthinking it and it won't make a difference?
My wife tells me that a lot. :bigsmile:


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## vidiot33 (Dec 12, 2013)

Are you planning to place the speakers along the sides of the walls or will the wall be behind them? In either case, I'd recommend some room treatments. I plan to use GIK acoustics, and they offer a free room analysis. It can make a huge difference in how well your speakers sound. One of the elements of room treatment is reducing first reflections by using a mirror on the sidewalls and treating where the speakers first appear in the mirror. Even more important is bass trapping in the corners. It's my opinion that your system won't sound its best until this is done. I would place your speakers with the internal walls to the side and the heavier brick walls behind. Hope this helps, and maybe others will also chime in ...


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## DrPhanster (Dec 17, 2012)

That's exactly the kind of answer I was looking for! I'll put the mains facing away from the external walls. GIK is local to me, and I plan on buying my entire room treatment from them. Before this, my setup was in a room that was a converted carport. Brick on all three sides. I used the cheapo foam and some DIY bass traps that made a tremendous difference. I'm excited to see what the GIK products can do. Thanks for your input!


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## vidiot33 (Dec 12, 2013)

You should have a killer system once everything is completed! Another resource I have used is an App called HTA designer. You plug in your room dimensions and it will offer three choices (in order of effectiveness) for speaker placement. Again, I look forward to hearing about your system when its in place, and will be glad to offer input if anything else comes up.


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## DrPhanster (Dec 17, 2012)

Thanks vidiot33


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