Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions Help with surround speaker placement in this room

I'm thinking about getting M60ti, VP100, QS8 for a 5.1 HT system. Here is a diagram of the room size and layout:

http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?...2168652&size=lg

with the position of TV and sofa shown in the diagram, the brick fireplace next to the sofa presents the problem. from what I read, the ideal position for surround speakers is about 2-3 feet above ear level, on the side, which is position #5 and #6. this would work if the speakers are monopole, but QS4 or QS8 are bipolar speakers.

In that case, Position #5 would not work - it's right next to the brick wall of the fireplace. because of the open doorway#1, the next possibility is Position #3 & #4, which are 4 feet behind the sofa - is that too much behind the listening position for bipolar speakers? and for P#3, the sound waves would hit the fireplace brick wall 4 feet away on one side, and the open doorway #4 on the other - would that be a problem?

or, I could put them above open doorway #1 (7 feet high), at position #7, and P#8 on the other side. would that be too high? would P#7 too close to the brick wall (2 feet)?

Position #1 & #2 would be the back wall, and none of the info I got so far suggests to put bipolar speakers on the back wall.

Given the configuration of this room, should I avoid bipolar speakers all together, and get a pair of monopole speakers so I could put them on the sides of listening position?

thanks!

Jason

somehow that link didn't work. let me try again:

http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=2168652&size=lg

Let me make that a true link for you. It will help others with more knowledge than I answer you're questions.

Link

From what I have gleaned, from this forum and the kind folks who answer our questions here, the "optimal" placement of surround speakers is 1 to 4 feet above the ears, and "slightly" behind the listening position (slightly in front of the listening position is nearly optimal). I have no idea how much "slightly" is. I think 4 feet back is probably a little less than "optimal," but you will hear others say that the QS8s are very forgiving as far a placement goes, and you shouldn't worry about it too much.

I would think that having the QS8 right up against the fireplace, or even 2 feet away would create a problem. The idea of having 4 speakers in the QS8 is to diffuse the surround sound so the listener is immersed in the listening experience. The reflection from the fireplace might defeat that.

Hopefully others will chime in.

I was not able to put my QS8s exactly where I wanted (and Dolby intended). My right one is about 2 feet in back of my sofa and my left (due to a window) is about 4 feet back, near a corner. It's not ideal but as Alan always says, they are very forgiving and they sound great!!

Ajax, how did you create that link. I am finally going to post some pics of my setup and the link would make it much easier for everyone to see.

Thanks, John

JSkip,

Go here http://www.axiomaudio.com/boards/faq_english.php?Cat=#html

The 7th line shows how to make a link. The 8th shows how to make a link, and change the name of the link while still going to the correct web page.

Holler if you've got questions.

If you want the photo(s) itself (themselves) to appear with the text of your post, look at line 4. "Image"

Looking forward to seeing the pics.