question about 5.1 speaker placement

[legacy-Kaboomenstein]

im going to be getting the z-680's soon, and wanted to know if they could/should be placed on the cieling. I did a search for 5.1 setups, and many said that the surround speakers should be directly to your left and right (which for me, would be impossible). I needed to know how much the speakers being placed on the cieling would affect the sound placement, if the rear speakers should be to your sides, or could be behind you, and if the rear speakers should angle towards my head, or directly face each other, and how much of a difference it would make. Thanks

PS: sorry for rambling and repeatin myself

[legacy-badger_fruit]

as far as i know, height doesnt make much difference (unless ur celing is like 20ft/m high!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/badger_fruit/51.jpg

[legacy-Bullrog]

Originally posted by badger_fruit
as far as i know, height doesnt make much difference (unless ur celing is like 20ft/m high!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/badger_fruit/51.jpg

^^ looks good to me :up: ^^

[legacy-0V3RC10CK3D]

The best placement for speakers such as those is on the celling and to have them angled downward so it covers the whole area of the room.

[legacy-Saito]

Originally posted by UTReport.com
The best placement for speakers such as those is on the celling and to have them angled downward so it covers the whole area of the room.

indeed this also gets the cords of the floor so you don't tear them up

[legacy-Kaboomenstein]

Originally posted by badger_fruit
as far as i know, height doesnt make much difference (unless ur celing is like 20ft/m high!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/badger_fruit/51.jpg

so wait, should the front speakers face me from the corners, or face each other with me in between?

[KriLL3.8™]

That picture isn't that good..

make it a a 90 by 90 degrees cross tilted 45 degrees = X (depending on font the "X" will however be non-propotional

And then the centre speaker infront of you... the bass doesn't matter since it's hard to hear the direction of deep bass.. but I usualy put it infront of me anyway...

All speakers should face directly towards your ears when you sit in the possition you normaly do infront of the computer.

[Ickle]

There's a nice tutorial on the dolby site about 5.1 and better speaker placement. It tells you all stuff about when you can't put them in the best places as well...i'll get a linky hang on...

Edit, here:

http://www.dolby.com/Consumer/HomeEntertainment/Setup/

I remember a second page of this tho, i can't seem to find it. IIRC if you can't get the rear speakers at those angles enough it's best to place them on the floor or slighty raised a bit more thwen ameter apart and facing up towards the ceiling.....i think this was shown like for a sofa/couch setup....:bulb:

[legacy-Kaboomenstein]

thanks for all the input guys. sorry, but i have one more question. If they could not be placed on the ceiling, would simply putting them high up on the walls work also? I know the base can be rotated for wall placement, but was not sure if the angle the speakers would be pointing would worsen the sound location. the sound box that they would make, i believe, would be above me. does that matter?

[KriLL3.8™]

The furthure away from horisontal into your ears the less sound you will hear which means you loose quite alot of quality..

If you plan on putting em in your celing I strongly advise not to unless you have midget high roof... ear hight or up to 10cm higher is my recomendation...

[legacy-badger_fruit]

Originally posted by KriLL3.2™
That picture isn't that good..

I know Krill3.x ; they don't call me the_deacon!

i have 7.1 anyway and have something (very roughly) like this :-

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/badger_fruit/71.jpg

they are all at ear level (except rear-right which is on top of a wardrobe)

but unless you're a saddo-perfectionist, then you won't notice nor care about the "difference" and you won't loose any quality - unless you're really really anal :)

[legacy-carmatic]

for the bass placement, ive heard this really logical and physically correct suggestion before... like, put the subwoofer where you want to sit, then move around the room and find the place where the bass is the strongest, then put the subwoofer there.... assuming, of course that you have a subwoofer...

and yeah, im a sado perfectionist and i believe that my midrange is ever so slightly off to the right...etc etc , plus i dont like bothering my neighbours so i stuck with a pair of headphones for a long time already... but i do miss the genuine directional sound , the last time i had the pleasure of listening to that was with half life 1 and its eax support...
i believe, that with a speaker setup, space, carpeting, and speaker stands are your best friend

[legacy-Sidekicker]

Subs almost always sound best when located close to a corner of a room on the floor.
Not always pratical, i know - and they must not touch the wall, but they seem to give off a much better sound for it.

[KriLL3.8™]

Originally posted by badger_fruit
unless you're really really anal :)

Who says I isn't? :p

[KriLL3.8™]

Originally posted by Sidekicker
Subs almost always sound best when located close to a corner of a room on the floor.
Not always pratical, i know - and they must not touch the wall, but they seem to give off a much better sound for it.

Since the sound is funneled the 2 walls act like mirrors do with lights the sound simply bounce back from the wall into your general direcion efficiently increasing the sound level.. and adding a slight echo.

[legacy-thomas997]

Supposedly it should be like this:

http://www.dolby.com/graphics/consumer/pc/big5.1speakersetup.gif

Front speakers all in a line, and side speakers pointing at the side of your head.

But some people prefer the L and R speakers tilted towards themselves and farther apart.


Doesnt really make a huge difference, just go with what fits your desk best or what sounds best to you.

[legacy-0V3RC10CK3D]

I have my surround speakers all the way back on the wall, behind my futon, so i can watch movies in surround sound as well, then you can just adjust your fade for computer use or futon use.

I'd still put them on the wall behind you and just turn up the volume on your surround speakers a bit higher than the ones infront of you.

[legacy-VG1]

My 5.1 surround for the home entertainment is mounted on the ceiling and high on the wall (had to maintain consitency.) For movies it works well, but for games I don't know. In games you want more of a feel of where the sound is coming from rather than the basic effect. If you do mount them high, try and angle them down and get them back as far as possible from your sitting position (though not insanely far like 20feet). All my wires are inside the walls and ceiling so you can't see anything.

One suggestion, and something I did, is to use ceiling fan extension rods to hang the speakers from the ceiling. I used a round electrical box cover (about 6 inches dia) and drilled a hole in it just big enough to get the ceiling fan rod through and put a bolt though the end so it couldn't come back out. Then on the other end I fastened the speaker and ran the wires trough the rod. This way you can get the speaker down a little depending on what length rod you get. All this was based off of electrical boxes I mounted in the ceiling while the house was being built. If you have good attic access above the location you can mount boxes and cut a hole in the ceiling as big as the box opening. The round (or even square would work) cover then mounts to the electrical box and holds it all up.

[legacy-Mofassa]

one thing I will say is that If you do put them on the celiing....try to make sure they're in corners


ie:



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reason being, is that by being in the corners, it kinda amplifies the effect, clears up the sound

[legacy-PHaT ASS]

try and keep the front left and right speakers along the same line and same height as the center speaker which should be on top of your monitor or underneath (and never on the left or right because you'll lose the feeling of the center effects emmenating straight from your screen, especially if you're sitting right next to it). also keep the front channels facing forward and avoid giving them angles. if you're close to the center channel, try and keep the two front stereo channel at a resonable distance. if you're far away, keep the left and right speakers as far as possible to get the best feeling of seperation, or else you'll have trouble telling the difference between the left, center and right channels.

for the rear channels, keep them perpendicular to the corresponding front channel (or further out if the front channels are close appart). also place them along the same height, or higher which is better for the ambience effect you mostly get out of Pro Logic applications. those speakers should also be facing the corresponding front channel but can also be given a slight angle towards you if they arent far enough back. just avoid placing the rear speakers right on your side or you'll have a gap where sounds right behind you would come from (unless you have 7.1).

as for the subwoofer, they usually say to place it anywhere but thats not true. place it along one wall (front wall being the best) for better output; place it in a corner for the best effect. corners amplify the low end but can also create cavernous effects and ease localisation for subs that go over 80-100 hertz. this is especially subtil for small home theater/computer systems because the sub have to cross over high enough to reinforce the satellite's bass output. Usually when a subwoofer goes over 100 hertz, you can localize where the bass comes from (under that it feels omnipresent), a corner amplifies that effect and can lead to some annoying sounds and rattles. Also know that your position in the room has an effect. Being near walls, especially the opposite wall, or even corner gives the best effect. Sitting in the middle of the room is usually a weak spot and the ultra low frequencies will be much harder to hear (although you'll feel em with a good enough sub, 10"+). be sure to keep the sub's port slightly away from the wall or else you'll choke it and lose power.