Welcome to the Forum, Jerry!
Hi there! Had a question about my setup. The room is 16 x 16 and the tv is in the corner. My three front speakers are 12 ft. away from the sweet spot and my surrounds are 7 ft. away and a couple of feet above us. I just cant seem to get a seamless front soundstage for some reason.
It sounds okay , but I want it to sound like one big wall of sound.
Thanks for the picture, it sure helps diagnose your problem!
Generally speaking, corner arrangements are usually problematic.
To see why that is, let’s first cover a few basics: What does it take to accomplish optimized surround sound in a home theater? We can look to a regular theater as our guide. How are things set up in a movie theater? The screen is up front. The seating faces the screen. Front L/R speakers spread as far apart as possible for proper imaging. The surround speakers are to the sides and behind the viewers.
Basically, a home theater is not much different. No surprise that most recommended arrangements are the same as a theater: Screen up front, seating facing the screen, surround speakers to the sides or behind the viewers. The front L/R speakers are a bit different; they should stick with the “rule of thumb” for stereo, that the distance between them should be about the same as their distance from listening position.
Sooo, looking at your room, what do we have? The distance between the front L/R speakers is much less than the distance they are from the seating, which means pans from left to right will be much less dramatic (see purple lines in picture below). The surround speakers are in front of the seating, not behind it (blue ). In addition, they do not face the viewers. Depending on how they are oriented, either you have one firing back at the TV and one across to the other side of the room (red arrows), or they are both firing into the rear corner (green arrows).
Your seating/speaker arrangement, and the problems you’re having as a result, is common with corner set-ups.
Corner set-ups
can work very well, if done right. For instance, the ability to put the sub in the corner behind the TV is an excellent location: out of the way, with maximized output and performance, coming from dead center of the "action" instead of from a corner off to the side or behind you. The front speakers firing at walls angled at 45˚ eliminates any chance of "slapback" reverberation, where the sound hits the back wall and bounces right back to the front (and back again).
“If done right” – that’s the key. Basically, “done right” means arranging the room as if it
wasn’t turned 45˚: Sofa facing the TV, just like a regular room; the TV moved far enough out from the corner to allow a good distance between the L/R speakers; the surround speakers hung on brackets to the sides or behind the viewers that allow them to be turned 45˚ towards them.
The problem is that most people won’t want to do what is necessary for a corner arrangement to work right.
Bottom line, Jerry - I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there’s no magic bullet: If you want your movie-viewing sound to improve - if you want sound that actually envelopes you, rather than merely all out in front of you - you’re going to have to re-arrange your room and speakers. It’s a simple as that. If not, what you have now is the best it’s going to be.
Regards,
Wayne