Surround Sound Rear Speaker Ceiling Placement
I'm looking for some opinions on where to place two rear surround speakers. I want to setup a 5.1 surround sound system for a small 12x12 room. Based on the ceiling layout and attic access, I can thin. Plan the location. Once you start making holes in the wall, there is no turning back, so plan your speaker placement carefully. Ideally, you're going to want your.
How to place your speakers for the best sound SVS receives lots of questions about loudspeaker and subwoofer placement for home theater systems. We’ve already covered subwoofer placement, so this article will focus on the loudspeaker channels. When home theater was in its relative infancy, a 5.1 system was state-of-the art. Now even 7.1 is standard and 9-channel and 11-channel surround sound processors are increasingly common. Regardless of the number of speakers in a home theater system, the final goal is the same – precise localization of special effects, a spacious sound stage, seamless panning across all channels and three-dimensional imaging.
This can only occur if each speaker channel is properly placed. Karenna Morrowind Mod Sites. 5.1 and 7.1 Systems The main speakers should be placed 25-30 degrees off-axis, relative to the primary seating position. The best imaging will be obtained when the tweeters are close to ear height when seated. Most tower speakers accomplish this naturally, and a bookshelf monitor will require stands. Pulling the main speakers away from the corners (to the extent allowed by room traffic) will reduce boundary reflections and improve imaging. The center channel should be placed directly on-axis, relative to the primary seating position.
As with the main front speakers, placing the tweeter at/near head level when seated is optimal. Crypter Cracked Feet on this page. But depending on the placement of the video display or projection screen, this is not always possible. If the center channel must be located below head level, then an upward tilt of the speaker is recommended to improve mid/high frequency response and dialogue intelligibility.
In a 5-channel system, the side surround speakers should be located 90-110 degrees off-axis. For the best sense of spaciousness, the tweeter height should be about 2 feet above ear level. In a 7.1 system, dedicated rear surround speakers are placed behind the primary seating position for enhanced rear panning effects.
Place the rear surround speakers at 135-150 degrees off-axis, relative to the primary seating position. As with the side surround speakers, position the rear surround tweeters about 2 feet above head level when seated. 9.1 and 11.1 Systems The recent development of 9 and 11 channel surround sound processors brings Wide and Height ‘presence’ channels into the system to even further enhance sound stage spaciousness and immersion.
Since native Blu-ray formats are currently only available in 7.1, the use of Wide or Height speakers requires the use of an upconverting algorithm in the surround sound processor - like Audyssey DSX, DTS Neo:X and Dolby ProLogic IIz. The wide speaker channels are intended to be placed between the main front speakers and the side surround speakers. The goal of the wide speaker is to minimize any gaps in panning and imaging between the front main speakers and the side surround speakers and provide an additional sense of envelopment. The optimal location for the wide speakers is about 60 degrees off-axis, relative to the primary seating position. Audyssey recommends that the wide speakers be placed at head level when seated.
The height speaker channels should be placed in the upper left/right corners of the front stage. Typically this will be 40-45 degrees off-axis and about 8 feet in height.
A downward tilt of the speaker will improve mid/high frequency response and reduce ceiling bounce reflections. The height speakers enhance imaging in the vertical plane, and can even be used to create sound effects which seem to come from directly above the listening position, which provides total immersion into the surround sound experience. Beyond 11 Channel – Dolby Atmos Introduced in 2012 to commercial movies theaters, Dolby Atmos adds ceiling-mounted speakers to create special effects which emanate from above the viewer. This brings a new and thrilling dimension of realism to the cinema experience. Is now partnering with select consumer electronic audio brands to add Dolby Atmos decoding capability to home audio AV receivers and processors. Expect to see Dolby Atmos capable home audio processors hit the market in late 2014.
Implementing Dolby Atmos in a home theater will involve either mounting speakers in the ceiling, or adding Dolby-Atmos-enabled speaker modules which fire upward at the ceiling, thus relying on boundary reflection to provide the illusion that the special effects are originating from overhead. More on Atmos and next generation processing to come!