Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater qs8 positioning

According to the Dolby Digital 5.1 system reccomendations (you can view them here: Dolby Digital 5.1), the rear surrounds should be from a 90 degree to 110 degree angle behind the primary listening position. I am choosing to put mine at the farther end of the spectrum, mabey around 110 degrees.

In reality this will put my QS8's farthest tweeter (the tweeter facing the back wall) at an estimated 1ft. behind the main listening area.

I noticed some of you are stating 2 feet will be fine but its all in retrospect with how much room he has and how far the primary seating is from the QS8.

Please take note I have not heard my prefered setup yet, this is what I am doing based on the dolby digital 5.1 recomendations (I think they probably know what they are doing

-Hutz

The Q series speakers are a quadpolar design which gives you 4 drivers all in phase. This is different than direct radiating or bi/di pole design speakers. Yes, for the most part you want to consider Dolby recommendations as Alan does here http://www.axiomaudio.com/home_theater_layout.html , however, even Alan and others will tell you the Q's are more forgiving/enveloping than other designs. This is done to simulate what you see in theaters, when direct radiating speakers are lined along the back/side walls.

You want them to be at least 2ft and higher, above your ears. Many of us have them 5-6ft and higher using DIY mounts or omnimounts. Also, per Dolby, with such a design, you can goe 15degrees in front or behind a horizontal line from your ears.

A qoute from Alan "The QS4s or QS8s are extremely accommodating to eccentric or asymmetrical placement. Even Dolby Labs says a range of 15 degrees forward of or to the rear of a horizontal line drawn across your listening area is quite acceptable. Nor do they need to be at identical heights or distances from the listeners."

I realize this is an old thread, but if 2' above the ears is optimal, why is the FMS QS only 38" tall? That's about ear level when seated on a normal couch/chair.

That's actually an excellent question. I imagine it has to do with stability. If the stands are too tall, they could tip over.

Mine are a 2-foot tall platform (fancy name for a small stool!). I have to admit that my experiments with having them (the stands) directly on the floor worked quite well for the back surrounds (HT application), but not as much for the side surrounds. For some DVD-Audios, the difference between ear-level and 2 feet higher was enough for me to move them higher.

Anthony,

Ideally, you want the speakers wall mounted, however, this is not always possible for every situation. When you go to the movies, the surrounds are not on stands.

Yes, I asked brent from axiom the same question- just a stability issue. If the stands were any taller they would tip over! (They're already top heavy at the current height IMO.)

With the QS8, they are top heavy. If I had kids or even just lots of visitors (like a maid or something), I would probably find them on the floor quite often.

The hollow tubes can be filled with heavy stuff to make them a lot more stable. Anyone did that? Anyone used Axiom's "balls"?

I think a stand of that height in the middle of a room would look rather odd as well, kind of like a flag pole in the middle of a room.

Surround sound you can salute.