# Where do I put them?



## J-Lane (Apr 21, 2010)

We are about to move into a new house and I'm trying to find the best placement for my in wall speakers. I have some fairly inexpensive speakers that I bought from Parts Express and here is the sub i have. I know they are probably not ideal for home theater use but it's hard to convince the wife we need to drop a ton of money into speakers. The house we are moving into has a nice large wall for me to install all the front speakers but the four surround speakers are the ones I have a question about. The Family room where the speakers will be installed only has three walls. Where the fourth wall should be is actually the kitchen. Ideally I would like to install the surround speakers in the side walls and rear wall but obviously the side speakers cant be mounted that way because there is no wall on the left side. Should I install the side surround speakers in the ceiling and the rear ones in the rear wall or the ceiling towards the back of the room as well? I know its not the ideal setup but I would like to get the best performance with what I have available. Thanks in advance for any input.


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## eugovector (Sep 4, 2006)

Hi there. I'd you can post some pictures of your room, that would be most helpful.


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## J-Lane (Apr 21, 2010)

We are waiting for Escro so I'm not able to get photos yet. I should be in by the 6th of June. I can post some pictures then. I'm just trying to get everything planned before we move in. I've been without my Theater set up for a month (it's packed up) and I'm going crazy without it.


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## eugovector (Sep 4, 2006)

Well, a sketch would be helpful as well, but I'll try my best to offer some advice. If you did want to create a sketch, I recommend "Room Organizer". Used it plus a tape measure to floor plan our entire house while we were waiting to close and that some floor plan has been very handy since for everything from buying bedroom furniture to planning the home theater.

I have a similar setup to you, but our best layout had walls on 3 sides and the opening to the back of the listening position: 

 

If there's anyway you can do a similar setup, I recommend it because it keeps the front sound stage symmetrical w/ regards to the walls. In our case, it also works great for watching TV while cooking dinner, and even present a viable projection setup, with lots of window coverings. My Surround speakers are currently on stands, but I intend to have the ceiling wired and put them on the walls just behind the couch.

With the way you describe your current setup, I'd say your only options for side and back surrounds is either in the ceiling or on stands. In you case, that would leave in-ceiling as the only option.


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## J-Lane (Apr 21, 2010)

Thanks for the help:T. I'm going to try and work up a sketch in that Room Organizer program but I don't have any measurements right now:huh:. As soon as I can get the measurements I will post a drawing and see what you think.


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## eugovector (Sep 4, 2006)

You can always do a rough sketch and then change the dimensions later, but it is a little easier to get it done the first time. I love that piece of software and use it often. It's sort of my go to CAD for dummies.


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## gdstupak (Jul 13, 2010)

As a gesture of good faith to my wife, I used in-ceiling speakers for all my surrounds. It's not optimal but still works well. In the latest Robin Hood movie, in the very last scene, an arrow is shot from rear right going towards the front screen. Even though my surround speakers are about 10' up in the ceiling, I would swear that arrow zinged past, only a few inches from my right ear. It literally made my wife jump in her seat!

As a side note about in-wall speakers. Descent in-wall speakers have to be made very well to sound proper and they cost more than their normal counterparts. If you're on a low budget, I would get regular speakers and mount them from the ceiling.


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## J-Lane (Apr 21, 2010)

gdstupak said:


> As a gesture of good faith to my wife, I used in-ceiling speakers for all my surrounds. It's not optimal but still works well. In the latest Robin Hood movie, in the very last scene, an arrow is shot from rear right going towards the front screen. Even though my surround speakers are about 10' up in the ceiling, I would swear that arrow zinged past, only a few inches from my right ear. It literally made my wife jump in her seat!
> 
> As a side note about in-wall speakers. Descent in-wall speakers have to be made very well to sound proper and they cost more than their normal counterparts. If you're on a low budget, I would get regular speakers and mount them from the ceiling.


Well, unfortunately I already bought my speakers a few months ago. They are in wall so I will have to make them work I guess. They deffinately sounded better than what I had. I will be posting a layout of the room as soon as we move in to our new house and I can get some dimensions. Thanks for the input!


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## J-Lane (Apr 21, 2010)

OK, so it took a "little" bit longer than we planned but we are moved in now and unpacking the last of the boxes. I have the TV mounted and after really looking at the room I decided that all four of my surround speakers will unfortunately have to be mounted in the ceiling. However I now have a different question. The speakers I bought came in pairs and since I have 7 channels I have decided to use the eighth speaker as an additional center channel. My question now is how should I wire them, series or parallel and how do you recommend I mount them? I have three different ideas. I will attach the images so you can give me your input.

OPTION 1










OPTION 2










OPTION 3










Thanks in advance for your help!


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## eugovector (Sep 4, 2006)

Option 4, just use three of them, a single one for center, and mount it above or below the TV, tweeter at top or bottom, whatever will get it closest to earlevel and the height of the LR tweeters. Angle the center (and other speakers) towards the ear if needed.


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