My family room is fairly small 12'x 17' and where the couch is going their will be a window on the left side. I can either get stands and place the speakers on each side of the couch, or mount them high where the side walls meet the ceiling, this way the left surround is above the window. What do you guys think?

I have a thread going on here with the progress of the room, if you would like to view pictures. I need to figure this out soon so I can run the wires before the walls get sheetrocked :). Thanks for any suggestions!

Mike, looking at your other thread doesn't clarify a significant point: how big is this window on the left of the proposed couch location? For your QS8s in a 5.1 setup, they shouldn't be directly to the side of the listening position, but a little farther back(maybe 2-3')to lend a little phantom back surround effect in the absence of 7.1 back surround speakers. So, if the QS8 could be positioned at the back edge of the window(with the right QS8 directly opposite)about 6' up, rather than directly above the window, and if this wasn't too far back from the listening position, this would be ideal.

Sorry about that, their is room at the back edge of the window for the speaker, problem is directly across from it is the opening to the kitchen, so I would have no place to hang the right surround :(. Let me whip up another quick drawing and post so you can see...

Okay you can see the window on the left and the kitchen opening on the right. The wall along side the stairs is actually open, never got a chance to cut it out in (still learning how to use google sketchup), so they can't go there.

Can you ceiling mount the Q's using the ceiling bracket?

Yes I can, that's another option.

Okay, looking at your sketch, I'd suggest the left QS8 at the back edge of the window about 6' up and the right QS8 at the back edge of the wall. Although the right one would be slightly(maybe 1' ?)farther forward, Alan has pointed out several times that he successfully used the QSs when not directly opposite each other.

You could always place a 3rd one on the rear stair wall for 6.1.

True, although my ceilings are low, around 7ft, so if I use a ceiling bracket they prob would be just over 6ft. I will have to play around with it. What do you think about the front of the room based on the drawings? The large box shape, front left is the AV cabinet, with a m60 (or m80) next to it, and on the right side is a speaker and EP600. Oh and of course a VP150 under the 65" plasma. The front channels are about 6ft apart and the listening position will be around 6-7ft. I was fighting in my sleep last night if the soundstage would be too close and not get good separation when objects move across screen. In that case I would just get m22s and mount the on the walls around 9ft apart or so. Although I really want the m80s :).

What software did you use to create the drawing of your layout?

Google Sketchup

First if your listening position is 6-7 feet (from your screen I presume) and your speakers are 6 feet apart you should exceed or be at the generally recommended equilateral triangle distance. If that turns out to not be wide enough is there any reason you couldn’t put the M80s in front of the AV cabinet and the sub? If accessing the cabinet is an issue turn it to face in.

To your original question I’ve been using QS8 stands exclusively and find they work great with two exceptions. They’re top heavy so unless they are against a wall I’d weight them down. Also, I’ve found that when using high backed chairs mounting the QS8s up a couple of feet about ear level works better.

I also agree with Randy (sirquack) that you might benefit from a single surround back speakers on the stair wall. Because you don’t have a symmetrical back wall to help enhance the rear surround field adding a single surround back might be worth it. While a 3rd QS8 might work best I think even a single M2 would might be a more cost effective option.

Cheers,
Dean

Thanks for the advice Dean. I could place the m80s in front, but it prob would not look very attractive, I could move the couch closer though :). I think I am def going to forget about the stands, esp since you mentioned they are top heavy, and I plan on getting a large dog once I finally move in. So I am going to go with the ceiling mounted brackets, and def will pick up a 6th channel.

I wonder if I can even squeeze two back channels for 7.1. What is the recommended distance between the left and right rear channels?

Mike, if there're back surround speakers in a 7.1 setup, the side surrounds should be directly to the side of the listening position instead of farther back. The back surrounds should be separated following a similar rule to that applying to the mains: they should be about as far apart as they are behind the listening position. At a minimum they should be outside the couch both to the left and right so as to allow for the possibility of both a left rear and right rear effect for the listeners.

Thanks John, I def will not have room for 2 if that is the case, so a single back channel it is. Now to just figure out if I want m60's or m80's and what to get to drive them.

For the rear channel it depends on the distance to the back wall from your seating position, I would go with a direct radiating design for distances over 6-8ft to give the speaker room for its natural dispersion, any closer than that and I think the diffuse sound of the QS series is the way to go.

I guess alternatively if you were to mount two direct radiating speakers closer together than John's suggestion, you might end up with a sound similar to a single QS8 but have more impressive impact of a direct firing speaker into the listening area.

That's an interesting idea using two direct firing, maybe a pair of M2's or M3s. What about using a VP150 or would it over power the QS8 surrounds?

You get better horizontal dispersion with a bookshelf over the VP150.

No need to worry about overpowering any speaker combination as you balance the speaker output through the receiver. you run calibration setup programs or use an SPL meter and adjust each speaker's output to match each other.

I would use 1 or 2 M2s or M3s. Besides better horizontal dispersion as mentioned by Jay two of either of those speakers are still less expensive than one VP150. Although I think you could easily get away with using just one M2 or M3 getting a pair wouldn’t hurt and would also give you the option of using them as a pair in another location should you ever change your room and want to upgrade to a pair of QS8s.