5.1 Surround Speaker Question

[Bob_99]

I'm redoing my HT layout a bit and have a problem with placing the surround speakers because of the room symmetry. On my left, I have the surround about 113 degrees from the listening position and my right is about 108 degrees (with the height at 2.5 feet above the listening position on both). The left was placed to the left of a window and the right speaker was placed to the right of a window. Because of the windows, I can't get them to the same angle unless I go above the window which would place the speaker about 3.5 feet over the listening position. Can someone tell me if I should go high and equalize the angles or move the left speaker to the right of the window to give me an angle of about 102 degrees (with the right staying at 108 degrees).



Thanks.

Bob

[drdoan]

good question, Bob, I guess you will have to try them in both positions and adjust the distance on the receiver to match the rears. Most likely, your ears will determine the best position. If both speakers are somewhat behind and above your listening position, slight differences shouldn't be a problem. It probably would be more of a problem if the surrounds are direct instead of dipoles. Dennis

[Sonnie]

In my experimenting... I like having them further away to the rear from me than closer to the side of me.

However, as the doc says, you probably need to listen to both if you can.

[Bob_99]

Dr. Doan/Sonny,

Thanks for the replies. I think it's the Dolby standard that suggests 90 to 110 degrees in relationship to the listening position. I'm not sure what variations people have tried and enjoyed but I felt the left was a bit too far back for my taste. Putting them high is questionable because the distance to the ceiling gets shortened and I'm not sure that's a good thing. If I can figure out an easy way to try the different positions, I will.

Thanks again.

Bob

[Sonnie]

This other thread is 7.1, but you find it useful.