# Need help with my proposed surround sound/receiver and speaker placement



## cbehr (Sep 5, 2013)

So here is the layout of my basement. Not 100% decided on the sectional but my wife really wants a large relaxing sofa so no theater seating. I know the sectional isn't ideal especially for surround sound but help me plan the best with what I have! I have ideas for product listed below, that being said neither of us are super huge audio geeks, just looking for something sounds good but doesn't have to impress Mozart.

Front wall will have a 60" LCD and 100-120" drop down projector screen for movie nights. I will have built in bookcases on either side and below the TV where the speakers will sit on shelves flush with the wall. Will this cause problems with sound quality?

Second issue is what to do with the rear speakers, do I just mount them on the back wall and face them downward a bit, go with in wall or in ceiling speakers? My other thought was to go with the new Monoprice 10565 surround sound in which they said they could swap out the rears for in wall/ceiling speakers...but I can't find any reviews on the set yet.

Energy take Classic 5.1 surround set

http://www.amazon.com/Energy-Classic-Theater-System-Black/dp/B001202C44/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1380806182&sr=8-1&keywords=take+classic

Onkyo TX-SR313, although only $199 on Amazon seems to get great reviews, everything I need?
http://www.hometheaterdomain.com/reviews/onkyo-tx-sr313/

Onkyo TX-NR616, about $320 on Amazon and gets great reviews too, worth another few bucks?
http://www.hometheaterdomain.com/reviews/onkyo-tx-nr-616/


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

The energy take classics are a good starter system, I would spend the money on the 616 at the very least as the lower end receivers from all manufacturers are not very feature rich and lack good auto room correction. They also tend to be a bit light on the power side as well.

Do your best to avoid placing the sectional right back in the corner as thats is the worst for sound quality in a room. You will have really bad peaks in the lower frequencies.


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## cbehr (Sep 5, 2013)

What about the placement of of the sub?

Am I ok to place these speakers in a bookshelf or do they really need to be mounted on the wall etc?


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Wall mounted speakers is better but its important that they are either sealed or front ported not rear ported.
If you put them in a shelf they must be placed so that the front of the speaker sticks out just slightly and again not rear ported.

Sub placement is totally dependent of the room and not easy to say for sure just by looking at the diagram. You would need to do a crawl test with the sub in the listening position and you crawling around the outside of the room to listen for the best response.


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## cbehr (Sep 5, 2013)

Hmm, I'm just not sure what to do about the front speakers. I can't really mount them on the wall. Below is the diagram of what that wall will look like.

The two side bookshelves as well as the bottom ET center will be build in. The black boxes are where I figured I'd place the front speakers. So I guess I need to find speakers that are non-ported/front ported as it might look silly these hanging below the book cases when everything else is built in?


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Have you considered either stands for the speakers or getting tower speakers for the front left and right? Tower speakers will have better sound and imaging as a general rule. Placing the bookshelves in the shelf as you show will also be fine but as I said make sure they are not pushed back into the shelf, keep them right up front.


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