Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Dumb Hook up Question

To reiterate what Alan said, I have a M60ti/VP150/QS8 5.1 config, and have experimented with various QS8 positions. Using mostly multichannel SACD and DTS/DD 5.1 music, roughly 90-100 degrees sounds the best to me. When I put the QS8s back at 135-140 degrees (on back wall) it sounded OK but there was loss of side envelopment.

Likewise with Dolby PLII-synthesized surround from stereo sources, about 90 deg sounded best.

It's interesting that Tom Holman of THX strongly feels that 90 deg is best for side surrounds: http://tinyurl.com/2fh33

Thanks. I just moved into the house. The previous owner finished the basement, and ran the surround wires... they are on the sides, but here's the catch -- the right back is 11-12 feet back. the side left is 8 feet back. I'm hoping the amp can compensate a little for this... I guess I'll see how that new auto feature in the Yamaha works.

If you have a Yamaha RX-V1400 or 2400 with YPAO, the auto cal includes several things: speaker wiring check, individual speaker volume level and characterization of each as "large" or "small", room size, distance to speaker (aka time arrival), and parametric equalization of frequency response.

The level and time arrival adjustments can compensate to a degree for one speaker being further away than another. However they can't fully compensate for a surround speaker at a vastly different angle. IOW if the speaker is behind you at 140 degrees from straight ahead, it will still sound like it's behind you, not beside you.

That said the QS8 throws a nice wide pattern and after a while many people adjust to whatever speaker placement they have.

However in my back-to-back testing, 90 degrees (surround to left and right of viewing position) was a lot better than having them significantly further back. But maybe I'd adjust in time to a more rearward placement.

The great thing is Axiom makes QSS stands for the QS8s, so you usually have the option of floor mounting them in a more ideal location. There are even flat, under-carpet speaker wires that may facilitate this placement. You can always try your current surround position and if it doesn't work for you, reposition them.