[MingYan]

All:

Adding a 16 x 14 media room to the house. The back side of the room will slope down with the roofline to a litle over 5 feet. Has anyone placed rear surround on the angled part of the ceiling? Any recommendations on rear surround speaker placement?

I'm looking at the following setup for system:
Sony STR-DA1800ES Receiver
2 - Polk 65 RT for front Left and Right (In-Wall)
1 - Pok 255C-RT for center channel (In-Wall)
2 - Polk RC60i - (In-Ceiling) for LR Surround

Also interested in thoughts around these speakers/receiver. Any recommendations to change??????

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[orion]

I would advise against using inwalls for your front speakers. Inwalls work ok for surround sound duties but IMHO would be a bit lacking for your front stage. Are there room constraints that you are only looking at inwalls?

 

[MingYan]

Thought it would be cleaner as the TV will be mounted on the wall and components will be off to the side in a cabinet. I'd prefer to keep it clean and not have either speakers mounted to the wall or floor stand speakers. Really, I'm looking for a good sounding system........being a newbie, I was originally looking at the Bose V35 because it sounds good but keep hearing how everyone hates Bose and think it's overpriced.

If you have any recommendations, feel free.

Still trying to figure out if it works to put rear surround on an angled wall.

 

[AVoldMan]

I would advise against using inwalls for your front speakers. Inwalls work ok for surround sound duties but IMHO would be a bit lacking for your front stage.

I would second that comment. The fronts do have to do quite a bit of work for any of the soundtracks in movies and definitely for any music played through the system. I agree the clean look of built-in/wall speckers is nice - seems like all the TV magazine ads show that vision, but I think you really have to compromise the sound and to do it. Remember, for most movies (any many TV shows and sports) the sound is a big part of the enjoyment!

For about the same price (or less), Polk has some inexpensive floorstanding speakers that are rather thin/tall fom the front view, but deep. I have a pair of Polk Audio Monitor 60 speakers in cherry for the front in my crowded family room/HT room. The size is not visually over powering and has a rather clean look. Definitely, try to listen to both inwall and seperate speakers before deciding. I think if you're interested in getting the maximum sound the seperate speakers are going to do a better job!

The question is does it have to "look cool" or does it have to "sound good" ? That's the question you must answer. BTW, what are you doing for low frequencies ? A standalone subwoofer speaker, is once again the best for enjoyment, tuning, sound performance at a reasonable cost, but you have to find room for it.

 

[AudiocRaver]

If you get into seriously trying to get the best imaging and soundstage from your mains, it can mean playing with placement and angle, which in-wall obviously prevents, and those qualities are rarely good with in-wall.

They can help move your sound from the "nice" level to "wow."

Just a thought.:sn:

 

[James_Taylor]

Placement of home theatre components widely varies... It can be based on personal taste as well akin to decorating one's own room. I prefer placing my setup at the far end of the room, opposite the entrance.

 

[Todd Anderson]

Your best sound is going to come from floor standing or books on stands. There are also companies that make on the wall speakers that have a very thin profile... Still give you somewhat of a cabinet... Axiom is one company that has an on the wall line. At the end of the day there is a balance between optimum performance and aesthetics that comes down to personal preferences. A good friend of mine just built his HT in a dedicated room. He and his wife opted for in-walls and they love the result... Both from a sound and looks perspective. I know you were looking for a magic bullet answer... There may not be one. If I were you, I'd try to find a shop that has some in-walls that I could demo along side if floorstanders (even if they aren't the speakers you are interested in buying). Experience the differences yourself. That will be way more valuable than any answer you'll find on here.

As for the rear sound placement. I see no issue with it, however, I'd try my best to get them high enough on the rear wall so that the sound is shooting over the top of your head (when seated in your primary listening position). If that's not achievable, I'd look to a speaker-mount based situation with a small bookshelf speaker. Be creative with it.

 

[AudiocRaver]

One other thought. You will only be sure when you hear it in your own room, with your own mounting arrangement. If you go in-wall, you might try an approach which could be decoratively covered over if you decided you didn't like it and switched to freestanding. Either way, you might want to stick with the 30-day-trial product lines so you can return something if you are not happy.

By the way, imaging is a funny thing. You think it is not bad, and then you hear REALLY GOOD imaging and realize what you have been missing. Along with your in-wall trial, you might borrow a good pair of freestanding mains, set them up for the best possible imaging no matter how weird their positioning looks, just to know how good it can be, then decide on the balance of sound vs aesthetics from there. Just a thought.

 

[rab-byte]

There are in-wall speakers that will let you toe in but ideally your speakers should all be set to head level (odd for in-walls) also planning out in-wall for ideal placement requires a lot of work. If you're going to have cabinets, bookcases, or art on the wall with the TV then really consider exposed speakers. Also ideally your mains should be slightly in front of your display.

That being said Dolby and DTS do have placement standard visit their sites and do some research.