Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Placing of Qs8's

Well I've received my epic 60/500. Now I'm just waiting for the denon 2805 that should be here tomorrow. My question is what would be the best placement for the QS8's. I'm setting up a 5.1 system. My couch is against the back wall. Each perpendicular side wall is about 8 feat away from "the sweet spot". Should I put the surrounds on the back wall (this would make hiding the wire difficult) or should I put it on the perpendicular walls facing me (the wiring is already there and would be easier). It seems to me that if I put it on the back wall, it would fire past me. If I put it on the perpendicular wall, the speaker face would be facing my ears but the actual speakers would be going off at angles (rear hitting the wall and front going into the rest of the room.
To complicate things, the perpendicular wall on the right is over a door and it doesn't seem to have a stud where I need it. Can drywall anchors hold this speaker? Also the perpendicular wall on the left has a built in bookshelve in it. I could possible attach it to the fascia of one of the shelves or should I place it on the shelve itself (I sort of remember a post that said you wouldn't get the best sound if this speaker was put on a shelve). I am looking for the best sound and I am willing to do some creative construction if it would be beneficial. Either way I know once I get it set up I will be in surround sound heaven. Thanks in advance for the opinions.

3JT, with a 5.1 setup using side surrounds but not back surrounds it's a good idea to place the side speakers slightly farther back than the sitting position, if possible. With wide dispersion speakers such as the QS8s there's little difference between mounting them on the side walls very close to the back wall or on the back wall very close to the side walls, if you're sitting very close to the back wall. Since you say that it's more convenient for you, put them on the side walls maybe 1' from the back wall.

Normally you would want your left/right surrounds to be to the left/right of the primary listening area. I think your 8ft. side walls would be a good choice. You can put them on stands, but I think the best choice would to have them 2-4ft above your ears. You also want to leave some room on top for the top driver to breath, I would say about 8-12inches. You might want to place them just slightly forward of the primary seats, that way the back tweeter will bounce off the back wall and give you an enveloping experience.

Good luck, and you'll love the Denon/Axiom combination...

Randy

M60's VP150 EP350 4-Qs8's
Denon 2805
Sanyo Z2 projector

Hi triplejtm,

According to other posts from QS8/QS4 owners, drywall anchors will indeed support the QS surrounds. JohnK's placement advice is excellent. The QS8s are supposed to direct their sound the way you describe it--"going off at angles with the rear hitting the wall and the front going into the rest of the room"--when they are located to each side of the listening area. What the QS8s do is simulate what occurs in a large Dolby Cinema, where four or more surround speakers line each side wall. Because of the big cinema space the delay times are longer and produce a sense of envelopment for most of the audience.

In home environments, delay tiimes are relatively short, so your receiver/processor adds digital delay to the surround signals so you hear them after the sound from the front and center channels (sound travels about 1 foot per millisecond--a thousandth of a second). The QS8's multidirectional drivers create a rich mix of reflected sounds that simulate what occurs in a cinema (and in real life!). You will also receive some direct sound that travels from the QS8 tweeters; it is these that provide the directional cues for sounds that are hard-mixed to the left or right surrounds.

Experiment a bit with the height of the QS8s before you drill screw holes. Usually 2 feet or more above ear level (when you are seated) is advantageous. Have someone hold them temporarily or use a couple of stepladders to support them while you listen. It's not that critical, but some tweaking of the QS8s height and location is always worthwhile.

Regards,

Thanks everyone! I don't know why I didn't think of this but I'm going to hang them from the ceiling with the hinge brackets. I'm still waiting to recieve my denon 2805 before I fire these bad boys up. The wait is torture.

In reply to:

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According to other posts from QS8/QS4 owners, drywall anchors will indeed support the QS surrounds.

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I can testify that four #8 plastic EZ-Ancors will hold up my weight (165lbs) in Westroc 1/2" drywall (through my own testing when a buddy's wife was concerned they wouldn't hold glass shelves filled with her hubby's lead RPG miniatures). My QS4s are attached with four #6 plastic EZ-Ancors in one and three in the other (hit a stud with the fourth screw in the T-bracket) and they ain't moving.

Bren R.

I would like to underscore and echo Bren's experience.

I use the E-Z Anchors on my QS8's (and for many other household purposes). No problems whatsoever.

again, make sure you allow enough room for the top driver, if it is to close, even with hinge brackets, the sound quality may suffer slightly. I purchased some painted black stell L shaped shelf brackets from Menards. My Qs8's will be hanging about 8-10 inches from the ceilings.

good luck, Randy