A little help with my theater setup

[ryjam282]

Attached is a diagram of the living room in my new house that I am closing on tomorrow. Now, the furniture in it is not set in stone and can be moved.

Please let me know what you guys think would be the best setup for the 7.1 surround home theater please......



TV is a 57" Widescreen Hitachi
Surround sound is Yamaha HTR-5790 7.1 surround

Please move things around as you see fit. I greatly appreciate all your help in advance.


Ryan

[PAT.P]

Attached is a diagram of the living room in my new house that I am closing on tomorrow. Now, the furniture in it is not set in stone and can be moved.

Please let me know what you guys think would be the best setup for the 7.1 surround home theater please......



TV is a 57" Widescreen Hitachi
Surround sound is Yamaha HTR-5790 7.1 surround

Please move things around as you see fit. I greatly appreciate all your help in advance.


Ryan
Are you using towers for the front and back! To me the couch is way to far out !I would bring it in at least to the 15 feet range and back speaker at each corner of couch !Where the sub?A room this size I would have two! My living room is 26x16 (running towers for front and a pair of 24" 3way speaker ,2 sub and on back wall pair of dipole effects speaker !Pat.P

[ryjam282]

I am not using towers at the present time. Do you recommend them? I have Infinity speakers right now but would like some recommendations on some towers if possible. Towers for the back if pretty much out of the question as they will be mounted on the wall above a sliding glass door that opens to the patio. The sub, I forgot to put it in, will probably be by the TV. How does 2 of them sound? I have no problem getting 2 if necessary. So, moving the couch would be a good idea, thanks for the reply. A little more info if possible, thanks.

Ryan

[PAT.P]

I am not using towers at the present time. Do you recommend them? I have Infinity speakers right now but would like some recommendations on some towers if possible. Towers for the back if pretty much out of the question as they will be mounted on the wall above a sliding glass door that opens to the patio. The sub, I forgot to put it in, will probably be by the TV. How does 2 of them sound? I have no problem getting 2 if necessary. So, moving the couch would be a good idea, thanks for the reply. A little more info if possible, thanks.

Ryan
You do have a big room and to my opinion if you dont move couch you would need a good tower (mine are Dahlquist QX9 and added the Dahlquist QX100sa to add more bass with my Paradigm PS1000 one on right the other on left side ) these really rock when music and movies are on!If you are in Canada go to the AUDIOSHOP website they have the sub like mine at half price 299.99 and they also have the towers QX8A on sale at 649.99 (htese tower sound as good as my QX 9!The tower and another sub will fill your room with a warm feeling and enhance quality of your sound system! Check out www.audioshop.on.ca ! Marc Hallam is great to deal with ,knows is stuff and always honest ! They use to sell Paradigm but said the Dalquist sounded better and price was cheaper.They sell Energy also these are also great speaker.Try the couch there if you get towers your ears will tell you!!! Pat.P :)

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

Attached is a diagram of the living room in my new house that I am closing on tomorrow. Now, the furniture in it is not set in stone and can be moved.

Please let me know what you guys think would be the best setup for the 7.1 surround home theater please......



TV is a 57" Widescreen Hitachi
Surround sound is Yamaha HTR-5790 7.1 surround

Please move things around as you see fit. I greatly appreciate all your help in advance.


Ryan

There are quite a few things in your setup I definately would change. Starting from the front of the room, and working my way back.

Your front speakers and television setup appears to be off center. This will make the imaging from your front speakers appear onesided, as you will have reflections from the side walls arriving at two different times. I would center that out, so both main speakers see the same distance to their respective walls. The will ensure that the front soundstage is balanced.

Your side speakers are placed in front of your listening position. That means all surround effects will be coming from in front of you, instead of the rear. I would move the couch forward so I could properly place these speakers 2-3ft behind, and to the sides of the listening position. This would place effects designed for the surround speakers in their proper place, behind the listening position.

Your center rear speakers are on the backwall, but that is too far from the L/R surrounds for a proper blend. I would move them forward that four extra feet to make them closer to the L/R surrounds. The center rear should be an extension of the surround, not an event all by themselves.

I think your setup is too scattered to blend well. I would tighten up the speakers placement considerably and not use so much of that room.

This is all I have time to cover, but as I think of other things I'll post more.

[ryjam282]

Thanks for the reply Terrence. The reason for the TV being to the right side like that is because the font door is right next to it. Should I just move that one front speaker to the other side of the door? Will it make a difference if one front side speaker is farther away from the center then the other or should I move the center speaker to the absolute center of the room and not worry about the TV? Give me some input on that.

As far as the side speakers, they should be just slightly behind the listening position? I can move them back, that isn't a problem at all.

Now, the rear speakers, how far are the recommended to be away from the listening position? I know they should be around 2-4 apart from each other as well right? The reason I have them on that back wall, is because it is a sliding glass door and I was going to mount them right above it.

Thanks a lot for the advice, I appreciate it. If you could continue on, I would be very greatful.

Also, the room has vaulted ceilings and is all tile. Will that be a problem with the bass or sound quality at all?

[jeskibuff]

The first thing you ought to do is redraw your picture. The dimensions that you give are not proportional to your diagram. The 4' section should be 1/6 of the 24' section, yet it appears to be almost a half of it. The closer you draw it to scale, the better advice you can get from people, although there are some glaring problems with the setup, as have already been mentioned.

[kfalls]

There are quite a few things in your setup I definately would change. Starting from the front of the room, and working my way back.

Your front speakers and television setup appears to be off center. This will make the imaging from your front speakers appear onesided, as you will have reflections from the side walls arriving at two different times. I would center that out, so both main speakers see the same distance to their respective walls. The will ensure that the front soundstage is balanced.

Your side speakers are placed in front of your listening position. That means all surround effects will be coming from in front of you, instead of the rear. I would move the couch forward so I could properly place these speakers 2-3ft behind, and to the sides of the listening position. This would place effects designed for the surround speakers in their proper place, behind the listening position.

Your center rear speakers are on the backwall, but that is too far from the L/R surrounds for a proper blend. I would move them forward that four extra feet to make them closer to the L/R surrounds. The center rear should be an extension of the surround, not an event all by themselves.

I think your setup is too scattered to blend well. I would tighten up the speakers placement considerably and not use so much of that room.

This is all I have time to cover, but as I think of other things I'll post more.

I agree with Terrence and if you can make the stated changes, the system would be close to ideal. But this is the real world with rooms you also have to lived in. As far as the rears are concerned, if you have enough power (I think the Yamaha has 110W) to drive them adequately and your receiver has adequate distance/delay adjustment I think you'll be OK. Many people go cheap on the rears, but with DD/DVD-Audio/SACD providing full range surround channels, cheap speakers will sound just that---CHEAP and ruin the experience. Definitely move the couch and Lazyboy forward and adjust the front R/C/L according to couch placement. As long as center is equidistant from R/L I think you'll be OK here as well. If you can center everything without confrontation from the wife, do it now before she settles on this configuration. Sides need to be just to the rear and above standing ear-level.

Which Hitachi 57" do you have? I have the 57S715, which looks great, but you give up a lot of cabinet, nothing to place the center speaker on. With a 42lb center, I've temporarily placed it on a stand in front of the TV until I can find an appropriate way to mount above the screen. Anyone else have this problem? I'd be interested in your solutions.

[nightflier]

I have a little trouble getting a good idea of the layout as well, but here are two other options you could try:

1. Put the widescreen on the right wall and go wide with the layout rather than long. This may sound very different, but could improve this a bit over what you have.

2. Put the widescreen on the diagonal in the bottom right corner. You could then have more distance to work with and more walls to hang you speakers on.

Again, these are just suggestions to try, and not necessarily optimal. I know that there is more to consider when remodeling than just the sound. I've been looking to buy a new home, and I am astounded at how bad the living rooms are for a good surround sound setup. It seems like all the model homes have their speakers in the ceiling right above the TV. When I ask the agents about this, they assure me that they are working with top-notch sound companies (yeah, i'd like to have a chat with them....).

Anyhow, just some other ideas to try.

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

I am with Jeskibuff on this one. A re-draw would go a long way to understanding this layout. I am quite frankly confused about several things in this current layout.

[ryjam282]

I will give another redraw for you tomorrow morning. I just received my new couches from JC Penney and had to rearrange a bit. More like what Nightflier was talking about in his #2 above. I will try and get a better proportioned pic for you in the morning and we will see what we can do. Thanks for all the replies thus far.

[ryjam282]

Here is the new one. Let me know what you guys think.


Kfalls, the Hitachi I have is the 57uwx20b. It is about 3 years old.

Terrence, Kfalls, Jeski, please keep the input coming, thanks a ton you guys are great.


Ryan

[RJW1138]

I see some Spinal-Tap'ish hilarity ensuing... ;-)

[jeskibuff]

I see some Spinal-Tap'ish hilarity ensuing... ;-)Suddenly, a rather large room feels a bit too claustrophobic. It must be tough squeezing through double doors that are only 5 inches wide! :D At least the proportions look better, and the "notch" seems to have been misplaced in the original diagram.

ryjam, it's hard to tell what's on that back wall where you have the rear speakers, but if there's no windows that would be blocked, I would consider placing the TV and front speakers flat against that wall (parallel to, NOT up against it).

Depending on the size of your side speakers, I'd try to place them as close to the stairs as possible. The rears would go on the other side of the stairs, on opposite sides of the wall, obviously.

What piece of furniture do you think would get the most use? The couch? The recliner?

Is it just you, you and your wife, or you, your wife and 8 kids who will be using the room the most?

[ryjam282]

Inches LOL, my bad....Of course I meant feet....Along the back wall, where the rear speakers are is a sliding glass window. It leaves only 16 inches on each side so I would be mounting the speakers above that.

The speakers I am using now are Infinity TSS-450. They are only about 3 inches high or so. Not too big at all.

The house is just my wife, 1 year old daughter, and myself. But, we do watch movies with friends a lot. And usually only two of them. The couch that is along the 11' wall gets the most use. It is a double recliner couch. We sit there the most. The couches by the stairs don't get a whole lot of use unless someone is over pretty much.

[PAT.P]

Inches LOL, my bad....Of course I meant feet....Along the back wall, where the rear speakers are is a sliding glass window. It leaves only 16 inches on each side so I would be mounting the speakers above that.

The speakers I am using now are Infinity TSS-450. They are only about 3 inches high or so. Not too big at all.

The house is just my wife, 1 year old daughter, and myself. But, we do watch movies with friends a lot. And usually only two of them. The couch that is along the 11' wall gets the most use. It is a double recliner couch. We sit there the most. The couches by the stairs don't get a whole lot of use unless someone is over pretty much.
Couch look better when they were togeter !Furniture now is all scatter around and tv is at an angle ,where do you intend to put the sub? It needs to be at a coner (2 feet out and at and angle) Best thing ask your wife how she wants furniture (trust me my wife would kill me for this set up) You back room looks to me that it was intended to be a dining room.I would still bring everything in .Or concentrate on the big wall ! Pat.P

[ryjam282]

The reason the couches are like that is because (it is a sectional), but it is too wide to fit in that section where I have the recliner couches.

I was thinking about putting the couches where the stairs are but then I lose the rear surround speakers. I want to keep those. I am really in a bind on this one.

The part behind the recliner couch now is actually a dining room but we won't be using it as that. We were planning on using it as a little play area for my daughter.

Like I said though, I don't mind moving things around but I want to have all the speakers going and have the best setup for the TV. Don't you have to be a certain distance away from the TV for optimal viewing pleasure

[PAT.P]

[QUOTE=ryjam282]The reason the couches are like that is because (it is a sectional), but it is too wide to fit in that section where I have the recliner couches.

Ok What about center your back couch and put Lazy Boy where the other couch is .(put it at an angle toward the tv .As for the couch in front I would bring it in toward the double door .Add some coffee table and end table beside couch .Pat.P

[ryjam282]

I thought of that idea but what about the speakers in that respect? Where would the surrounds go and the rear surrounds?

[Lensman]

Here is the new one. Let me know what you guys think.

Ryan

You mention a front door near the TV, but don't have it in the drawing. I also don't know how tall the window along the rear speaker wall is, or the dimensions of the furniture. So I'm going to make a rough guess on these. Here's what I'm thinking:

Put blinds or equivalent in the window and close them, so the window looks normal from the outside and light is blocked from coming inside. Then place a floor-to-ceiling curtain across your rear speaker wall to hide the window on the inside and give your room more of a theater-style look. If you know someone who can sew, you can buy the fabric and make one for about $150-$200.

Place your TV along the center of this wall with the main on either side. Place the sub in the corner of your choice. Given your TV's depth, you should have enough space to center one section of your couch about 86" (1.5X the 57" width of your screen).

Place the left and right surrounds along the left and right walls parallel to the couch.

This should leave you enough space to place the rear surrounds on stands about 18" behind the couch without blocking the entrance to your stairs. As you say they're small, you might be able to mount them on the ceiling and point them down if you can run the wire.

Get a coffee table and end table and use the other couch section and La-Z-Boy to make a second seating area.

This would give you the room symmetry needed for best performance and provide reasonable spacing between your TV, speakers and seating area. It would also give you a separate seating area for entertaining, reading, etc. I've attached a sketch of how things could look. Hope this helps.

[PAT.P]

He wants part of the room in back of couch for play area for his child .By the way your drawing is great! Pat.P.

[ryjam282]

Damn Lensman. That is a great drawing. I will see what the wife thinks about that. But, that back door that will be behind the TV is a sliding glass door to the patio. But there may be a chance of this, as we can still use the door, just have to use it from the side of it and not open it all the way....I like it...We'll see, thanks a lot.

[PAT.P]

Damn Lensman. That is a great drawing. I will see what the wife thinks about that. But, that back door that will be behind the TV is a sliding glass door to the patio. But there may be a chance of this, as we can still use the door, just have to use it from the side of it and not open it all the way....I like it...We'll see, thanks a lot.
Is your sub front port or rear port ? (patio window might vibrate if rear ported) Now your play area for your daugther is your seating area(carefull to the speaker and wire in back)Pat.P

[ryjam282]

The sub is rear port. I should be able to angle the port away from the window though and towards one of the walls. You have any other ideas Pat, for the layout?

[PAT.P]

The sub is rear port. I should be able to angle the port away from the window though and towards one of the walls. You have any other ideas Pat, for the layout?
The setup done by Lensman is great ! Just be carefull that your daugther does'nt go in back of the unit ( avoid any accident with cords and power ) Having raising 3 daugther and now my son is 7 (secound familly) and 5 grandkids they go in everything .When the grandkids come over have to keep a eye on everything. Pat.P

[ryjam282]

Yeah, thanks for the heads up. My daughter does love to get into everything. I will try that out and what the boss (wife) says about it. I don't know if she will go for blocking the patio door though, but it's worth a shot.

[PAT.P]

Yeah, thanks for the heads up. My daughter does love to get into everything. I will try that out and what the boss (wife) says about it. I don't know if she will go for blocking the patio door though, but it's worth a shot.
I know mine would kill me if I would block any window ,she likes the sun light in the day.Also to consider when your daughter gets older she'll want to play outside via patio door ,how are you going to keep a eye on her outside from living room?(just a thought) Pat.P

[ryjam282]

Good point. I really need to figure something out. This is killing me. Where I have the TV now, in my setup drawing, there is 2 windows right there and the wife wants to put the Xmas tree there so it shows through the window. I am really in a dilemma here. I never thought I would have this much trouble figuring this out....Oh well, I sure do appreciate everyones help on here. We'll figure something out.

[PAT.P]

Good point. I really need to figure something out. This is killing me. Where I have the TV now, in my setup drawing, there is 2 windows right there and the wife wants to put the Xmas tree there so it shows through the window. I am really in a dilemma here. I never thought I would have this much trouble figuring this out....Oh well, I sure do appreciate everyones help on here. We'll figure something out.
You still have that 28 feet wall ! Surround could go on each side of couch (3 feet higher than headrest) your back speaker on stand on each side of couch 2 to 3 feet out and pointing toward couch .( my surround speaker are on wall like this and sound great before this was using bookshelf speaker on end table at angle toward couch and was also great )PAT.P

[Lensman]

Damn Lensman. That is a great drawing. I will see what the wife thinks about that. But, that back door that will be behind the TV is a sliding glass door to the patio. But there may be a chance of this, as we can still use the door, just have to use it from the side of it and not open it all the way....I like it...We'll see, thanks a lot.

Good point. I really need to figure something out. This is killing me. Where I have the TV now, in my setup drawing, there is 2 windows right there and the wife wants to put the Xmas tree there so it shows through the window. I am really in a dilemma here. I never thought I would have this much trouble figuring this out....Oh well, I sure do appreciate everyones help on here. We'll figure something out.

Thank you for the kind words (Pat P. as well). Didn't realize that wasn't a window. Obviously blocking a door isn't ideal. Can you tell me exactly where all the doors and windows in the room are and how wide they are? I could revise the drawing and take another look. If you have measurements for your furniture, I could adjust the drawing for those as well. The drawing is accurate to scale based on the dimensions you posted earlier and the TV is also the correct size (I looked up dimensions for it). Also for consideration, you've mentioned wall mounting your surrounds. Could you ceiling mount them as well?

Given the shape of the room and number of doors and windows in it, I must ask one final question. Is there no other room that could house your HT system?

[ryjam282]

Lensman, I will get the measurments for you when I get home. I will post them after that and we can go from there. Ceiling mounting wouldn't be out of the question, although, that room does have a vaulted ceiling but I have no problem mounting up there. Thanks again for all your help.

I do have a family room but it is a lot smaller and I am not sure if it would be ideal for the rear surrounds. I definitely want to get those up as I love the PLIIx setting on my Yammie and love the full sourround "feel". Plus, I am not sure if the sectional would fit in that room either.

I will get you a measurment of that room too, it more of a box shaped room.

[ryjam282]

Alright Lensman, here you go. Let me see what you are thinking. The wife shot down the last layout, because of the blocking of the back sliding door.

It might be tough to read, I just threw it together. Let me know if you have questions.

[jeskibuff]

The wife shot down the last layout, because of the blocking of the back sliding door.
Your room is long. You could go with Lensman's layout (which is pretty close to what I was suggesting), just moving everything towards the other side of the room by 5 or 6 feet.

That would leave the TV in the middle of the room, tough for power cords and connections. Also, there would have to be enough space to walk by your front speakers without the danger of knocking them over. You could use some kind of screen to aesthetically cloak the typically ugly backside of your TV so it won't look so bad from the perspective from the patio doors.

If you put the equipment along the long (28') wall, I think you should downgrade to a 5.1 setup, but it sounds like you don't want to go that route. I don't think you've got the room to take advantage of 7.1 that way. If you do try it, it would be VERY compromised.

[Lensman]

Alright Lensman, here you go. Let me see what you are thinking. The wife shot down the last layout, because of the blocking of the back sliding door.

I do have a family room but it is a lot smaller and I am not sure if it would be ideal for the rear surrounds. I definitely want to get those up as I love the PLIIx setting on my Yammie and love the full sourround "feel". Plus, I am not sure if the sectional would fit in that room either.

This is definitely not an easy room to work with. The three doors on three walls and the accessways they need, plus the three large windows prevent much of the room from being used for your equipment. The sheer size of the room, plus the fact it has a vaulted ceiling may also make it a distinct possibility the volume of air will be too great for your system to excite, resulting in a weak or unencompassing surround sound field regardless of where the speakers go. I'd really give some serious thought to that family room you mention.

That said, here's my two cents on this room. The drawings below show three possible setups. I've resized the furniture per your dimensions and placed your family's Christmas tree in the window as your wife desires.

Room A could be the easiest to set up. The rear surrounds could be mounted to the wall. The sides could be mounted on the wall and from the ceiling or they could be placed on stands. You will have some reflection problems and your right channels may have to be adjusted 1 to 2 db lower to even the volume out. A folding screen (shown) could help some with the reflection issue. This is the least ideal sonically.

Room B has the system moved as close to the center of the room as possible. Again, not ideal, but a little better as far as sound issues go. In this case, the couch in the lower seating area would actually work in a similar fashion to the screen in room A. If you cannot use the ceiling for your surrounds (and if the height is significant here I wouldn't), you might need to use light stands for the left and right surrounds that you could move behind the couch when not in use. Or you could move the left and right surrounds farther from the couch so the left isn't in the window. I moved the La-Z-Boy to show how it could add seating for socializing/casual viewing in this area, though it is outside the surround field.

Room C shows what I feel to be the best solution sonically. It also places the couch at a better viewing distance from your screen. But it's also the most involved and expensive. Basically, you'd build a freestanding wall (gray rectangle) and wire it for cable/dish and electricity (though you might also be able to do something creative with bookcases). The one I've drawn is 78" wide, leaving normal door-sized openings to the left and right. You could then place you TV and mains against it. All your surrounds could then mount on the walls (above the patio door for the rears). The patio door would be easily accessible behind the couch. If you mounted one of those fake electrical fireplaces on the other side, it'd also spruce up the front sitting area.

Hope this helps.

[PAT.P]

Lensman you are very dedicated on this theater setup .Again great job! Pat.P

[Lensman]

Lensman you are very dedicated on this theater setup .Again great job! Pat.P
Thanks. I hope the plans prove useful (though I still lean toward considering that family room). I know the scales are correct to his measurements, so if anybody has other ideas, feel free to copy the drawing and move stuff around.

[ryjam282]

Lensman, what else can I say but WOW!!!!!! That is truly awesome what you have done for me. I will show it to the boss and see what we can do. I like the idea of the third one but like you said, it could be expensive. I am skilled with a saw and could pull off that freestanding wall. I think I like version B the best though as I would like to get as many seats as possible to view the TV. Anyways, I will keep you all posted as to what I do, and when I get it all setup I will take some photos for you.

Lensman, I will try and get you some measurments of the family room ASAP as I want to see what kind of drawings you can come up with for that. I do know it is 24' long by 13' wide. And again, there is a sliding glass window in the back and an opening to the hallway and kitchen. I will get those together.

Thanks again.

Ryan

[PAT.P]

Set up B looks good to me also ! As for C you dont have to build a wall some office supply store have dividers ( cubicle ) already built to partition and are cover with fabric .But the B set up is open concept and lots of new home come with this feature .Best of luck to you and family in your new home ! Priority are family first ,home theater second !Pat .P

[ryjam282]

I agree 100% about the priorities. Thanks for you help as well Pat. P

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

Ryjam,
Lensman has done some excellent work here, but even his work has some problems built in.

Diagram A:

Each main L/R speaker "sees" a different reflection point(wall). This will tend to shift the imaging to the speaker with the closest point to the side wall. If you are going to use this setup, you will need to get a room divider thick enough to reflect mostly all of the highs, mids, and lower bass(deep bass is handle by sub). The same for your side L/R surrounds. If one is located close to the wall, and the other is in open space, the imaging(and frequency response) will shift to the speaker closest to the wall. The fact that one whole side of your hometheater is wall less, will shift the imaging to the opposite side, and the frequency balance on the open side will be much different than for the side closer to the wall(or window whichever).

Diagram B:

Has the same problem as A. But you have now added an absorbtion point next to one of the surrounds.

Diagram C:

This is probably the best setup of the three. All surrounds see a wall, and the L/R mains both see open space. I vote for this one if you can get the necessary wiring right, and out of sight.

Where I see a huge problem is in the deep bass. This room is pretty large, and you will be driving the sub quite hard with some of the soundtracks that are out there. I would look into purchasing a second sub in the future to help give you some extra headroom in your system. Right now you have next to none unless you keep the volume pretty low.

Lensman, you are da bomb dude. Great work!

.

[Lensman]

Lensman, what else can I say but WOW!!!!!! That is truly awesome what you have done for me. I will show it to the boss and see what we can do. I like the idea of the third one but like you said, it could be expensive. I am skilled with a saw and could pull off that freestanding wall. I think I like version B the best though as I would like to get as many seats as possible to view the TV. Anyways, I will keep you all posted as to what I do, and when I get it all setup I will take some photos for you.

Lensman, I will try and get you some measurments of the family room ASAP as I want to see what kind of drawings you can come up with for that. I do know it is 24' long by 13' wide. And again, there is a sliding glass window in the back and an opening to the hallway and kitchen. I will get those together.

Thanks again.

Ryan

You're quite welcome, Ryan. Glad I could help. I look forward to hearing the outcome of the discussion with your wife. Sir T. has spoken truly (and I am honored by your compliment Sir T.) when he cautions that, regardless of layout, there will still be sonic problems with this room. Its symmetry, size and window lighting are all working against your efforts to create an optimum HT setup. This isn't to say you can’t have one you find satisfactory. But it may be possible to set up a more enjoyable one in your family room. I’ll keep an eye out for those measurements.

[ryjam282]

You're quite welcome, Ryan. Glad I could help. I look forward to hearing the outcome of the discussion with your wife. Sir T. has spoken truly (and I am honored by your compliment Sir T.) when he cautions that, regardless of layout, there will still be sonic problems with this room. Its symmetry, size and window lighting are all working against your efforts to create an optimum HT setup. This isn't to say you can’t have one you find satisfactory. But it may be possible to set up a more enjoyable one in your family room. I’ll keep an eye out for those measurements.


Lensman, here is the quick measurments for my family room. I really don't think it is feasible to do it here but let me see what you have in mind.

I spoke with the wife and she wants to see what you can come up with in the family room before we make any decisions. She loves that you put the xmas tree in the window like she wanted : )

Ryan

[Lensman]

Lensman, here is the quick measurments for my family room. I really don't think it is feasible to do it here but let me see what you have in mind.

I spoke with the wife and she wants to see what you can come up with in the family room before we make any decisions. She loves that you put the xmas tree in the window like she wanted : )

Ryan

I'm glad your wife liked the drawings. Home theaters should bring people together. While it's important to try to optimize the layout for best sound, it's important the layout also works for the people living with it. Of course, the best layouts do both.

I think your family room will actually work better for your setup. Although there are non-ideal openings, the smaller size (and I assume non-vaulted ceiling) will help you maintain better bass levels. You should also have fewer acoustic problems in this room. In addition, it will also be easier to control the lighting having the single patio door and no windows.

I've attached what I feel is the best layout for this room. By placing your seating and TV across the center of the room, you should be able to get reasonably decent symmetry with your speakers' reflections. Being a foot wider, this room will also allow you to place the seating farther from your TV. I've placed a 6' sofa and two La-Z-Boys to show how the layout could provide more view seating within the soundfield.

As subs generally provide better response in corners, I've placed yours in the top left. It could also go in the bottom left. You may be able to place it elsewhere, such as along the wall with your mains, you'll just have to experiment.

Your surrounds should be placed about 2-3 ft. above your head when seated. The rear surrounds can mount on the wall. The left and right surrounds could be mounted on tall stands or attached to the ceiling. Figure A shows this. You could also mount them to the walls as shown in B, though this is less ideal.

With a couple of small end tables with tables lamps near the La-Z-Boys, or floor lamps to the outside of each of the rear surrounds, and maybe a media storage rack or bookcases along the bottom wall, this could be a very nice entertainment area.

[PAT.P]

Lensman your at it again! This room would be great one for home entertainment centre I like your drawing A with speaker on side of couch I would also add another sub at other corner it is a very large room.My living room is 26 feet long X 16 and added another sub it really added the extra bass without concentrating on one corner ,now it just blend in .Fine work again! Pat.P

[ryjam282]

Here is what we decided on. She didn't want to use the family room. So, here is my dilemma, the side surrounds, right now, I have them mounted about 1 foot in front of the listening position (the couch next to the lazyboy, that is where we sit 99% of the time). Should I move those back a bit and angle them a bit forward? But, if I do this, will the sound from them blend too much with the rear surrounds that are mounted above the rear window? Please help on what I should do with this lay out. Much thanks to all.




Ryan

[jeskibuff]

So, here is my dilemma, the side surrounds, right now, I have them mounted about 1 foot in front of the listening position (the couch next to the lazyboy, that is where we sit 99% of the time). Should I move those back a bit and angle them a bit forward?
In my opinion, you should move them further BEHIND you, maybe 1 or 2 feet behind your heads. Don't bother angling them forward. Where they're at now will NOT put you properly in the surround field. What you sense should be happening behind you will actually be "happening" in front of you, which is not the way it is meant to be.


But, if I do this, will the sound from them blend too much with the rear surrounds that are mounted above the rear window?If you can properly set the distances of both the sides and the rears using your preamp/receiver, you won't have to worry about improper "blending".

If you spend 99% of your time on that couch, I would try to center it between the side walls. Move the recliner to some other spot and you should have plenty of room to get to the play area on both sides of the couch. Your listening position is really screwy right now, off-center from ALL the speakers.

[ryjam282]

Bump for Lensman reply. I need to talk with when you hav a second. PM or email me when you can, thanks a lot.

Ryjam282@bellsouth.net

Ryan

[ryjam282]

Actually, Lensman, How about something like this? I have a question about the specs of the room and the furniture and TV specs. How correct are they to actual scope? This is the way I was looking at doing the room and I wanted to know what you thought or if anyone can give me an idea as to how it would sound this way. Any input will do, thanks a lot.


Ryan

[Lensman]

Actually, Lensman, How about something like this? I have a question about the specs of the room and the furniture and TV specs. How correct are they to actual scope? This is the way I was looking at doing the room and I wanted to know what you thought or if anyone can give me an idea as to how it would sound this way. Any input will do, thanks a lot.

Ryan

Sorry for the delay. Things have been somewhat busy for me lately and this thread must have popped up and gotten buried by new posts before I had an opportunity to see it.

To answer your question regarding the correctness of the drawings, the dimensions are accurate to one tenth of an inch of the dimensions you specified in your preceeding posts. The family room was built to the dimensions you posted Nov. 15. For the TV, I visited Hitachi's site and got the dimensions for the 57uwx20b model you stated in your post from Nov. 8. The couches and chairs are built to the dimensions you specified for your main room on November 10. I did redraw them a bit differently for the family room art, but they are really the same pieces of furniture. The coffee table is, of course, pure fantasy. I made a rough guess on the speakers, as their exact sizes didn't seem critical to laying out your rooms.

Your revised layout is, on the whole, not bad with the exception of your left front speaker. As all your other speakers are against walls and this one is a considerable distance from anything, overall volume will probably be 2-4 db quieter from it. Though you can compensate for that on your receiver, there may additionally be noticable loss of bass from speaker. Your soundstage may also appear a bit off center as the first reflection point from this speaker is outside the room. Aside from the acoustic issues, I'd further tend to think placing a speaker (and it's wiring) out in the center of a entryway would pose a problem with the family.

A reasonable compromise would be to place the front mains next to your TV, move them forward so the grills are just slightly forward of your screen, and angle them in towards each other a bit (like you're pointing them at the middle of the center sofa). I'd angle the left and right surrounds a bit more toward the sofa as well.

[ryjam282]

Thanks so much Lensman. I appreciate the response as always...Unfortunately, when we tried to do the move of the room this weekend for the Super Bowl party it wasn't a success. The back window posed a bit of a problem, the TV was getting a pretty bad light reflection on it even with the blinds closed. So, I have 2 options that I can really think of. 1.) Tint the back sliding window. 2.) Get a different TV. Would and LCD screen get any kind of reflection off it? That is what I am unsure about. It would be about 12 feet or so from the back window and in direct view of it. Can anyone help on this matter? My wife wanted a new TV anyways so this might be a good way for me to get her to do it. Please help....AGAIN : )

[Lensman]

Thanks so much Lensman. I appreciate the response as always...Unfortunately, when we tried to do the move of the room this weekend for the Super Bowl party it wasn't a success. The back window posed a bit of a problem, the TV was getting a pretty bad light reflection on it even with the blinds closed. So, I have 2 options that I can really think of. 1.) Tint the back sliding window. 2.) Get a different TV. Would and LCD screen get any kind of reflection off it? That is what I am unsure about. It would be about 12 feet or so from the back window and in direct view of it. Can anyone help on this matter? My wife wanted a new TV anyways so this might be a good way for me to get her to do it. Please help....AGAIN : )

Sorry to hear the lighting caused problems. Of course the "get a new TV" option is always good to hear from the wife. But if the light was still coming from the window (glass door?) through the blinds, it sounds like a set of reasonably heavy curtains might do wonders.

As for LCD TVs, they are somewhat brighter and a little less susceptible to screen glare, but susceptible they still are, so I don't know that would solve the problem as it sounds like the light is pretty bright.

As for placement, I'm a bit confused about your 12 foot dimension. Which room would this be in?

[ryjam282]

I guess blinds could do the trick. And yes, it is coming from the glass door. The dimensions I am talking about are from the family room. The last picture you did for me was of my family room, check your pics on the 2nd page of this thread, I will look into the blinds and the TV's as well. It wouldn't be for at least a few more months before I can go out and drop $3000 on a new TV yano so hopefully we can get all the specifics and questions done here before I get to the new room setup.

I can tell you, when I moved the couches in there they seemed a bit cramped but overall they were OK. So, who knows maybe the wife will want to get some new couches too. Which honestly will be a good idea, as I may be able to get some nice theater style seats in there with her approval : ). So, Lens, can you think of any other obstacles that I may run into in that room? You have the dimensions, do you have any questions?

[Lensman]

I guess blinds could do the trick. And yes, it is coming from the glass door. The dimensions I am talking about are from the family room. The last picture you did for me was of my family room, check your pics on the 2nd page of this thread, I will look into the blinds and the TV's as well. It wouldn't be for at least a few more months before I can go out and drop $3000 on a new TV yano so hopefully we can get all the specifics and questions done here before I get to the new room setup.

I can tell you, when I moved the couches in there they seemed a bit cramped but overall they were OK. So, who knows maybe the wife will want to get some new couches too. Which honestly will be a good idea, as I may be able to get some nice theater style seats in there with her approval : ). So, Lens, can you think of any other obstacles that I may run into in that room? You have the dimensions, do you have any questions?

Blinds may work well, though curtains usually are better at blocking light leakage around the edges. You could use both and present your wife with more options for establish room decor. As for the dimensions, I wanted to verify it was the family room as I've been used to applying measurements to wall lengths as opposed to seating distance with the drawings. ;)

I can definitely see two couches being a bit of a squeeze. In fact, that's why I used one couch and two chairs in my original drawings. Theater seats, of course, would be excellent. :)

As for obstacles, there are no major ones I'm aware of. Though there's always some little detail somewhere in the room that can be a pain, I see nothing insurmountable. There is, of course, the matter of running the wiring to all your speakers in some hidden or aesthetic fashion. But there's ALWAYS that. You will also need to experiment with placement to find the best location for the sub.

On the whole though, this room will be much easier to set up and will provide a much better acoustic environment then your other room. The fact that the room has normal features, like windows and entryways, and wasn't built as dedicated HT room when the home was built, precludes perfection of course. But us poor working Joes gotta work with what we got. In this case, what you have is not so bad (I've definitely seen much worse). So I say, "Forward Ho!"

[ryjam282]

Well, it looks like that will be it. Tax money and my yearly bonus will go towards a TV and some new seating for this room. I will do the curtains I believe and hopefully nothing else comes up. I have the wiring all drawn up. This room is carpeted so I will either run it all under the carpet or around the baseboards or the room. Probably sometime next month I will do all of this and keep you in the loop. I am sure I will need help with the actual speaker placement ;) so keep a heads up for this post or I will just email you.


Thanks again.

Ryan

[Lensman]

Well, it looks like that will be it. Tax money and my yearly bonus will go towards a TV and some new seating for this room. I will do the curtains I believe and hopefully nothing else comes up. I have the wiring all drawn up. This room is carpeted so I will either run it all under the carpet or around the baseboards or the room. Probably sometime next month I will do all of this and keep you in the loop. I am sure I will need help with the actual speaker placement ;) so keep a heads up for this post or I will just email you.


Thanks again.

Ryan

Glad you have a plan. Let me know if I can help further and don't forget to posts some pics for us when you're done.
:)

[ryjam282]

Hey, Lensman. I am bumping this thread as I finally got the new furniture and would like a new drawing if possible. What I got is 2 chairs, one is a loveseat and the other is called a chair but it is more of a loveseat with an ottoman.

The Loveseat is 71.5" and the chair is 61.5" and I don't have the dimensions of the Ottoman.

I was thinking of maybe doing them in kind of a V in the center of the room. What do you think? Let me know if you need anything else in terms or measurments. Thanks and looking forward to hearing from you.