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

General discussion

surround sound questions

Jun 12, 2005 12:27PM PDT

I?m looking for A/V receivers and speakers. I kind of like the Yamaha receivers with the automatic set-up system (YPAO) that adjusts the receiver based on the speakers and room configuration. But YPAO only seems to be on surround 7.1 systems. I?m pushing the limits of my budget already, so I?m thinking about only buying a 5.1 speaker package now. Will this sound right? I assume so since the CNET articles indicate that there isn?t a lot of 7.1 sources out there.

Second question: how critical is it that the right/left surround speakers are located to the side of the listening area, as opposed to coming from behind. (house construction and wife acceptance factor severely limit my ability to place one of the speakers to the side).

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
k...
Jun 12, 2005 2:41PM PDT

I'm pretty sure that the YPAO works on 5.1 too. I have it for my 5.1 Happy Speaker placement can help, and my personal preference is to have the front/back left/right channels placed as though they are the corners of a box & I sit in the middle or rear-middle Happy Try to have them at the right height too (depends on head height when sat down & also ceiling height). A lot of systems have the rears ceiling mounted, facing down a lil bit, thats cool too.
If you really get into it, you can even consider placing acoustical pannels on the ceiling/walls to cover your 1st level direct reflection points Happy Crank it up and enjoy clean loud sound.
Good luck with the Mrs

- Collapse -
thanks
Jun 13, 2005 10:18AM PDT

Thanks for the help. Given that my wife doesn't want the walls and floors ripped up for the new system, I think that the acoustical panels are out!