Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater What would you do, home theater 101 questions?

OK,let's see...

First, you didn't mention if anyone had a strong sentimental attachment to the bookcase. If not, then that makes one part of your task a lot easier. Find another place somewhere else in the house for the bookcase, hang the TV on the wall (or on a small shelf), and make small shelves for the speakers (or, again, brackets) that hold them some distance from the wall.

In terms of window treatments, my first thought would be to do something like alternating the curtains you have (or something heavier) with wood-slatted blinds that you can angle for some diffusion. The only catch with those is that you wouldn't get light blocking when they were angled for best sound, so maybe a cheap pulldown blackout shade behind them ?

I had a heck of a time getting good bass in my living room with a similar cathedral ceiling (I was using M60ti's without a subwoofer); what I found was that having the speakers against a wall and the listening position at the mid-point worked even worse than it usually would - big speakers, big amp, no bass. I finally found all the bass in another part of the house (my house is more open than yours)... it was actually up in the loft.

In your case you have an easier time because you are using a subwoofer, so it's only the subwoofer that needs to be in a good spot relative to your listening position. My first thought when I saw just the diagram was to put it between the two chairs (yeah wiring would be a problem but looks like you are pulling wires right now anyways), but from seeing the photos it doesn't look like there would be room.

I would probably start with the sub in one of the recommended places (the left and right sides of the room are going to be best as recommended) and if you don't find good bass in the listening position then either do a sub crawl or try putting the sub where the coffee table is now, and if necessary build a different table over the sub.

I don't see upgrading hardware (other than the sub, you are going to really enjoy that) as an important part of this unless you find you regularly want to play more loudly than the speakers are comfortable with... and even in that case I would look at upgrading your center rather than mains first.

I looked at the "rear speakers" picture but don't think I saw any rear speakers - looked more like a pot light than a speaker... or is it some exotic rear/surround speaker I have not seen before ?