| Surround speaker placement [message #68466] |
Sun, 03 July 2011 22:56  |
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Wayne Parham
Messages: 18790
Registered: January 2001
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Illuminati (33rd Degree) |
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I recently built some bookshelves that span the wall behind the listeners in my living room, where my home theater is. Before that, I had the surrounds beside the listeners, just barely behind, and facing inward. The shelves are a very convenient place to put the surrounds, but they are a little bit far back. On the shelves, the speakers are far enough outboard, but too far back for my tastes.
I tried pointing the surround speakers forward, and also inward, crossing their axes just behind the listeners. But they were too far back, and they weren't natural. The surrounds are supposed to be beside the listeners, not behind them. I considered making them rears, but that's not the same as surrounds. In the end, I almost gave up on the idea of moving my surround speakers to the new bookshelves, because they were too far back.
Then I had a lightbulb moment. Kinda stupid - not any real inspiriation - but I think worth mentioning. I pointed the surround speakers outward, to reflect off the sidewall and return to the listeners. The direction angle is the incidence angle where the reflection is directed at the listening area. I gotta say - that's the ticket! It really works. I think I like it even better than the more traditional side speakers facing inward, because the sound is more diffuse, and I think that's more natural for surrounds.
So that's my 2ยข for the day. If you have the same problem - surrounds a little too far back, and side mounting isn't convenient - try the sidewall reflection trick. Heck, even if you can mount them at the sides facing inward, turn them around and try this anyway. It is really working well for me.
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