Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions 7.1 channel speaker plcmnt in a fairly large area?

Hi, I hope you can help me out here. I've got my speakers on order and am very close to finishing my home theater/rec room area of my basement.

My basement area is fairly large for a home theater as it will serve multi-purpose entertainment functions for adults and children.

Overall "approximate" dimensions are;
21' wide
27' deep
8' ceiling (with the exception of a 4' to 5' wide span encompassing the main support beam and HVAC duct work where the ceiling height drops to about 7')

The listening/viewing area is approximately 15' from the 65" widescreen HD rear projection television.

I have a small boxed in support post containing lighting controls (with a 8" by 10" footprint) 14' back from the front wall and 13' in from the right wall.

Ceiling will be 2' by 2' acoustical tiles.

I have a THX-Ultra certified 7.1 channel receiver driving the speaker system which will consist of;

2 - M22ti (Main on a pair of FMS16 stands)
1 - VP150 (Center)
2 - QS8 (Surround - mounted with a pair of Full Metal Brackets)
2 - QS8 (Rear - mounted with supplied brackets)
1 - EP350 (Sub)

I'll be playing with the placement of the subwoofer so it isn't really a consideration.

What concerns me most (since I am finishing my basement with home theater audio in mind) is the recommended placement of the primary speakers (front, surrounds, and rear).

What I am ultimately searching for is the recommended distance between each set of speakers.

Given the room dimensions, can you assist in this? I'm hoping to install the conduit for my speaker wire this week and must mount boxes for the speaker wire/speaker location.

Thank you,
Spence
Madison, WI

Hi Jeff,

Alan Lofft posted this guide on speaker placement which should help you find the right location for your speakers.
http://www.axiomaudio.com/archives/home_theater_layout.html

I have the same speaker set as you except my subwoofer is different. My room size is 20 feet wide by 14 feet deep.

My guess is your front speakers will be no more than 15 feet apart but probably wider than 8 feet. You might want to adjust them depending on your personal likes for sound stage and how closely the sounds match the on-screen action. I found the ideal relationship to the on-screen action occurs when the speakers are spaced just outside the screen. However, I have mine wider than that as a compromise because my screen is much smaller than yours and I wanted a larger soundstage for music.

Your rear surrounds will probably be around 10-15 feet apart based on the information you gave on the Seating position. (based on the recommended range of angles)

Not exactly sure how your side surrounds will deal with that post in your room. I sounds like it might be in the way of your side surround speakers, but perhaps locating them just behind your seating row will get the post out of the way.

Have fun. You're going to love those Axiom speakers.

Jeff, as indicated in the article by Alan, separate the front speakers by about the distance of your seats from them(i.e. 15' or a little less). Put the side surrounds about 6' up and directly to the side. Put the back surrounds about 6' up and separated in a similar fashion as the fronts, i.e. about as wide as the distance they're behind the seats.

Thanks for the replies guys! You have given me exactly the reassurance that I was looking for.

I had researched and read Alan's article here, along with recommendations from DTS, Dolby Labs, and a host of other sites. Alan's article and illustration was the only one that I had read with actual recommended angles for speakers.

Given the 21' width of my room and the 27' depth, I was unsure how far apart to place my rear and surround speakers. As for my fronts, they will be at or a little under 15' apart, and slightly angled toward the listening area. The seperation is needed due to the size of my television set combined with the two oak entertainment towers standing to either side of it (photos of my home theater area at the old house are on my web site www.spencesplace.com).

I was intending to hang the front speakers to keep them above the reach of the hands of my two year old and her playmates but have decided for asthetic and accoustical reasons, hanging them may not be the best solution so I've opted for the stands.

Can't wait to get this project finished and hear first hand how well the Axiom system will sound! I'm replacing my large "boomers" (Cerwin Vega as sceen on my web site) for something a bit more precise.

Thanks again for your input. I'll be placing the boxes for the speaker wires this week and then start working on putting up the walls!

Thanks so much,

Spence

spencesplace

or a direct route to what my old home theater looked like - http://www.spencesplace.com/htphotos.htm

...I'm planning a major update to the site, once my home theater is functional!

Note that the furthest seating position from the 65" screen was about six feet due to the wall directly behind the futon.

I CAN'T WAIT to get the newer, larger home theater on line! I'll finally be able to accomidate more than 4-6 people at one time, and will have far FAR greater accoustics!

Spence

New link

link friend

Gotta love this one:



"The delivery crew departs, I celebrate with a frothy Guinness!"

Yup! I guess that photo pretty much captured the moment (abeit five years ago), but you neglected to point out the pint of Haggen Daz (sp), which was chased, by that pint of Guinness!

How long do I have to wait before I can post links and photos?

I've got a couple far better shots of what my old Home Theater looked like, and a few of the new "Serenity" Home Theater under construction!

As sure as I know anything, I know this. Once the new Home Theater is done, I'll be down there on a weekend bender in celebration!!!

The only other tip I can offer is to make sure that your subwoofer and listening position are not "half a room apart" in any direction... in other words if your listening position is in the center of the room don't have your sub in the corner or you will be sitting in the "null" spot and not get much bass.

My room was set up like that until a couple of weeks ago -- the difference in deep bass response after changing the listening position was hard to believe.