Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater speaker placement in small room

I have a small room for my home theatre, it's 17 by 11

i have the following setup:

M22Ti front
VP150 center
M3Ti rear
EP125 sub

I find the room is not large enough for the sound to be all that good. In movies, the front speakers don't seam too well together. The sub does not disperse sound all over. the way i have it now is:

M22's about 5 inches from the walls in the front corners on Atlantis SBF20 stands
VP150 above my screen
M3's about a foot from the walls in the back on Atlantis SBF24 stands.
EP125 in the front left, in front of the M22, with the driver facing sideways, settings are phase at 0 degrees and EQ to audio.

thanks for the suggestions!

Hi Ravi,
I am by no means an expert, so I'm curious as to others' replies. Your room doesn't sound so small! I'm wondering a couple of things. First, do you think it might have to do with the different impedances and sensitivities of the M22s vs. the VP150? Also, for that size room, I'm wondering if the QS4s or QS8s would give a better surround field than the M3s. And maybe a 2nd EP125? Just my 2 cents.

ChrisR,

thanks for the reply! Last night I moved my sub a little and I'm getting much better bass response now. I think a second EP125 would be overpowering in my room. I'm not a huge bass fanatic, either! I did, however, watch a movie last night and the integration of the front channels was horrible again. This time, I think it could have been the DVD itself because it's an old movies, Hackers.

I do not think the impedence has anything to do with it. Whether a speaker is 2,4,6, or 8 ohms would not change the way it integrates into a home theatre, as long as your amp can power a speaker at that impedence, which mine can.

Due to the design of my listening room, I cannot put any wall mounted speakers in the back. QS4 or 8's are out of the question.

Ravi,
A couple of suggestions. No subwoofer will ever disperse sound "all over". Because of standing waves and room "nodes", there will always be areas in any room where you will hear exaggerated, greatly boosted bass and other areas (nodes) where deep bass from your sub may be almost or entirely inaudible at certain frequencies. The trick is to locate the sub--and your seating position--somewhere between these two extremes. By the way, it doesn't matter which way the sub driver faces. Just don't jam the port up against a wall (or stuff it with anything).

You know about putting the sub where you sit and crawling around the room until you find a point where the deep bass is smoothest and most even, right? Then you put the sub there.

If that doesn't help, try adjusting the crossover frequencies on the receiver (if possible) or on the sub, or both.

If wall-mounting is out of the question for the M3 surrounds, then at least try them on stands near the side walls, aimed across the room at each other, perhaps forward of your listening area. I wish you could get them up higher--a few feet above your head--but direct-radiating surrounds can be a real pain to place successfully in some rooms. I was never entirely satisified with the direct radiators I had wall-mounted high up in my den in my Toronto home. That's why I never went back to direct-radiating surrounds, because the multipole surrounds I eventually installed proved to be such a huge improvement in envelopment.

To improve the blend of the VP150 with the M22's, try the tip I suggested in The Axiom AudioFile newsletter.

Regards,

Alan,

thanks for your response!

I did do the 'put the sub where you sit, then...ect' trick. I did it again last night, this time for a longer period of time, and I moved my sub. I do get slightly more bass response now, and it is satisfactory.

I have the M3's on Atlantis SBF 24 inch stands. The spikes are on puck, though, so the stands put the speakers 26 inches from the ground. Both driver units are higher than the couch I sit on to watch movies. I moved them further apart and further back. They were already aimed across from each other, but pointed directly at the listening position. I opened them up just a tad and did notice a more spacious sound, which was good for movies but not as good for music. I will just move the speakers a tad when watching a movie.

With a better DVD (NIN live DTS version, and Final Fantasy, DD), the front speakers did integrate much better. The NIN was seamless, whereas the Final Fantasy was less so, but still decent. I did not see your recommendation in the newsletter. All I saw was an article about DPL II, which, personally, i very much dislike for music. 5 channel stereo out of my Denon sounds much better. DPL II is, however, excellent for video tapes, and I can see how it would be for TV. I will try it once I get one!

Thanks again, Alan!


Ravi.

Ravi,
Try this: http://www.axiomaudio.com/Newsletter/totm.jpg

OOOOOOHHHHHHHH RIGHT!!!

Sorry, I missed that..

Thanks Jason!