Page 1 of Positioning of surround speakers

I`m buying a cheap surround system. The Bush PRO300 looks favourite as it`s only £90. If I don`t like it, or I have a problem positioning the speakers and lose my temper, then it`s not a huge loss of dosh when it gets thrown out the window...
My question is, how important is positioning of the rear speakers ?
I won`t have too much trouble with the front ones,although the centre speaker will be an unsightly pain ( anyone positioned one behind their player in their stand ? ), but the rears will be a problem. The only place I can put them is on the floor at either side of a settee that isn`t directly opposite the TV. It`s more South West of the TV in the 7 o`clock position. Is this, and having them on the floor a problem ?
Time for someone to invent wireless surround I think...Unlikely I know but a nice thought anyway.

The DigiTheatre manual has loads of good advice about speaker positioning and setting delays etc. Even goes into detail about best speaker positions for odd shaped rooms.
It`s available to view/download at:

http://www.videologic.co.uk/Support/DigiTheatre/DigiTheatre_User_Guide_EF.pdf

You will need Adobe Acrobat viewer to be able to read the .pdf file.

Robby

yes some interesting stuff in that file.

I seem to remember Westy having something to say about `speaker positioning` a while back, if we are lucky he may tell us his views again.

As in this digitheatre file, is it best to have the surround speakers facing directly each other?

L.H.

Safeway are selling the Bush Pro 300 for £60. They are selling out fast though.

I got mine from the Solihull branch, there were two left.

Don`t know if that helps you.

I think the design of houses needs looking at. Most people have their tv in an alcove (me included) which makes it hard to postion the speakers correctly.

Wherever you put them they are not easy to disguise so why not make a "feature" of them. I`m considering painting mine various colours.

Hi all its Mr West!

I won`t go on here, point here http://www.area450.com/homecinema/odeon.htm for all the hints,tips and info you`ll ever need about setting up your system.

Westy

Centre speaker - behind the tv will muffle things, I`d think. Rears - I have heard of people having them on the floor, but raised up a bit, and pointing towards the ceiling.

....pointing towards the ceiling??????

Now I`m confused, do I point them at each other?, ear level and straight across? behind and directed at the listenor?, behind and at the back wall? or at the ceiling, never heard that one before...lol.

Yes, wierd one, eh?
Have a read of Westy`s article. Here`s the page with the positioning tips on http://www.area450.com/homecinema/odeon2.htm - the usual is to go for about 2-3 feet above ear level, pointing at each other on the side walls above the listener, rather than way behind the listener. Remember to think of them as "surround" rather than "rear" speakers.

This item was edited on Sunday, 30th December 2001, 08:27

Yes, quite correct Richard.

There is a common misconception that the rear signals should be highly directional - this is clearly not the case when you go to the pictures.

Ideally, surround speakers shouldn`t be 100% spot on in terms of localisation of sounds - instead you should get the sense that something is going on behind you, but you`re not sure where exactly.

This is where the argument about bipole/dipole -vs- conventional speakers kicks in. Conventional speakers tend to be more precise (i.e. "that come from the left rear speaker") whereas dipole/bipole speakers (eg, like my shiny new Mish m7ds speakers) spread the sound a lot more (i.e. "that came from somewhere behind me"). True AV fans suggest that not being able to accurately pinpoint where the rear signals come from is far superior :-)

Hmmm...still confused as to wheres best to put em.

At moment I`m pulling the setee out so as the surrounds are at the sides about 1m away, fairly high up, just at the back of setee but angled towards listening position slightly.

I`ll do some experamenting I think.

Thanks for your comments.

P.S How do you set delays for surround/centre etc?

Cheers

L.H.