Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater M22, VP100, QS4 - Speaker placement question

I am a newbie lurking these boards for awhile now and have learnt a lot from all your experiences.

I am currently trying to setup a HT system for my family room which is about 14'x14' with a 9' ceiling and opening to the kitchen (as shown in the attached image).

[image]http://img24.photobucket.com/albums/v71/rajeshkumar/home.gif[image]

Because of the fireplace, I am forced to place the TV in the corner. The room is prewired in the ceiling (shown by blue circles) for a 5.1 system. But since the TV is in the corner, the ceiling fronts and center would not work and so I am considering the M22 speakers in stands on the sides of the TV (shown by red circles) with the VP100 on top of the TV. But I want to use the ceiling wires for the side/rear speakers and am considering converting the RL, RR and FL to SL, Rear, and SR channels with three QS4 speakers.

Also, my movie/music is about 50/50.

Now my questions are:

1) Will the above speaker placement give a good HT experience?

2) I am thinking of either a HSU STF1 or STF2 for a subwoofer and am considering putting it behind the TV in the corner. Will this be alright?

3) I currently have a HK AVR-325 receiver. Will this be a good match for the speakers I am considering?

TIA,

Raj

Sorry I did not add the image properly. This the layout of the living room.

How big is the tv?

It is a 42 inch Toshiba RPTV. HxWxL is approx. 46"x40"x19"

-Raj

I would put the QS4's on the walls nearest their currently noted positions...or you could put the right one on the wall back more toward the couch and mount the left one from the ceiling with the front facing the TV. This orientation would give you the tweeters firing out toward the left wall and toward the fireplace with the woofers firing toward the floor and the other toward the ceiling...

WhatFurrer

This is what I would do. Move the tv away from the corner and put it against the wall opposite of the couch. You can use the two pre-wired spots on either side of the couch for your rear left and right surrounds. That will leave you the choice of how to wire the 6th channel. We went under the carpet and up the wall for our third QS8. Your sub can go in the corner that the tv was in.

My HT setup is almost exactly the way you have proposed. It sounds great. There is a little loss of some surround from the rears just as in a theater, depending on the sitting position. If you are in the sweet spot it sounds awesome. I added the 6th channel just to move my right surround to your proposed spot just to open up the rear surround space and it worked out great. It appears to have made the sweet spot a little larger. Try it out and see if you like it that way before you hard wire everything. Just leave the wires slightly exposed for a while. Then try it in a different way. Don't you just love HT setups!

Thank you all for the replies.

WhatFurrer - Since the wires are in the ceiling, I would prefer to mount the speakers on the ceiling instead of the wall. What is the advantage of mounting on the walls compared to the ceiling?

jbzngowest - The reason the TV is in the corner is so that my wife can watch it from the kitchen. As for the sub being behind the TV, will it cause any problems as it is close to the TV?

jakewash - This sounds very encouraging as you have a very similar setup that I am considering except for the QS8s. My main concern with the proposed setup is that the 6th channel is directly above the viewer while it is suggested to be behind the viewer. Also the side sorrounds are supposed to be on the side while it is slightly forward to the viewer. BTW, what sub do you use and where did you place it?

Thanks again,

Raj

Putting an STF-2 behind the TV would work fine. You definitely need a sub of some kind. Just measure the space to ensure there's room, inc'l cable clearance. Your system will give a good experience.

I personally favored a 5.1 config with QS8s, reasoning there's currently relatively little 6 or 7 channel material. However there will be more 6/7 channel movie soundtracks as time passes.

Since you're 50/50 HT/music, I'd suggest getting a couple of DVD-A discs to try out surround music. The DD 5.1 soundtrack will work in most any DVD player. If you like it you could then get an SACD or universal player.

My sub is to the right of our seating position in the corner where your fireplace is. It is an 8year old enclosed style that I bought from Costco.It shakes the house which is good for HT, but is to boomy and sloppy for good music. It does a decent enough job for now. My fireplace is in the corner where your TV is going, My tv is on top of the fireplace. The fireplace was built out so the "mantle" area was large enough to support a TV. My 6th channel is above the listener as you had said, it sounds fine, don't worry.