Questions about 7.2 rough in

[lastyear4gt]

Ok, I'm past the framing stage of the ht build. I have all the speaker plates, and audio coaxial plates, wiring and cat 5 cabling. I have read all the info on dolby.com and so fourth. So I have 3 questions:

1. Is there any reason I can't use a standard device box for the speakers and telephone outlets as apposed to the low voltage single gang box frames?

2. Where exactly do I place all the speakers in relation to the television and seating areas (measurements from Center?)

3. My seating area is open on one side so my center surround speakers can't be right beside my head (I'm not using stands) and I would prefer not to mount the speakers at ear level height. Will it be ok to mount the speakers higher pointing down at viewing height?

Thanks.

[lastyear4gt]

Ok, so with a little more digging I found this tell me if it's correct.

Center speaker- right directly below the tv pointing at the main viewing area ear level
Front right/left- approx 30 degrees from tv-viewing position center line at ear level
Center surrounds- right at or slightly rearward and slightly above viewing position not pointing directly at ear level
Rear surrounds- 2-3ft above ear level not pointing directly at ear level.

Sound right?

[57]

And if those positions are not possible due to room configuration, then close enough is good enough.

The LF & RF speakers and the listener should be at the points of an equilateral triangle, however, that's not always possible, or desired, depending on the room configuration if that places the LF & RF speakers too close to the wall for example.

[lastyear4gt]

How close is too close? Should I Go to extremes to avoid that or is the difference in quality not worth the hastle? I ask because one speaker is close to a corner.

What about the device boxes?

[Tezster]

I'd say position the speakers as close to the ideal locations as practically possible. After that, most modern AVRs will have some type of built-in acoustic calibration system you can run to balance out the audio levels of the speakers.

[57]

How close is too close?

This depends on the type of speaker (monopole, bi/dipole, ported, etc. Some require more space than others and if the speakers are good, they often have placement recommendations in the manual that came with the speakers. I'd say 2' from a side-wall is a good idea and 1' would likely be a minimum (for LF & RF). Some speakers even require a distance from the front wall (usually floor standers), again depending on the speaker. There are no generalization that apply to all speakers.

[lastyear4gt]

Great thanks guys. I guess device boxes are ok? Nobody mentioned that

[57]

I prefer to have a small hole in the wall for the speaker wire without a box or additional connection to go wrong. Very clean look. I usually put a knot in the speaker wire behind the speaker to prevent it from going back into the wall. Same for HDMI or other signal connections - direct connection, but obviously without the knot.

[lastyear4gt]

Great, thanks again!

[Costa]

Your AV receiver should be able to detect the locations of all the speakers and adjust all speaker levels. These AV receivers come with a optimizer mic, that you place in the center of your room (considered your center seating area, or center of it.) This is important, as not every room is created ideally for a surround sound system, for any tv location.

[lastyear4gt]

I did some measurements last night. I put up a mock up of my tv. It works out that the front speakers will sit about 50" high, one speaker is approx 12" from the corner, 31" from the tv, using equal spacing from the tv on the other side the space between them is 8.8'. At a viewing distance of 13', that works out to be pretty descent. From corner to far speaker is 118", which just happens to be the exact distance I can place the rear surrounds apart, with them at a height of approx 70". As for the center surrounds, because of the open concept, I'll have to go in ceiling or ceiling mount speakers, so they will be adjustable.

I think this works out pretty good eh?

[57]

Looks good. Remember to label your speaker wires where they come out of the wall to the AVR. I can't believe the number of homes I go to where the contractor or individual have not bothered to label the 5-7-9 wires coming out of the single location behind the AVR.. Also, make sure you maintain polarity at the speakers and the AVR when connecting.

[lastyear4gt]

Awesome thanks again for your help 57!

[lastyear4gt]

Ok so for the past couple nights I've been slowly running my speaker wires and sub coaxials, and so far I ran all 3 front channels and sub and center speakers surrounds. Up to now i have been very diligent not to run them along power wires, running along the top of the wall far away from the plugs with minimal crossing at 90 degree crossings. Now the rear surrounds and sub I am having a hard time keeping them away from power wires especially 1 240v heater wire. If they have to run along side of the power wires for a sort run (2ft or less), will I have a problem with interference due to voltage induction?

[Costa]

Speaker wire is shielded, and I wouldn't worry about it.