# Unusual couch placement/room - where should I put the speakers?



## ifresh21 (Jan 3, 2011)

Hi guys,

[Setup]

I am new to surround sound and am trying to upgrade the surround sound in one of my rooms to a 7.1 channel system. I ordered (5) Polk RM7 speakers (one of them is a center) and the Yamaha V667 Receiver. I will most likely order this speaker stand for maximum height on my surround speakers (rear).


[Question]


The problem is that my room doesn't really allow me to place rear surrounds in the ideal positions (90 to 110 degrees and if I understand correctly, a few feet from the couch). My couch is almost right next to the wall and I plan on purchasing a new couch which might be slightly larger and have to be pushed completely next to the wall :0. So the speakers almost definitely have to go behind the couch. Once they do im not sure about distance or aiming. Would it work to aim the left speaker so the sound bounces off the wall? (popped in my head)

Pictures are two posts down.

How should I place the speakers when the couch is so close to/on the wall? I have to use speaker stands - speakers mounted on the wall/ceiling isn't an option unfortunately. Since I am using stands, should the speakers be aimed down towards the viewers from behind or should they be level? If they are level, should they be facing forward, at the audience, or towards each other? That confuses me. They are Bipole speakers

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[Bonus Questions  ]

I have two more relatively insignificant questions: I plan on putting my center speaker in the top/center cabinet inside the under TV console. I will most likely put the left and right speakers either on the wall or the side of the console. The speakers would all be at the same level, but much lower than ear level for the viewers. Would tilting all of these speakers upwards so that they point at ear level sound good? (Is that the best way to do it)


I have two (old) nutone in wall speakers mounted high on the wall at the rear of the room and would like to integrate these into the system as the rear channels so that I can have 7.1 surround. How bad will this sound  ? Of course, it won't be timbre matched. Are there any adjustments I can make on my receiver so that they sound as close as possible to my Polk RM7s and improve the overall system rather than make it worse (if that's what it might do)? I want it to sound really good, but I don't think that I am much of an audiophile, and the others listening to the system most definitely are not going to be able to distinguish imperfections.


And one more that is less significant - Do I have to be concerned with sound leakage on the left side of the room? Any adjustments I should make because of that? Also, the front speakers will kind of be in a nook smaller than the rest of the room - should I be concerned or make adjustments? I am guessing those are tough questions.



Thanks a ton for any and all help!! I tried to keep the questions as concise as possible - if I need to clarify or add detail, pleasee let me know. Thanks again!



Room dimensions: 21x13. The nook where the tv is is 8.5x5.5 with the left wall being 3.5 deep. Tv wall is 10 feet from the couch right now.

Pictures are two posts down


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## Wayne A. Pflughaupt (Apr 13, 2006)

Welcome to the Forum, fresh!


> The problem is that my room doesn't really allow me to place rear surrounds in the ideal positions (90 to 110 degrees and if I understand correctly, a few feet from the couch). <snip>
> 
> I can't post a real link but picture is at tinyurl slash 2bdnewg


We really need to see some kind of picture. You can upload it to your next post, using the “Manage Files and Attachments” feature.




> Would tilting all of these speakers upwards so that they point at ear level sound good? (Is that the best way to do it)


Raising the speakers – putting them on stands or something – is the best way. If you can’t do that, then aiming them upwards is the next best thing.




> I have two (old) nutone in wall speakers mounted high on the wall at the rear of the room and would like to integrate these into the system as the rear channels so that I can have 7.1 surround. How bad will this sound


No way for us to tell how something sounds if we can’t hear it.  However, those speakers are undoubtedly designed to handle only a few watts. If you want to blow them out, hooking them up to your 100-watt AVR would be a good way. 




> And one more that is less significant - Do I have to be concerned with sound leakage on the left side of the room? Any adjustments I should make because of that? Also, the front speakers will kind of be in a nook smaller than the rest of the room - should I be concerned or make adjustments? I am guessing those are tough questions.


Again, we need a picture to see what it is you’re talking about.

Wayne


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## ifresh21 (Jan 3, 2011)

Oh I didn't notice the option to upload the photos 

You can see the nutone speakers (pretty sure they are nutone) at the back of the room. I had an older receiver connected to them before. Would the speakers really get blown out? The new yamaha receiver is 90W each channel.


With tilting the front speakers: The center either had to be below ear level or above it. I could mount the left and right at ear level. But I am not sure, would it be better to have all 3 at the same height and tilted up equally, or tilt the center up and have the L and R at ear level?

Thanks again.


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## ojojunkie (Jun 23, 2010)

Welcome to HTS!..

Putting them on stand is a good option but not safe speacially with kids around. Any chance of rearranging the room? 

If not try to consider wall mounting or hang them from ceiling but make sure that you have good support to hold the speakers.


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## ifresh21 (Jan 3, 2011)

ojojunkie said:


> Welcome to HTS!..
> 
> Putting them on stand is a good option but not safe speacially with kids around. Any chance of rearranging the room?
> 
> If not try to consider wall mounting or hang them from ceiling but make sure that you have good support to hold the speakers.


What makes you think about kids 
Kids are around but not a concern actually. Do you mean that its still unsafe even without kids? 

I actually ordered the stands already though


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## usrsld (Feb 3, 2009)

I like the ceiling mount option. I actually have two in-ceiling speakers as well as two wall hanging speakers which make up the surround array in my 7.1 set-up and it works well.


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## ifresh21 (Jan 3, 2011)

i can't put them on the ceiling


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## Wayne A. Pflughaupt (Apr 13, 2006)

Any reason why you can’t move the couch away from the wall? Looks like there’s enough room. One option would be to mount them on the wall a few feet behind the couch and 7 ft. high, facing each other.

Wayne


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## ifresh21 (Jan 3, 2011)

Wayne A. Pflughaupt said:


> Any reason why you can’t move the couch away from the wall? Looks like there’s enough room. One option would be to mount them on the wall a few feet behind the couch and 7 ft. high, facing each other.
> 
> Wayne


Its kind of hard to see but if I move the couch to the right, the person sitting on the right sound of the couch won't be able to see the tv because of the wall. (the tv is in a nook) Its a room with two different widths and the tv is in the narrow part.

Facing each other? I have to edit my original post, I relized that they are actually direct speakers rather than bipole. Would it still work


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## eugovector (Sep 4, 2006)

I'd vote for flipping the room 180 degrees. This would allow you to get your couch and speakers symmetrical to the walls. Put you office space in the nook where the TV is now.


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## ifresh21 (Jan 3, 2011)

eugovector said:


> I'd vote for flipping the room 180 degrees. This would allow you to get your couch and speakers symmetrical to the walls. Put you office space in the nook where the TV is now.


This made me laugh. Thx. 

Not an option though. At all lol


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