# Need Advice on Speaker Placement



## BoWingo (Jun 9, 2014)

I'm getting ready to install a surround sound system in our living room, and I'm hoping you guys can help me out a little bit.

The house was pre-wired when it was built (for the previous owners), but given the design of the built-in entertainment center, an ideal speaker placement doesn't just jump out to me right away. Can someone please take a look at the photos below and let me know what you think would be a good speaker placement? The only thing that I see is to place a couple of bookshelf speakers in the FL and FR locations drawn on the first picture. Could/should I hang the center channel from the top of the television cabinet where I drew it in? The subwoofer seems to have it the worst sitting on the fireplace hearth up against the built-in entertainment center. Unfortunately, that sort of seems like the only option for positioning the sub.

When they pre-wired for the back speakers (punched holes in the ceiling and dropped wires through), they didn't really pay attention to where the TV would actually be sitting, so the wires and holes are shifted too far to the right. Currently, they're positioned in the 10-foot ceiling about three feet behind the couch. Since I am going to need to reposition these anyway, what is the ideal position for the surround speakers? What's the best way to hang them? Some sort of bracket?


































Thanks.

--Bo


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## NBPk402 (Feb 21, 2012)

If you could upload some pictures of the room so we can see where the speakers are to be located it will help us help you. :T


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## BoWingo (Jun 9, 2014)

ellisr63 said:


> If you could upload some pictures of the room so we can see where the speakers are to be located it will help us help you. :T


Weird. I included four pictures, they showed when I previewed the post, but now they're missing. Will see if I can figure out what's going on.


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## BoWingo (Jun 9, 2014)

OK. Let's give this a shot. Pictures appear to be showing up now.


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

I take it the entertainment center is fixed in that position and must stay? You really don't want the center channel that much higher than your front left and right speakers. Can the center divider off the tv stand be removed? If so that would be a much better spot as it would be more aligned with the L/R speakers. As for the sub I'm really not sure about putting it there and it's reaction with the stone. It also doesn't appear to be a very large space therefore you would be limited to a sub on the smallish side. Are you looking at a 5.1 setup and if so you ideally want the rear speakers more to the sides of the seating positions.


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## BoWingo (Jun 9, 2014)

JBrax said:


> I take it the entertainment center is fixed in that position and must stay? You really don't want the center channel that much higher than your front left and right speakers. Can the center divider off the tv stand be removed? If so that would be a much better spot as it would be more aligned with the L/R speakers. As for the sub I'm really not sure about putting it there and it's reaction with the stone. It also doesn't appear to be a very large space therefore you would be limited to a sub on the smallish side. Are you looking at a 5.1 setup and if so you ideally want the rear speakers more to the sides of the seating positions.


You're correct. The entertainment center is built in and has to stay where it is. I've been considering removing part of the center divider on the tv stand. Another idea was to attach a tv wall mount bracket to the back of the entertainment center and "float" the tv. That would allow me to do away with the tv stand altogether give me room in front of the tv for the center speaker, the PS3, and the A/V receiver. (With the tv stand there, the A/V receiver has to go into the cabinet below the tv because it's too tall.) What do you guys think about that idea?

As for the sub placement, the speaker set that I'm looking at is the Energy Take Classic 5.1. That sub would physically fit in the space, but I don't know if it would be ideal. Take a look at my awesome drawing below.








Any suggestions for other sub placement options?

Thanks, also, for the info on rear speaker placement.


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## BoWingo (Jun 9, 2014)

Bump.
Any advice would be much appreciated.


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## willis7469 (Jan 31, 2014)

BoWingo said:


> You're correct. The entertainment center is built in and has to stay where it is. I've been considering removing part of the center divider on the tv stand. Another idea was to attach a tv wall mount bracket to the back of the entertainment center and "float" the tv. That would allow me to do away with the tv stand altogether give me room in front of the tv for the center speaker, the PS3, and the A/V receiver. (With the tv stand there, the A/V receiver has to go into the cabinet below the tv because it's too tall.) What do you guys think about that idea? As for the sub placement, the speaker set that I'm looking at is the Energy Take Classic 5.1. That sub would physically fit in the space, but I don't know if it would be ideal. Take a look at my awesome drawing below. Any suggestions for other sub placement options? Thanks, also, for the info on rear speaker placement.


Hi bo, that's a tough room. I'll start with surrounds. Typically, you'd mount them with the tweeters at around 6' off the floor, roughly a foot or so behind the LP. Usually the side walls dictate the width, but in your case, I'd say maybe just wider than the fronts. I think the take 5 has threaded inserts that will work with omni mount ceiling mounts. They come in different lengths so if 6' off the floor is in the way, just get shorter ones. (Sorry, can't see room dims, typing on phone). I like the floating tv idea. I would look for a mount right away. Jbrax is right too about the hight difference between mains and center. Usually no more than a foot, but I've seen some say 18". Luckily you have more than one shelf to choose from. 
Awesome drawing! The builder must have said hey, let's make a space so nobody can put a subwoofer here! J/k. It looks (unfortunately) like that might be your only option. Could you maybe do a photo or 2 with more of the floor layout? Maybe I missed something? Here's a pic that kind of outlines placement. That's what I got for now!


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## hyghwayman (Jan 15, 2008)

for your side surrounds  Macrame plant hanger mounted solidly into the rafters above.


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## willis7469 (Jan 31, 2014)

Yeah, I forgot about those highwayman! Always meant to say I like those.


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## BoWingo (Jun 9, 2014)

Willis,

Thanks for the feedback. Since you asked for the floor layout, I pulled out the house plans and did some more artwork. I think you're right about the mindset of the builder.









With 10' ceilings, I think I'm going to have to hang the surround speakers pretty high (around 9' or so). It seems like the right surround speaker should push out farther into that unused space to the right of the sofa, but it would be out of balance with the left surround (which can't really push further left). Thanks for the OmniMount suggestion. I wasn't really sure where to start when it came to speaker mounts.

By the way, I'm considering this tv mount. I'm thinking that it will give me the ability to either push the tv all the way against the back wall of the entertainment center or pull it out a bit if it's too deep. It would also give me the ability to turn the tv to be able to access the connections on the back as needed.


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## willis7469 (Jan 31, 2014)

BoWingo said:


> Willis, Thanks for the feedback. Since you asked for the floor layout, I pulled out the house plans and did some more artwork. I think you're right about the mindset of the builder. With 10' ceilings, I think I'm going to have to hang the surround speakers pretty high (around 9' or so). It seems like the right surround speaker should push out farther into that unused space to the right of the sofa, but it would be out of balance with the left surround (which can't really push further left). Thanks for the OmniMount suggestion. I wasn't really sure where to start when it came to speaker mounts. By the way, I'm considering this tv mount. I'm thinking that it will give me the ability to either push the tv all the way against the back wall of the entertainment center or pull it out a bit if it's too deep. It would also give me the ability to turn the tv to be able to access the connections on the back as needed.


nice tv mount. I've been thinking of that for my bedroom. We have a built in similar to yours. For me, if I had to go to 9' on surrounds, I'd go as wide as you can. This should make them less localizable, and I wonder what kind of interaction they'd have with the ceiling. I would try to get them lower, but sometimes you just can't. It's not ideal, but if one needs to be out farther, that can be handled in the receiver by distance settings. Iirc, from the floor plan, they're looked like a thin wall area farther out, and farther back from the surrounds. That might work. (Think sconce) The sub....
I think in the spot you've drawn pictures for, as a single, being the only place, you'd get what you get, even if it will fit. If you could add a 2nd sub behind the couch(maybe under a table right behind, just lower than couch height), this would go a long way to smoothing response, and since the sub is small, two would have a much better chance at higher output, plus add a lot of tactile force. I'd say to go as large with the rear sub as will fit, but wouldn't place it there as a single . It's a fair amount of airspace to fill. (I understand this too at roughly 6700cuft combined.)Fwiw, the SB2000 I just was lucky enough to win would be a good place to start lookin!


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## willis7469 (Jan 31, 2014)

I'm not on SVSs payroll, lol, but would a cylinder sub be an option in the sub spot you marked? I don't know your budget, or WAF so... Big "if", but if you could fit one, I think it would outperform the energy sub. I'm only guessing at the size of the space b


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## BoWingo (Jun 9, 2014)

Awesome. Thanks for all of the great feedback.

I'll see if I can push the surrounds out a bit. I didn't even consider wall mounting them...was thinking they needed to be equidistant from the center of the sofa. I'll check that option out.

I think I've decided I'm just going to go with the sub in the position shown (you know, since it's my only choice). I'll keep the second sub option in mind and make that decision once I get things set up and give it a listen.

I just pulled the trigger on the Amazon order since I've gotten tired of waffling on everything. Frankly, I'm ready to just give it a shot and see what happens.

By the way, all this gear and what I'm most excited about is the Polk Atrium5's that I'm going to be putting on the back porch! Having good, loud sound in the backyard just makes me smile for some reason. :bigsmile:

Thanks! :T


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## MgrBuddha (Jun 8, 2014)

Hi,
I'm currently reading Jim Smith's excellent book "Get Better Sound" and I'm properly hooked on his ideas as I try them out in my own living room with very good results. First of all: never ever use only one sub - it will kill off all feeling of spaciousness form sources that are acoustically recorded. Rather go with two smaller subs or consider a pair of good full range speakers in stead. The placement of the center speaker can be problematic. If your AV receiver allows it you can consider dropping it altogether. Unless you are spread all over the room when watching the TV that shouldn't be a problem. The placement of subs must wait until everything else is up. It is hard to predict its effects in any room, and in yours which is very irregular it is impossible. I foresee a problem with standing waves in the small space beside the TV-furniture and from the space behind the sofa as well. You must try it out first to see. Good luck.


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## hyghwayman (Jan 15, 2008)

willis7469 said:


> Yeah, I forgot about those highwayman! Always meant to say I like those.


Thanks Willis, 
With my room and speakers I was stumped but have seen many speakers hung in clubs, concert halls so I thought why not and it has work great for me.


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