Speaker positioning in an awkward room setup

[Polaris]

I have a very restricted room setup. It is 160 sq. ft. in size. The seating arrangement necessarily has to be in an 'L' shape in the corner bordering two walls. The TV and allied systems are centred on the wall opposite one of the sofas. I've tried to explain things in the attached drawing which should hopefully illustrate my dilemma. I am confused as to where to position the side speakers. This is certainly not an ideal setup. But I'd like to salvage as much as possible from it.

The two suggestions that I've received thus far are marked in red and blue respectively. Both of these suggestions have the speaker above ear level at around 6-7 feet (and tilted towards the centre of the couch in the case of blue).

Any advice for this neophyte?
Thanks!
P.S. I hope that this is the right forum for this question.
P.S.2: To clarify, this is a 5.1 setup.

 

[amit]

Hi,

I think position marked in red should work well, specifically bipole / dipolar arrangement where speakers are facing the front wall.

Thanks & Regards,

Amit

 

[santhosh]

Position circled Red is better. Use Di-pole speakers as suggested by Amit.

Does the opening next to left rear speaker have a door. If yes, close it while the rear speakers are in use.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[007india]

1) since the room size is small (13x13ft) use curtains to close the window and door
2) have a floor stander for front or set the woofer to the corner of the room
3) Normal cube surrounds are enough with +3db(optional) as the room is small. make sure the center speaker is placed in front of TV and surrounds&front speakers are angled to listening position.

I have a very restricted room setup. It is 160 sq. ft. in size. The seating arrangement necessarily has to be in an 'L' shape in the corner bordering two walls. The TV and allied systems are centred on the wall opposite one of the sofas. I've tried to explain things in the attached drawing which should hopefully illustrate my dilemma. I am confused as to where to position the side speakers. This is certainly not an ideal setup. But I'd like to salvage as much as possible from it.

The two suggestions that I've received thus far are marked in red and blue respectively. Both of these suggestions have the speaker above ear level at around 6-7 feet (and tilted towards the centre of the couch in the case of blue).

Any advice for this neophyte?
Thanks!
P.S. I hope that this is the right forum for this question.
P.S.2: To clarify, this is a 5.1 setup.

 

[Polaris]

woohoo! Replies!

@Amit - Thanks for the info. I've had a quick read through on bi/dipoles. Could you please clarify on what you mean by speakers face front wall? From what I understand the speakers will be facing both the front and rear walls - is this correct? What is the recommended buffer gap that needs to be given between the speaker and the rear wall?

@Santhosh: The opening next to the left rear speaker leads into a short passage and then the door. I don't think that this is going to help How about the height of the speakers? Will it be OK? I expect that there's going to be no sideways tilt. How about vertical tilt?

@007india: Thanks for the checklist! I am yet to decide on the speakers. My present choice for the receiver is Denon's AVR 1912. If you and everybody else can suggest a compatible speaker setup for this device and room, that will be very useful. Also, from what I have read, a number of speakers which support bi/dipole provide a toggle option allowing us to switch between either setting - does this sound right?

One of the reasons for the Denon is its multizone support as I want to use it to also pipe audio into the adjacent room accessible via the top-right passage in the diagram.

Thanks again for all your replies. They have been immensely helpful!

 

[ukjeyaraj]

woohoo! Replies!

How about the height of the speakers? Will it be OK? I expect that there's going to be no sideways tilt. How about vertical tilt?

As suggested my FMs you can angle the speakers to listening position that would solve the problem. Some satellite speaker wallmounts allow both horizontal and vertical tilt.

 

[Polaris]

Thanks Jeyaraj. FMs? Does the tilt towards listening position still apply if they are di/bipolar speakers?

 

[ukjeyaraj]

Thanks Jeyaraj. FMs? Does the tilt towards listening position still apply if they are di/bipolar speakers?

FMs - Fellow Members

Normally Bipolar/Dipolar will be bigger and will be difficult to find a such mounts. Most of the small satellite speakers have these kind of tilt in all directions. (eg. Boston Acoustics Soundware XS).

Wall mounts can be custom made with some local person too.

 

[amit]

Hi Polaris,

What i meant by "facing front wall" is to mount your speakers on the back wall (either side of the window). These are designed such that they can be mounted directly on the wall with 2 screws or brackets (depending on the speaker) without any problems. Tilting depends on the screws / angled hooks or brackets used by you.

Regards,

Amit

 

[Polaris]

FMs - Fellow Members

Normally Bipolar/Dipolar will be bigger and will be difficult to find a such mounts. Most of the small satellite speakers have these kind of tilt in all directions. (eg. Boston Acoustics Soundware XS).

Wall mounts can be custom made with some local person too.

Thank you! I am enquiring in particular about bipolar and dipolar speakers which are not directed towards the listener. What should they be directed at?

Hi Polaris,

What i meant by "facing front wall" is to mount your speakers on the back wall (either side of the window). These are designed such that they can be mounted directly on the wall with 2 screws or brackets (depending on the speaker) without any problems. Tilting depends on the screws / angled hooks or brackets used by you.

Thank you. So, are you suggesting that the two side speakers be mounted flush on the back wall with no gap at all? (As opposed to the locations marked in red in my diagram?) Is this because of the passage on the left? I'm a little confused now!

Where on the rear wall? I the corners? I'm also assuming that this would restrict my choice to bipolar speakers? FYI, I'm visualising them like the one in this random picture:

Image S50 Surround - PSB Speakers

Does this look about right?

Thanks for your replies.
-Polaris.

 

[007india]

woohoo! Replies!

@Amit - Thanks for the info. I've had a quick read through on bi/dipoles. Could you please clarify on what you mean by speakers face front wall? From what I understand the speakers will be facing both the front and rear walls - is this correct? What is the recommended buffer gap that needs to be given between the speaker and the rear wall?

@Santhosh: The opening next to the left rear speaker leads into a short passage and then the door. I don't think that this is going to help How about the height of the speakers? Will it be OK? I expect that there's going to be no sideways tilt. How about vertical tilt?

@007india: Thanks for the checklist! I am yet to decide on the speakers. My present choice for the receiver is Denon's AVR 1912. If you and everybody else can suggest a compatible speaker setup for this device and room, that will be very useful. Also, from what I have read, a number of speakers which support bi/dipole provide a toggle option allowing us to switch between either setting - does this sound right?

One of the reasons for the Denon is its multizone support as I want to use it to also pipe audio into the adjacent room accessible via the top-right passage in the diagram.

Thanks again for all your replies. They have been immensely helpful!

If you are in bangalore, you can visit vector systems near brigade towers. you can try wharfedale 9.6 for front speaker. I don't use bi-polar speaker as its for large room, else it will create echo/sound out of sync. Audition thoroughly before you decide to go for bi-polar. even 0nkyo 609 has zone1 & zone2. have you tried Yamaha 671, as far as I know it received +reviews. but other zones will usually be analog. check it out. The min gap b/w speaker and wall is 0.5feet. use good quality wires (Ex: 12gauge) do a bi-amp for front speaker.