Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Please comment on my speaker placement

I'm in the planning stages of my first HT.
The 6.1 configuration includes M60 mains, VP150 center, and QS8 surrounds and rear. Probably an HSU sub.

Looking for feedback regarding my speaker choice and placement within my roughly 15X19 room.

STAGE ELEVATION

FLOOR PLAN


Thanks! Randy

Looks like perfection to me. Some might suggest a vertical center, but I don't think you can go wrong either way.

Looks great ke3. I'd check to see whether you need the toe in on the front speakers. I like the position of your side surrounds just aft of the seating position. The back surrounds may work better if you move them closer together. Not easy to move them around to see what works best. Your sub position is interesting. You may want to put a giant SVS next to the water heater. 20 Hz material should go right through that wall. Just kidding. For some reason that room looks like it needs a second sub.

Well, I don't pretend to be an expert on this, but everything looks pretty good to me. The surrounds are in a good position, slightly behind the listening area. You might want to scoot the M60s a little more forward (if possible) to get the drivers a little more in front of the adjoining bookcases, and to give the rear-firing ports a little more space. Many people recommend having the sub near the listening area, as you have it, so that's good. All in all, it looks real nice.

Jeez, Randy, what's with the inelegant graphics? I mean really, how are we supposed to give you an informed opinion without a little more information?

Kidding, of course. Wonderful depiction of the space. I aspire to that level of discipline. How long did it take you to do that anyway?

You are going to be very, very happy with that setup. I don't know what could possibly be wrong with any of it. That looks spectacular!

The only thing that gives me pause is the future rear surrounds. If you go from 6.1 (with a single QS8) to 7.1 (with two QS8's or perhaps two M2's), I would think that having the two rear surrounds closer to the center of the room might be better (closer to the doors rather than in the corners).

You know we're going to want pictures, if not a forum listening party, right?

Spectacular. Keep us posted.

For a first HT I'd have to say that's awesome. You think big!

I have to second an SVS. Of course, that is definitely a biased opinion. I have never demoed a HSU myself, but from my long research a couple years ago, I opted for a SVS because it suited the HT better.

I also agree with the Back surround L/R channels being closer together. But of course, this is all kind of up to you and your preference in sound. Great start though! And keep us posted!

Fantastic Randy!

Given the size of the room, you should have plenty of locations to find the best spot for the sub. That speaker combo should be stellar.
Do you have any special plans for wall materials? flooring? seating? projector and screen?

Thanks for the quick responses!!!!

Moving the surrounds closer to the center is a great idea and one I hadn't thought of.

I'm gonna hedge my bet on sub placement -- I'll wire for several potential sub locations including the 4 corners of the room AND on the stage.

Thanks for the nice words on the layout. The plans were conjured in AutoCAD...an application I spend many many hours with every day at work.

The room is currently dedicated to another purpose but the space becomes mine on May 31...I'm itching to start tearing down sheetrock!!!!

Pix to come.

Thanks again. Randy

Well, jezz, now there we have room for M60s, but where's the pool table? the piano?

With that size screen, who cares!

Should be quite a show, enjoy.

Wow !!! Looks sweet. I may be thrown out when Visa bill comes. So.. I was thinking if I bring my SvS sub can I stay with you.

The sub will more than likely be best in the rear left corner. Put the sub on the couch and crawl around like us other idiots, but I'll lay money on that corner.

Probably a slight toe in on your M60s wil help, just 5 or to 10 degrees. I had mine toed in a little much (almost pointing direct to listening position) and moving them back really helped.

Dave

Randy, I'm one who's going to suggest that because of your screen you're in an ideal situation to set an M22 vertically under it for the center channel. Put the sub in the left corner, either under the bookshelf if there's a space there, or directly in front of it.

Was content with 6.1 but now that a little time has passed I've talked myself into 7.1! Joy!
So, is it 2 QS8s in the back, a pair of M2s, or something else?

Pair of M2s, definitely, as per the standing recommendation of this forum. For 6.1, it's better to use a QS speaker to disperse it. With 7.1, it's better to use direct-radiators (like the M2).

What's the feeling regarding M2 vs. M3?

I'll have to place the rear surrounds above two windows in the rear of the room...either wall mounted directly above each window OR ceiling mounted a bit in front. In either case the rears will be mounted significantly higher than the left and right side surrounds so I'll likely have to angle them a bit down toward the sweet spot. Do any of my rear surround choices lend themselves to this placment? Any suggestions on mounting, aiming, etc?

Thanks a ton for all the help...much appreciated!

M2s are a better tonal match for the M60s. The M3s have a slightly warmer sound. They're also bigger. If youy can swing it, the M22s are the best match for a wall-mounted rear, but they're bigger still.

looks pretty good
what program did you use to create your drawing and what projector are you going to be using? From your diagram it seems as though you are using a projector, if not what TV are you going to be using?

http://216.247.95.206/home/KE3QZ%20FRONT.JPG

Not quite done...but close. Watching movies and waiting for furniture and lots of odds and ends.

Damnnnnnnn!!! Nice setup. What subwoofer did you decide on? And your choice of receiver? Can I come over if I bring the popcorn?

Ditto!!!
I'll bring beer......uh....... or wine.

Absolutely beautiful!!!!!! Be sure to keep posting pictures as you complete this fabulous home theater. WOW!

We have this rule when driving my kids in the car. Anytime somebody says, "look family, a (fill in the blank)", everybody else is REQUIRED to say "Ooooh! Aaaah!".

Look guys, a fabulously designed and artfully executed home theatre!

Ooooooh! Aaaaaah!

Simply beautiful. Warmest wishes on many happy hours spent there with your loved ones.

Thanks for all the kind words...
The sub is the HSU STF-3...it does everything a sub should do, that's for sure!
Still waiting on one sound proof door, curtains, a bit of trim, and some shelves for the front alcoves. My DVD collection is strewn about the room wherever I can squeeze it in.

The QS8's aren't up yet...waiting to hang the door so I can center the right QS8 between the equipment rack and door trim....oh, bother!

The equipment rack...DIY from MDF and black laquer.
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The back of the room...the sub, the rear surrounds, and the VERY temporary desk! The blinds are blackout style from next day blinds...they do a nice job!
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The workhorse. The Sanyo Z2 and the back door.
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The void in the chair rail is the future home for the dartboard.
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OOOOOOOOH!! AAAAAAAAAHHHH!!

That's fantastic! Congrats and enjoy. I think my skin is turning green...

jr

Looks as good as the HTs in magazines. Great job.

Wow. Great design. lotta thought obviously went into the color and craftsmanship.

I feel so dirty and cheap. I don't want to go down to my theater anymore after seeing this.

Just out of curiosity, why the long periscope for the projector install? To eliminate the need for keystone correction? Don’t get me wrong, I think it looks pretty trick, I just struggled for a while on how to mount my projector, and didn’t go with the periscope mode.

super nice!

Thanks for the kind words!

The projector mount was purchased from a fellow over at AVS Forums...after one of those multi multi page discussions the consensus is/was that when using the Z2 you should try to minimize not only the keystone correction but the lens shift as well. The final result is nice and it doesn't hang as low as the ceiling fan that hung there before the remodel so I'm happy.

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you should try to minimize not only the keystone correction but the lens shift as well.

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Absolutely right... home projectors do lens shift and k/s correction digitally from what I understand (I've used a lot of commercial projectors - never any home ones)

Check out this diagram:


Which means - say your projector has 600 lines of resolution (SVGA) - your image with the projector mounted is 25% too high, so you adjust the vertical lens shift to compensate. If you follow the top centre line, that's where the middle of the projector image is - 300 lines above, 300 lines below. But since the bottom of the image now contains 75% of the projected image in only 50% of the projector's resolution, it gets soft or otherwise ugly - depending on how the projector handles it.

A lot of the projectors I've used do keystone correction optically which is quite a bit better, but you're still using another lens or mirror in the light path.

Bren R.

agree on the keystone issue.... but, never could visibably distiguish any degregation in picture quality in using 1 or 2 keystone corrections... But, I mounted mine lower (albeit differently) to never have that ugly reminder that I could be getting some degregatioin from keystoning. How far back and how wide is your screen with the Z2 FP?(sorry if the dimensions were already given at beginning of post), I'm getty lazy in my old age. If I can every get my cheap digital camera working again -- I'll post how I lowered my projecter. (I also direct wired the power, so I didn't need to expose the socket and plug... was an easy step, and hid one less wire from hanging off the projector))

Hey bren, you're post are really informative... thanks for taking the time.

ditto Bren!

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Hey bren, you're post are really informative

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and he's pretty dang funny too!!!

ask him to tell you the one about the duck-billed platipus, the astronaut, and the prostitute.. funny stuff!!!

bigjohn

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Hey bren, you're post are really informative... thanks for taking the time.

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Well, I have to post on something - and since I haven't checked the specs on every receiver on the market, I leave those threads alone.

Bren R.

Those pics brought a tear to my eyes and a jumping sensation from my wallet.

I found it cuts down on the wear and tear if you just leave the money out of the wallet...it won't be there long anyway!!! Seriously, I spent so much time in Lowes during the last 3 months of this project that I could tell the day of the week by who was working which register.

Thanks for the kind words!!