Wrong Speaker Socket Location

[Too Late]

Hi chaps.

So during the build of the games room i laid all the speaker sockets and cables.
With the sofa in it became clear the 2 rears are in the wrong location

I spoke to the wife about moving them and her face wasnt a happy one.... Shes also not convinced there is any difference in the current speaker location to what it should be...

We are looking at the Cambridge Audio Minx22s for the rears as they are small and mount them to the wall on a bracket. So the stand wont work.

Room layout is here


Should i move them??

so a bit of filling. I hope i can make good of the wall. its a 1 gang box and small plasterboard channel for the cable..

[Some Gump]

I'd not bother. Rears aren't rears anyway, they're surrounds.

http://www.thx.com/consumer/home-entertainment/hom...



"rears" only became rears for domestic approval.

[Too Late]

Some Gump said:

I'd not bother. Rears aren't rears anyway, they're surrounds.

http://www.thx.com/consumer/home-entertainment/hom...



"rears" only became rears for domestic approval.

Thanks Some Gump....

[Too Late]

[karma mechanic]

With a narrow room and that layout I'd be worried that anyone who isn't in the exact centre of the room will be getting the left surround speaker right next to their head, giving it a completely disproportionate effect for anyone on that side. The arrangement in the diagram above is dependent on the speakers being well away from the seating.

Personally I'd try to get the surround speakers further back and much higher, anything to even out the distances to the seated people. Getting some space between the people and the speakers may be more important than the relative direction of the speakers to the people.

[Too Late]

karma mechanic said:

With a narrow room and that layout I'd be worried that anyone who isn't in the exact centre of the room will be getting the left surround speaker right next to their head, giving it a completely disproportionate effect for anyone on that side. The arrangement in the diagram above is dependent on the speakers being well away from the seating.

Personally I'd try to get the surround speakers further back and much higher, anything to even out the distances to the seated people. Getting some space between the people and the speakers may be more important than the relative direction of the speakers to the people.

Thanks for the reply and makes sense..

Thanks!

[Watchman]

I wonder whether just installing some ceiling speakers would give you the distance needed between the speakers and the audience?

[karma mechanic]

Watchman said:

I wonder whether just installing some ceiling speakers would give you the distance needed between the speakers and the audience?

One possibility would be to mount the speakers under the 'shelf' area at the back but point them out and down towards the walls. That way there is a more diffuse area of more indirect sound around that end of the room but still a left and right side to it. The people get a mixture of direct and reflected sound.

[Too Late]

karma mechanic said:

One possibility would be to mount the speakers under the 'shelf' area at the back but point them out and down towards the walls. That way there is a more diffuse area of more indirect sound around that end of the room but still a left and right side to it. The people get a mixture of direct and reflected sound.

Ohh thats a good idea.
That would also give me my 7.1 would it not?

So are you suggesting leaving my speaker locations and include some ceiling speakers?

Thanks
N

[karma mechanic]

Too Late said:

Ohh thats a good idea.
That would also give me my 7.1 would it not?

So are you suggesting leaving my speaker locations and include some ceiling speakers?

Thanks
N

Not in the ceiling, but small speakers on mounts so you can angle them to get a lot of the sound reflected off the wall to the corners/sides. That gives a much longer path for most of the sound to travel, and thus gives it more space compared to pointing the speakers at the listeners. You could certainly make it a 7.1 system although I suspect it wouldn't gain you much in that room. Does your AV amp have the feature where you can use a mic to get the sound set up? If that's the case it can automatically adjust for the various distances and give sound that all arrives at the right time. That would also be the case for your original proposal, but only for the person on the end of the short leg of the settee in the sweet spot - for others it would be all wrong. I'd still use that single position for the setup, but you should be able to get a broader spread of good sound using the ceiling wall reflections. I'd start by looking at a position about a quarter of the way across the ceiling for each, but pointed away from the listeners downwards and towards the wall at the sides.



The existing points where you've installed the wiring for the wall speakers might not be wasted - If you can re-pull some wiring could you repurpose at least the left one to be a wall light/reading lamp for the long part of the settee? Popcorn machines, ice cream dispensers, all are options

[megaphone]

As suggested move them up to below the shelf.

[Some Gump]

Dipoles 3/4 up the wall would be best in that setup IMO. As said above, my interpretation of your MS paint CAD didn't factor in the "tweeter is actually in your ear canal" factor =)

[VEX]

As soon as I saw the equipment shelf and the amp up on it I though rear at the back, just underneath the shelf.

Equally nothing wrong with in ceiling speakers as rears, I use them quite often in compromised rooms like yours where it is as much about the look as it is the performance.

Monitor Audio FX in ceilings work really well and defuse the sound nicely.

V.

[Too Late]

VEX said:

As soon as I saw the equipment shelf and the amp up on it I though rear at the back, just underneath the shelf.

Equally nothing wrong with in ceiling speakers as rears, I use them quite often in compromised rooms like yours where it is as much about the look as it is the performance.

Monitor Audio FX in ceilings work really well and defuse the sound nicely.

V.

So we changed the feet of the sofa and its bumped the height up. So the speakers HAVE TO MOVE







This is a job for the weekend. So where should i move them to?
Under the shelf in the corners facing down?

Or on the wall but higher and back further. Under the shelf would be a lot easier...

Thanks
N

[VEX]

Under the shelf, in the rear most corners, pointing down and inwards.

V.

[Too Late]

Thanks Vex
That's an easy move. I can run them down further down that wall to the ceiling below the shelf. Would that make an improvement?

Or shall I tuck them away in the shelf corners to the wall?

Thanks again

Nicm