Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

Question

Speaker placement for large room, seating near front

Mar 12, 2017 1:16PM PDT

I've searched for a while without finding much info on the following speaker placement issue (this is for a planned system, I'm ready to buy once I've got all the planning issues worked out.) First off here's The Room (it's big): 4700cf, 21'3" wide. Length is divided due to the approx middle third of rear wall being set back from remainder of the rear wall (this middle wall section is offset from center as well). Length is 27'2" to outer thirds of back wall, 29'9" to set-backed center section of rear wall. The room's door is in the back corner on a side wall which opens flat against the rear wall when fully open. Next to the door (on side wall) is a wet bar set in a 7' x 30" alcove. Everything is drywall, some windows, W2W carpet. I am setting up for a Dolby Atmos /DTSLove 7.2.4 system: Klipsch RP-280f, RP-450c, Hsu VTF-2 MK5 subs, Klipsch CDT-5800-C-ii (4 in ceiling), R-5800-W-ii side surrounds, and for the rear surrounds either another pair of forward firing Klipsch R-5800 -W-ii or Klipsch RP-25S bipole speakers, or maybe Klipsch R-5650-W with bidirectional horns (in-wall placement for these is important, more on that in a moment.) 120" projector screen centered on front wall. The seating area (sectional sofa) is 10.5' from the screen (a bit close, but I always like sitting near the movie theater screen anyway). I believe I've got a great sound stage arrangement: seating area and front speakers make an equilateral triangle, center speaker just under screen, seating is 38% from one end of the room, side surrounds at ear level and equidistant to seating, I can place subs on center front and back walls or alternatively in the front corners, all 4 ceiling speakers can be ideally placed in the 8' overhead ceiling. But here's the issue: the seating is at the front of the room, not toward the back, so the rear surrounds will be waaaay back there and can't be placed far enough apart to meet the ideal minimum 60° spread (150° from front). The room's door when open covers 3' of rear wall so the RRS speaker has to be at least that far in or be blocked by the door when left open, unless I elevate it above the door's top (but that's not recommended for D Atmos rear speaker placement.) So where to place the rear speakers? And which ones? The Klipsch R-5800-W-ii (in-wall front firing), Klipsch RP-25-S (on-wall bipole), or maybe the Klipsch R-5650-W-ii (in-wall bidirectional two-horn)? One more important thing... the seating can't be moved toward the back of the room because it is occupied by my husband's pool table. Which also makes me hesitant to get the Klipsch bipoles for fear of someone and their pool cue hitting these fairly wall-projecting speakers. And the pool table is non-negotiable. His fun is playing pool, mine is a home theater (and girls just wanna have fun too, right?) Any tips on which type (front fire, bipole, bidirectional horn) of rear surround speaker and where to place them is greatly appreciated.

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Clarification Request
This really isn't the right place for ATMOS
Mar 13, 2017 8:17AM PDT

Most of what I have set up is strictly not a height-based system, such as ATMOS. Those discussions are few here since ATMOS is so new. You would benefit from starting with what Bob posted, and also perusing the Dolby site for really basic info on speaker placement. Cart before the horse, essentially.

Beyond that, for ATMOS you might look at the various threads @ AVS forums. I like some of the ideas you have proposed however. Here's a starting point:

Would you be willing to sketch something rough out and upload so we can get a better sense of your complete layout/options? I usually use something like tinypic for the upload since it does not require registration. Just post back the link here in the thread.

cheers

- Collapse -
Answer
I'm a heretic.
Mar 12, 2017 1:26PM PDT
- Collapse -
SUBWOOFER
Mar 13, 2017 12:27AM PDT

Is it possible to use the car subwoofer for Home Theater Systems ..?

- Collapse -
As you can guess
Mar 13, 2017 4:24AM PDT

Possible but may test the limits of what some folk can rig up.

- Collapse -
Yes, but you need to get the enclosure right
Mar 13, 2017 8:23AM PDT

Just one part of the equation. Makes little sense to me however, since subs are so inexpensive that would ship with the correct enclosure and possibly provide a warranty Wink

- Collapse -
Answer
I see Dolby has updated their site to include ATMOS(!) ;)
Mar 13, 2017 8:19AM PDT