Quote Originally Posted by mdchambe
Hello,

I am setting up a home theater in a new room for my aunt. This space used to be a wide one car garage. One wall will be entirely windows (looking at the TV this is to your right) and the rear wall will be entirely built in bookcases.

her equipment is
Denon 2803
Denon DVD player, cant remember model number
Kef Q7 for fronts
Matching Kef center
Velodyne spl 1000 sub

My question is with the rears. I dont think that we can mount the rear to side wall because of the wall of windows and also because the room will be much wider than long. Could we use in wall speakers for this. If so, should they be mounted directly overhead the main sitting location or behind. If behind, how far behind. (anyone have any recommendation for a good in wall speaker for rears)

The only other location would be to get a set of speakers and set them on the bookshelves behind the main sitting area.

Thanks for you help
I am going to be honest, it doesn't really matter that the room is wider than it is long. I think alot of rooms are this way. My certainly is.

Surround speakers SHOULD be mounted on the side walls for best performance. Rear wall locations do not convey the surround experience with much accuracy. Because of head related transfer distortions, sound eminating from the rear in this kind of setup can sound like they are coming from up front of the head, instead of behind it. The spacious sound that is highly desired for rear channel effects are enhanced when the direction of the signal comes to the sides of the head, not from the rear of the head.

Place the surround approximately 2-3 ft behind the listening position and to the sides, and 2-3 ft over the head from a seated position. This works well for movies as well as music. If windows make it impossible to mount directly on the wall, use very tall stands to place the speakers on. I am using milk crates covered with decorative fabric that matches the speakers in color(black velvet) because I also cannot drill into the side walls. These kinds of room setups require creativity, not compromises.