Room shape for surround sound?

chemicalfred

Hi all,

I have a long rectangular shaped living room with my tv in one corner. The couches spread down one third the length of the room. My question is. Due to the shape of my room is it worth getting surround sound since it will only 'surround' a third of the room if the two wall speakers are placed directly behind the couch i.e the acoustics just won't work due to the room shape. I have also been told that the subwoofer should be behind you. I cant do this either as there is no room. Can I place the subwoofer behind the TV? Is my advice a load of bull?

eddiem74

Rectangular should not be an issue, however other constraints might be, doors, windows, fireplace, etc..

Can you dummy up a brief drawing of the room layout. I think it will aid advice from folks.

See also: http://www.thx.com/home/setup/speakers/index.html as one source of help.

Idleater

eddiem74 wrote: »

Can you dummy up a brief drawing of the room layout. I think it will aid advice from folks.

Agreed.

On the sub matter, placement is not really an issue.

Sub's (generally) output low effects, say below 180hz, mostly below 100hz, and these are not picked up directionally by the human ear in the same way as high frequency sounds are.

If you want to get audiophile about it, if you have one sub, then the area around that sub is bass rich and areas further away are bass poor (relatively) because of sound dispersion and the way sound waves interact.

Therefore, many audiophile setups contain 2 subs (or more) generally placed in similar locations relative to the main speakers.

If you notice a bose system or similar with very small monitors, then the sub does have to chip in with a lot more than LFE, so in this case, yes, you can tell where the sub is located. In this case, behind or near the TV would be a good place because that is the direction that you are looking and the direction from which most of the sound is coming from.

L.

chemicalfred

Thanks guys I will put up a drawing later

chemicalfred

Image of sitting room attached. Hope this helps what I'm talking about

Idleater

You could move the tv to be level with the firebrest, and put your front right speaker to the right of the fireplace, and the front left in towards the corner.

The rear speakers can be mounted to the left and right of the sofa. They are "surround" speakers rather than rear ones, so can be directed left and right if you wish.

The "problems are running the speaker cable to the other side of the fireplace, and also where to mount the speakers.

I have a similar front layout to yourself, and that is what I have done.

chemicalfred

Thanks Nereid.

I like the idea of putting the right speaker to the right of the fireplace thats a good idea. I would probably mount the rear (surround) speakers on the wall behind the sofa like you said and run the cables through the attic and then down in the corner behind the TV (To keep the missus happy re cables running all over the place). I am thinking of getting a Denon AVR-1909 Receiver (http://www.richersounds.ie/asp/product.asp?ObjectID=938&Mode=0&CategoryID=&sub=&productid=801

as it upscales TV pictures to 1080p which really interests me. Not sure what speakers yet, but will prob look at the project after christmas

ronaneire

chemicalfred wrote: »

Thanks Nereid.

I like the idea of putting the right speaker to the right of the fireplace thats a good idea. I would probably mount the rear (surround) speakers on the wall behind the sofa like you said and run the cables through the attic and then down in the corner behind the TV (To keep the missus happy re cables running all over the place). I am thinking of getting a Denon AVR-1909 Receiver (http://www.richersounds.ie/asp/product.asp?ObjectID=938&Mode=0&CategoryID=&sub=&productid=801

as it upscales TV pictures to 1080p which really interests me. Not sure what speakers yet, but will prob look at the project after christmas

With any of the Denon AVR's you get a set up mic. This will take readings in different locations of your room and it works out what what each speaker needs for producing an even sound