5.1 Surround advice

rpidemon

TK Veteran
*Not sure if this thread is in the right section so admins please move if not*
I have just purchased a Yamaha 5.1 surround sound with speakers from everybody's favourite auction site, I have been after one for a while for the cinema/footy in the pub feel. I understand the setup 2 in front 2 behind but looking for some advice on positioning due to the layout of my front room... crap Photoshop colour by numbers living room layout in the spoiler.
Blue boxes are windows.
Surround sound.png
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
Usually postions are with tv as centre piece
Left front of tv----------------tv-------------------right front of tv
Centre speaker under tv
Left rear of seating area -----------------------------Right rear of seating area.
Subwoofer on floor beside tv.

Might also depend on how long cables are or if its bluetooth no restriction.
 
Every room is different, you have to experiment and find which suits you best. It took me a week to adjust and perfect my 5.1 setup
 
Thank you guys I understand the basic placement but was after advice on my room layout, would it be best to mount the rear speakers on the back wall either side of the window or directly behind sofa 1 (where my backside in mainly parked) on speaker stands cable length is not a issue as will be cut to length.
 
my living room is a fairly similar shape to yours, albeit a mirror image
ie: TV in corner,
you will find that you can only set the balance up perfectly for 1 seating position,
with my set-up I can watch motorbike racing and have the bikes pass through my living room perfectly,
my seating position would be sitting on the left side of your sofa 2.
my speakers are,( in respect to how your seating is ) centre under TV, sub in unit under TV, RF ceiling above TV, LF opposite corner of TV wall (above your sofa 1 ), RR and LR on ceiling behind sofa 2, in respective corners,
so you can see how its impossible to have more than 1 ideal seating position.

if you want to sit on the right side of sofa 1 , then rotate everything by 90 degrees clockwise
 
my living room is a fairly similar shape to yours, albeit a mirror image
ie: TV in corner,
you will find that you can only set the balance up perfectly for 1 seating position,
with my set-up I can watch motorbike racing and have the bikes pass through my living room perfectly,
my seating position would be sitting on the left side of your sofa 2.
my speakers are,( in respect to how your seating is ) centre under TV, sub in unit under TV, RF ceiling above TV, LF opposite corner of TV wall (above your sofa 1 ), RR and LR on ceiling behind sofa 2, in respective corners,
so you can see how its impossible to have more than 1 ideal seating position.

If you want to sit on the right side of sofa 1, then rotate everything by 90 degrees clockwise
Thank you I had a look online at various set-ups but most images just assume that everybody lives in a square, nobody has a fireplace or more than 1 window or sofa.
 
I was lucky with big double room with tv in alcove in front of window and my towering floor speakers 2 1/2 feet away from tv and 12 "sub in corner + could add 2 more centre speakers in mid section of room to enjoy 7-1 deafness.
 
I was lucky with big double room with tv in alcove in front of window and my towering floor speakers 2 1/2 feet away from tv and 12 "sub in corner + could add 2 more centre speakers in mid section of room to enjoy 7-1 deafness.
Ours is kind of a living room dinning room combo, I am sure will get it right with a bit of tweaking here and there. Thanks for your responses much appreciated.
 
Main seating area for TV is middle and right of sofa 1 and middle and left (next to the unit) of sofa 2. Either end on both sofas is not ideal viewing really, you can see the screen but not really sat central to it if that makes sense.
 
Aye as i am lucky in sitting halfway down room to right beside a chimney breast making chair away from wall and sofa beside left wall will have viewers looking over their left shoulder to view,lucky me no other viewers lol.
 
Fancy a house swap? :grin:
Do you have speakers at ear level or above for front and rear, there is a lot of contradiction around the Internet on the subject.
 
2 front floor standing speaker are about 3 1/2 foot tall,centre speaker sits on second shelf,18" below tv screen.
middle and rear speakers are 2 " from ceiling angled down.
 
2 front floor standing speaker are about 3 1/2 foot tall,centre speaker sits on second shelf,18" below tv screen.
middle and rear speakers are 2 " from ceiling angled down.
Excellent thank you for your input, when it arrives I will report back, any recommendations for cabling or is standard speaker cable okay?
 

i think i paid e500 for a roll and returned what was not used,handy the roll had measurement of what was used so i got a refund for the rest.
Dont go cheap and use good quality high end cables for sweet clear sound.
 
I would be asking in a hifi shop what they use for high power units as they would need to supply that and cable ends/plugs if needed.

Only my front 3 and 2 rear are using that heavy cable as middle speakers are using a white oxygen free cables on white walls.
 
I would be asking in a hifi shop what they use for high power units as they would need to supply that and cable ends/plugs if needed.

Only my front 3 and 2 rear are using that heavy cable as middle speakers are using a white oxygen free cables on white walls.
until i got audio monitors in my studio setup, i used 2.5 mains cable for my amp to speaker setup . absolutely brilliant 0.0005% copper free isnt needed as you cant hear the difference. however the nice looking cables that you get look better in the front room. just make sure that the cables are thick enough so you get no signal loss.
 
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