Hello all, just recently joined the forum...

I am hopeful that someone can recommend a speaker configuration which would optimize the sound for our main living area in our house. The space that I am filling out is a rectangular shaped living and dining room, approx 30 feet in total length, split roughly evenly between dining and sunken living room. The dining room has standard 9 foot ceilings, while the living area opens up into a larger A-framed space with ceilings approaching 25 feet. A foyer with same height opens off the side of the living room, kitchen off the side of the dining area.

The listening area is via couches and chairs throughout the living room, standard dining room tables and chairs in the other room. In trying to fill the room with sound I am open to a 5.1 speaker configuration or 2 wall mounted bookshelves with a sub. I will be powering the setup with a Denon AVR 689 receiver. I recently returned a Bose Acoustimass system back to the store – to put it mildly, just wasn’t quite the same sound as I heard in their demo room.

The different ceiling heights, length of the room and trying to avoid a speaker blaring in your ears are the challenges I am facing in this space. So I guess I’m looking for advice on:

1. 5.1 or 2+sub speaker setup. Considering an Energy Take Classic 5.1 system
2. Height and position of the wall mounted speakers – esp in the living room. Should these be mounted at height level ie 6 ft or positioned higher on the wall 10-15 feet?
3. Where room opens to the larger ceiling height, position a speaker high on this wall back into the living space?

Finally, is there a better way to stream music from laptop / Airport Express than the RCA inputs, would an optical feed improve the sound quality?

Any suggestions would be very helpful. Thanks!