Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Side Surround Speaker Placement

I'm thinking of using QS8 for my side and rear surround speakers in 6.1 system.

Does the side speakers have to be aligned straight horizontaly from each other? What if the left speaker is about 2 feet more backward from the right one? I've heard that QS8 is forgiving in terms of its placement, but I just want to make sure.

I could place the left speaker straight horizontaly from the right one but there is a wall near it, which would place the speaker about 3 inches to the right of that wall. It wouldn't be a problem for a monopole speaker but since QS8 is bipole with 2 speakers on its left and right, I don't know if it's such a good idea to place it so close to the wall.

So I am left with two options. option #1, place them horizontaly straight (which would put them just to the side of seating area) and have the left speaker so close to the wall that may obstruct the sound from the left QS8, or option #2 place the left speaker 2 feet backward so there is no obstruction at all but it won't be aligned with the right speaker.

Which setup is better?

Edwin, welcome. It's a little difficult to picture what is meant by the wall that would be near the left QS8. Apparently it isn't behind the QS8, which wouldn't be a problem, of course.

When there's going to be a rear speaker or speakers in back there's no need to have the side surrounds farther back than the listening position to provide some "back" effect, so the ideal position is straight to the side. So, option #1 would be generally preferred, if the sound wouldn't be actually obstructed, but would bounce off this wall toward the listening position.

I do have a diagram of the room's blueprint but I don't know how to post it since the message board doesn't allow me to post the file or paste the picture. Can you tell me how to post the pic?

I've figured out a crappy way to let you see the diagram
Here is the link:

http://www.geocities.com/edwinsukri/index

As you can see, the first option (left #1) is probably more ideal placement, but the wall next to it is only about 5 inches away from the speaker. Since the QS8 has a speaker on each of its left and right side, I'm thinking that the wall may obstruct the sound coming out from the QS8.

On the other hand, option 2 (left #2) would let the speaker free of any obstruction. But it would not be horizontaly aligned with my right surround speaker. And as you can see, I can't really mount the right speaker 2 feet further to the back because of the funny angle of the wall and how it would be placed behind the door (afraid someone may slam the door to it).

So which placement do you think is better? I can't decide, I think each has its own good and bad. But if what I've read is true (about QS8 being really forgiving in terms of its placement), than option 2 may be better, but I'm not sure.

By the way, the room is about 13' x 16'. I forgot to draw the placement of my 2 front speakers in the diagram, but that should be no brainer .

Thanks...

If you do #1 with QS8, I bet you'll color your sound at high volumes. Reflected sound is noticeably different than direct, and your speakers won't match. I suspect that #2 would be fine, but I wouldn't angle the speaker.

Maybe using bookshelf speakers for surrounds might work better for you? (i.e. M3 or M2, depending on what matches your fronts better.) As you point out, in position #1, it would avoid the reflected sound problem on the left side. Plus bookshelves are over $200 cheaper per pair.

I suggest you e-mail Axiom (Alan) for advice.

Good luck!

Martin

How tall is your ceiling? If it is tall enough, ceiling mount the QS8’s and pull them out away from the wall a bit as to not have any interference with the small wall. You can them angle them down a bit to the listening area.

Search the forum. There are many pictures of ceiling mounted QS8’s you can review.

I think it will also be ok in position two. Just move the right speaker back as far as you can. When you set up your receiver, it will compensate for the slight differences in distance.

Here's the Link

Just showing off my new linkin skillz!

Thanks. The diagram helps me understand your situation much better. Below is what I would do. There is no need to angle the left QS8. Just mount it flush to the wall just as you would the right one.



I understand your concern about the door possibly doing damage if you move the right QS8 toward the back of the room a bit more. But, since the optimal position for the surrounds is slightly behind the seating area, if at all possible, could you move it as far back as you can, and use some sort of adjustable hinge mounted, floor mounted, or wall mounted door stop to prevent the door from striking the speaker?



Even if you can't move it back any farther, the 2 foot difference can be offset by proper calibration of the volume settings for each surround in your receiver.

The ceiling is about 8 feet from the floor. Is that good enough to have the speaker mounted on the ceiling? I prefer not to do it this way, but mounting them on ceiling would definitely solve my problem. I won't have to worry about the wall, and I can place my right speaker a little bit to the back without worrying about the door.

If the ceiling is high enough to mount the speaker, should I place them directly to the side of listening area or should I place them a little to the back (1-2 feet) ?

Thanks.

To give you a little perspective from the placement challenged, my QS4s are arout 3-4 inches from the ceiling, slightly ahead of the listening position. It's certainly not ideal, but they sound much better than I expected when fed from true 5.1 or 6.1 sources (no DPLII or DTS:Neo6).

Everyone's going to laugh their butts off, but I just watched my first action movie with the Qs (it's been over a year since I got them) and they sounded fantastic, even being mounted that high and that far forward.

They are roughly the same distance along the wall, and the same height from the floor, so YMMV. And they're not that far forward; within the 15 degree spec that Axiom gives.

In reply to:

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Everyone's going to laugh their butts off, but I just watched my first action movie with the Qs (it's been over a year since I got them) and they sounded fantastic, even being mounted that high and that far forward.

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Wow, that's an amazing display of patience. Or apathy, I'm not sure...

Edwin, from the diagram it would seem that there'd be no significant problem with the #1 location for the left surround. If as you now say it would be about 5" from the wall, that should give enough room for the sound from the tweeter on the wall side to bounce off toward the listening position.

The wall where the QS8 would be mounted (location #1) is 18". Based on the the specs, the speaker is 11", which means there would be 7" between the side wall and the speaker.

If you think 5" is not a problem, it probably be ok for me to mount the speaker at location #1.

Alternatively, I could probably move the seats about 1 foot to the right, and get a speaker stand for the left speaker. With the speaker stand, I can place the speaker a little more to the right, which I think would allow the speaker to be free from the side wall. But QS8 speaker stand is expensive and there will only be about 2 feet from the right wall to the seating. The limited space between the seating and the right wall means I probably need to mount the right speaker to the wall, which creates the mismatch (one speaker stand for the left and one wall mount for the right speaker). But those are non sound quality issue. The only real issue that I think I might have from this is the fact that the left speaker would be so close to the left seat (almost directly next to it) while the right speaker has about 2 feet from the right seat. But I should be able to eliminate any problem from this by adjusting the volume of each speaker, correct?

www.geocities.com/edwinsukri

I would prefer having the speaker mounted on the left wall (original location #1) since the wall mount bracket is cheap and it looks nicer for the room. However, the revised position with speaker stand would probably ensure better sound quality for my 6.1 system.

What do you think? Anyone else beside John who also think 5-7" from the speaker to side wall is not a problem? I sure hope more people think that way since I'm kinda leaning toward mounting the speaker on the wall

Ok, I'm really dumb in html . Sorry that I can't put it into working link, but the url is this:

http://www.geocities.com/edwinsukri/index

Just my .02, but I feel mounting the left speaker on the wall is preferable to using a stand, even if it's only a few inches from the other wall. However, I still feel mounting the left surround where I showed it in the diagram I altered (position #2, basically) would be even better. JohnK is usually correct, and I often defer to his wisdom, but I can't help feeling that having the left surround mounted in a corner, while it will direct the sound toward the listening area, it would I think (emphasis on the word "think"), cut off the sense of anything happening in the left rear 90 degree quadrant.

Also, In my room, when I'm seated in my sweet spot, my surrounds are slightly behind the listening area. However, when I'm seated at my desk, the surrounds are just in front of me. I know that others, like Ken, are content with their surrounds either beside the listening area or in front of it, but I feel the difference between my two seats is quite noticeable. When I'm in the sweet spot, I get a more enveloping sound field, like I'm in the middle of things. When seated at my desk, everything seems to be taking place in front of me, with little happening in the 180 degrees to my rear. But, that's just me. You may have a completely different experience.

The best advice I can give you, is go with what you think will work best. If you put the left surround on the wall (position #1), and you're content with what you're hearing. VIOLA! If you're not, then you can always take it down, spackle the hole(s), dab a little paint on the spackle, and try the speaker in position #2. I've moved my surrounds several times, and I've become adept at spackling and painting. (indecision is a terrible thing, but it can result a learning experience )

Thanks for all of the suggestions. But you are right, Ajax. Ultimately, it would be my own ears that can decide whether the speaker placement is good or bad. I guess I will try mounting the left speaker on the wall first. If it turns out that it is really really bad, than I'll try position #2 or get a speaker stand for the revised position #1. If it's still acceptable, I guess I'll just leave it there.

I still have some time to make up my mind. I still need to put curtain over the big windows in the room, get couple book shelves to cover the bare wall at the back of the room, and maybe couple paintings to hang on the wall just to reduce the bare wall. Still need to look for a good A/V receiver too I don't think my 7 years old Pioneer is up to par with Axiom speakers.