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Invelos Forums->General: General Home Theater Discussion |
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Some questions about hometheater speaker placement |
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Registered: March 13, 2007 | Posts: 1,380 |
| Posted: | | | | I'm planning on replacing my current speakers with Audio Pro's wigo series speakers. Ive been thinking of replacing the front and eventually back speakers with the Wigo 130 ones. I want to attach them to the ceiling level, so their "out of the way". I have 2 concerns. If i add the back speakers directly above you, do you still get the feeling the sound is coming from behind? And if it only goes to 50Hz, would it be essential to get a subwoofer? My current ones go to 40Hz and i hardly ever use a subwoofer. Mainly cause i dont care much for bass, and i watch movies often at night in an appartment building. So i have to think of the neighbors, too. The layout would look like that, red text indicates speakers, that round thing is the projector and the image is projected to a sliding door. |
| Registered: March 18, 2007 | Reputation: | Posts: 6,460 |
| Posted: | | | | You are really approaching this with some nice thinking. Your concerns about the bass cutoff are justified, but look deeper into the specs. A quality speaker conservatively spec'd to have a 50HZ cutoff may actually produce more output at 40HZ than an agressively spec'd lesser speaker that claims to go to 40HZ. Try and find out the output relative to say 1KHZ, where they are both down by 3dB, 6dB, etc. Apples to apples. In terms of speakers high or low, think about movie theaters for your answer. I think so long as the speaker is far enough away from the listener's ears, room reflections and dispersion will diminish the effects of exact placement - especially if you have one of those A/V units with the microphone auto-setup. As you pointed out, you can mitigate bass cutoff issues with perhaps a small subwoofer. No need to make it super loud. Just to add a subtle "bottom" to round out the sound, you might find enjoyable. You can always crank it up temporarily when there is the odd opportunity to not disturb your neighbors. Other than that, I think your layout is fine, except that you will need to do some balancing to compensate for the difference in your left and right speaker placements. Your left speakers, near the corners of the room, will produce more bass and have reflections off the side walls, whereas the right speakers will produce a bit less bass, and have no side wall to reflect from. You can compensate for this with your A/V receiver and by playing with the speaker angles relative to the listening position. Another option would be to make the front speakers a bit closer together to make the dispersion patterns more similar (i.e. left front further from side wall). Try to rig up an experimental setup before permanent placement, if you can. Seems like a nice place. I wish you all the best. | | | Thanks for your support. Free Plugins available here. Advanced plugins available here. Hey, new product!!! BDPFrog. | | | Last edited: by mediadogg |
| Registered: March 13, 2007 | Posts: 1,380 |
| Posted: | | | | Thank you very much for the help I decided to go forth with it. I'm getting the speakers at the end of the month and ill keep my old sub if the bass isnt enough. I also checked that my computer speakers only go to 70Hz, and their were i normally listen music (too lazy to pic up the physical CD). I have one more question, if the back speakers are above you, should you point them at the listener (almoust straight down) or a bit "over the head"? I've been in the process to making those things-around-doors, so i can hide all the wires inside them. And made some last minute changes to add routes for the front speakers, But it looks like that: Now all i need is to wait to the end of the month for the speakers |
| Registered: March 18, 2007 | Reputation: | Posts: 6,460 |
| Posted: | | | | I would go a bit over the head. IMHO the realism of the ambience being created by the synthesized echos in the rear channels is degraded when the listener gets direct radiation from the speaker. When you get localized signals such as a plane flying by, the difference in loudness of the speakers alone will be enough to cause the sensation of the plane moving over you, even if the speakers are not pointed directly at your ears. I think the front speakers should be angled towards the center of the listening area if possible. Together with the center speaker, they will then focus your attention on the screen, and only when a lot of energy is coming from the rear (bullets buzzing by, etc.) will you even be aware of the rear speakers (unless you switch them off - then it will be like - "what happened?" ). But by far the best, and only valid test is your own ears, and what you like. Nothing beats simply messing with the setup until it pleases you. So again, I encourage you to plan for a temporary installation that allows you to tweak placement before you drill holes, etc. In my case, I have the advantage of thick wood-paneled walls. If I change my taste, I just drill new holes and fill the old ones. And all the speakers, except the subs can be pivoted to reflect differently into the listening area. And ... nice painting ... | | | Thanks for your support. Free Plugins available here. Advanced plugins available here. Hey, new product!!! BDPFrog. | | | Last edited: by mediadogg |
| Registered: March 13, 2007 | Posts: 1,380 |
| Posted: | | | | Quoting mediadogg: Quote: But by far the best, and only valid test is your own ears, and what you like. Nothing beats simply messing with the setup until it pleases you. So again, I encourage you to plan for a temporary installation that allows you to tweak placement before you drill holes, etc. In my case, I have the advantage of thick wood-paneled walls. If I change my taste, I just drill new holes and fill the old ones. And all the speakers, except the subs can be pivoted to reflect differently into the listening area. And ... nice painting ... Thanks again. I dont really have the option to test before drilling holes. But the speaker stands / hinges or whatever their called, that i have let me at least rotate them to pretty much any direction. So at least i can make some adjustments later. But not with the speaker placement. Though i can always paint the whole wall and roof again if my plan goes completely south Its actually a posterby Victoria Frances. The frames cost me over 20 times more then the poster itself | | | Last edited: by whispering |
| Registered: May 20, 2007 | Reputation: | Posts: 2,934 |
| Posted: | | | | I would also not be to hasty on your front channel speakers at ceiling level if it can be avoided.
You will actually have better sound if the front (l,r) speakers are at about head height while sitting.
Also, if you want to lessen some of the reflection, you may consider some heavy drapes to cover the windows.
Just a thought |
| Registered: March 18, 2007 | Reputation: | Posts: 6,460 |
| Posted: | | | | Quoting CharlieM: Quote: I would also not be to hasty on your front channel speakers at ceiling level if it can be avoided. Good point. I agree. I missed that ... | | | Thanks for your support. Free Plugins available here. Advanced plugins available here. Hey, new product!!! BDPFrog. |
| Registered: March 13, 2007 | Posts: 1,380 |
| Posted: | | | | Quoting CharlieM: Quote: I would also not be to hasty on your front channel speakers at ceiling level if it can be avoided.
You will actually have better sound if the front (l,r) speakers are at about head height while sitting.
If i place them at headlevel, the other one will be infront of the screen, and looking from the front they wouldnt be placed symmetrically. Which annoys me way more then it should I could place them a bit below headlevel, but i would still have the problem of not being symmetrically placed. Also they take too much space on the floor. Quoting CharlieM: Quote:
Also, if you want to lessen some of the reflection, you may consider some heavy drapes to cover the windows. I have the sunblock curtains covering the window walls entirely. If you look the floorplan the dashdot line indicates the curtains. |
| Registered: June 27, 2007 | Posts: 2,049 |
| Posted: | | | | Quoting whispering: Quote: Quoting CharlieM:
Quote: I would also not be to hasty on your front channel speakers at ceiling level if it can be avoided.
You will actually have better sound if the front (l,r) speakers are at about head height while sitting.
If i place them at headlevel, the other one will be infront of the screen, and looking from the front they wouldnt be placed symmetrically. Which annoys me way more then it should I could place them a bit below headlevel, but i would still have the problem of not being symmetrically placed. Also they take too much space on the floor.
Quoting CharlieM:
Quote:
Also, if you want to lessen some of the reflection, you may consider some heavy drapes to cover the windows.
I have the sunblock curtains covering the window walls entirely. If you look the floorplan the dashdot line indicates the curtains. A bit below headlevel won't be a problem... Just use your receicer and the mic to take the new measurements.. Or you enter them manually.. But a little asymetrical placement is still way, way better then putting them on the ceiling.. You can do that with rear speakers but I would really avoid it with the front ones. | | | Check out my Youtube channel under https://www.youtube.com/user/alittleolder |
| Registered: March 13, 2007 | Posts: 1,380 |
| Posted: | | | | Quoting stephan.klose: Quote: A bit below headlevel won't be a problem... Just use your receicer and the mic to take the new measurements.. Or you enter them manually.. But a little asymetrical placement is still way, way better then putting them on the ceiling.. You can do that with rear speakers but I would really avoid it with the front ones. Well in june i switched the back/front speakers around, to test it. And so far sound only improved (previous front speakers were too low, below the couch arm rest). But i dont understand how ceiling level is worse. You either place them below or above the screen, your eyes are normally pointing to the middle of the screen, so wouldnt the distance be equally "bad"? current setup: | | | Last edited: by whispering |
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Invelos Forums->General: General Home Theater Discussion |
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