I'm setting up a 5.1 home theater system and am about to buy a set of axiom speakers. I will be putting a pair of QS8's on the side walls. I've read that these should be on the side walls 0 - 1 foot behind the listener. I can't really do that because of a side window. The location I'm looking at right now is still on the side walls, but are about 3 feet behind the listener and about 6 inches below the ceiling. Is this a good enough location for 5.1 surrounds?

The Qs8's are very forgiving. They can actualy be placed slightly in front or behind the listener. They can be placed on stands at ear level clear up to 4-6" below the ceiling with great results. Many people use a step ladder and try various positions before deciding on the final location.

welcome by the way.

I think you will find the surround effect very good from the QS8's, even with them that far behind you. It's a mid rear channel.

And welcome to the family.

Vike, welcome. Although the surround speakers in a 5.1 setup are side surrounds, it's generally a good idea to position them a little farther back than directly to the side so that they help to create a little more back effect in the absence of actual back surround speakers in a 7.1 setup. 2-3' back is fine and the exact distance isn't critical, especially with wide-dispersion surrounds such as the QSs.

I just got my QS8s about a month ago and have been experimenting with their location. Haven’t yet found any spot they didn’t sound great. Anywhere from directly to the sides to four feet back against the back wall using just the stands or going up to seven feet.

If you have the time experiment like sirquack suggested. I found that in my room and to my tastes they sound best in the back corners of the room with the tweeters facing parallel to the back and side walls while sitting about two feet above ear level.

Have fun with them.

Dean

Based on reading many reviews and scanning this message board over the past few months I finally took the plunge for the QS8s this week. My system consists of a Pioneer 50" Plasma, a Denon 3806 with Monitor 9i Fronts, Monitor Studio Center, M&K Sub and the 8s will replace old ADS 810s in the rear. My wife and I watch a lot of DVDs and HDTV programming, little music. We do not have a great room lay-out but as many folks do we live with the comprimises. My plan is to mount the QS8s on the wall opposite (14 ft across) the wall with the Plasma TV. They will be mounted on the wall approximately 5 ft above the floor on each side of a double fireplace. Another option would be to place them on stands on each side of our listening area rather than on the rear wall. Based on your experiences which location do you think would be preferable in a 5.1 set-up?

Thanks,

Ken

Ken, a welcome to you too, and sorry to see that your surround question of a few months ago somehow slipped through the cracks without a reply. You didn't specify how far from the back wall you'll be sitting, but if the room is only 14' long I assume that you won't be more than about 4' away. If so, the suggestion would be to mount the QS8s on the back wall, 5-6' up, and spread as widely as possible(again, they're side surrounds, even when on the back wall), nearly to the side walls.

Sorry for not including the room dimensions. The room is 24'long by 14' wide. There are double windows at one end of the room and a French Door on the other end. A double fireplace approximately in the center of one wall. The plasma TV sits on the opposite wall directly across from the fireplace. Approx. 5' to the left of the TV is a larger door opening into a hallway. Approximately 5' to the right of the TV is a large opening into the kitchen. Not exactly an ideal environment for a TV,AV room.

Although you still didn't specify how far from the back wall that you'll be sitting, with the length being 24', it may be a considerable distance. Even with QSs, side surround speakers shouldn't be placed too far behind the listeners. Depending on how far it actually is, mounting them on the side walls(if a wall mounting is possible) a couple of feet back may be preferable. A thought is to experiment with temporary locations when you get your QS8s.