Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Help!: Rear Speaker Positioning/Placement?

Hello Everybody Online!

My home-theater room is in my bedroom, it consists of the following...
2-Polk Audio RT800 Left/Right floorstanding speakers.
1-Polk Audio CS245 Center Speaker
2-Polk Audio RTFX Left/Right (Bipole/Dipole) urrounds
1-Velodyne subwoofer CHT12
1-Harman Kardon AVR65 Dolby Digital Receiver

The problem is:
My bedroom is 10x12 and on the back wall is my bed...it is centered, and my rear speakers are on both of the left and right side walls...
since the bed and the speakers are right up on top of the wall, and since I can't move the bed or speakers back anymore, because of the wall...at what position should the rear speakers be firing at?..should they be facing the front of the room, or should they be firing at me...etc...?

Thanks Guys for this Great Forum!
How do you guys have your surrounds firing at?
-MitchM2006-

Normally, you want your left/right surrounds to be to the side of the listener. However, if you don't have any choice in the matter I would say firing towards the front of the room would be ok. If you had some Quadpolar Axiom Qs4's or Qs8's placement is much easier because you have 4 drivers firing up/down/left/right so your enveloped in sound. Bi/Di poles are a different animal.

I would vote for the left and right side walls, near the back wall (maybe 1 ft). Keeping in spec with the Dolby reccommendation that the surrounds are at the side of the listeners ears.

Mitch, welcome. Since your setup is 5.1, the side surrounds should do some double duty by providing a little rear phantom imaging in the absence of actual back surround(7.1)speakers. To do this they should be at least a little distance farther back than your ears. Most likely the best positioning would on the back wall just a few inches from the side walls and facing forward in bipole mode.

Thank you all for replying back with your recommendation!

I really appreciate it!

Thanks Again!
-MitchM2006-

Hi John, like Dave mentioned above, I agree more to not have them back so far. When I experimented before I had 4 Qs8's, I found I received less rear phantom experience the closer to the back wall I placed the left/right Qs8's. The angle of reflection was to close with this setup and it was harder to distinguish the seperation. I found if I moved the left/right Qs8's further down the side walls, the rear tweeters on the Qs8's reflected better off the back wall, which in turn simulated a better rear channel. I know you often mention for people to move them back close to the rear wall for a 5.1 setup, my testing proved different. Do you actualy have such a setup?

This will be a newly constructed area, so I have control over where the cabling goes, but I was always under the impression that having the QS8's on the rear wall was a disadvantaged postion, even though they are very forgiving speakers. I think that in all reality, just having a room with side walls will make the biggest difference. Right now, without side walls, a lot of the surround effects are lost because there is nothing to "contain" them within the listening area.

Maybe I will have to run the wires in the general area, and then, before putting up the drywall, do a test or something. My goal is to have all of the wires hidden, unlike what I have right now, so I want to get it right the first time.

Yes, Randy, but the point isn't necessarily to move them near the back wall, but to have them a little(maybe 2')farther back than directly to the side. This may put them very near or even on the back wall in a small room when the sitting position is very close to the back wall. Incidentally, Dolby's suggestion isn't simply a 90 degree side position, but also includes a 110 degree position farther back.

Nick, it would certainly be a good idea to try both positions, i.e. on the side walls almost at the back wall or on the back wall almost at the side walls. Although there's relatively little difference between the two(and you'll now have actual side walls for reflections if the speakers are on the back wall)you may prefer one to the other.

Oops. I accidentally reponded to the wrong post. Sorry guys. I just noticed it now, 12 hours later.