Hi there,

I recently bought a new home, and my builder is going to to pre-wire my home theatre speakers. Now, because of the layout of the room, we decided to put the TV over the fireplace which i know is not ideal, but it made sense based on where we are going to put our furniture. The TV is going to be a 46' LCD and it will be mounted at about 6 feet up the wall, so it's high enough over the fireplace. The room is 16x13 ft with the 16 being the wall the TV is going to go on. There are also large windows on either side of the fireplace, so i would like to wall mount the front speakers rather than get floor speakers that block the windows. The first question is, how far away from the TV should those wall speakers be, and am i going to lose sound quality by having the speakers that high up on a wall. Also, should the rear speakers be mounted on the back wall at the same height, or should they be ground speakers. Just 1 final question..... our couch will probably be about 11 ft away from the TV, is that going to be a suitable distance for watching a TV that is 6 ft up on the wall Thanks in advance for your help

The first question is, how far away from the TV should those wall speakers be ... As long as they're shielded speakers, they can be as close as you like to the TV. The wider apart you place them, the larger the "soundstage".

... am i going to lose sound quality by having the speakers that high up on a wall.You won't lose "sound quality", but you might want to have them angled down toward your sitting area. Oh, and if you are going to go with smaller, wall-mounted speakers, you may want to consider getting a subwoofer.

Also, should the rear speakers be mounted on the back wall at the same height, or should they be ground speakers. ... It doesn't really matter. If you do use a pair of bookshelf speakers on stands, though, try to have the speakers at the level of your ears when you're seated (~36").

... our couch will probably be about 11 ft away from the TV, is that going to be a suitable distance for watching a TV that is 6 ft up on the wall ... 11' from a 46" TV is fine; however, it's probably too close for the height at which it's mounted. You might want to try a test with a cardboard cutout taped/pinned to a wall.

As long as your get a tilt wall-mount, you can adjust the angle of the tv for best viewing. As for the speakers, get tilting wall-mounts so that you can angle them down a bit, so that the sound hits you on your sofa.

That's great advice guys thanks. What exactly do you mean by soundstage?

While soundstage (http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/primers/the-primers/soundstage-ambience--accuracy.html) may not be the correct term, I was referring to the breadth / expansiveness of the "sound field". If you get a chance, demo your speakers in two different positions:
- right next to each other; and
- 10' or so apart.

You should notice a much more expansive "sound field". So, while you could place your speakers immediately to each side of the TV, you may find the end result more satisfying if you place them farther apart (assuming you have the space to do so).