Souround Sound

[davisbaumung]

Hello all out there! Iam Back after a few weeks of not posting! NEw problem is that I am moving down intothe basement of my granies house witch is about 30 feet away from teh one that me and my parents are living in right now. THe reson that i am moving down there is because I can no longer stand my parents. LOL.

So the propblem:

I want to set up a suround sound sytem down there. There is one large room with a tv (that has to replaced) Any suggestions on a TV that is only about 200-250 doolors perferable LCD and Flat screen so there is no big bulcky tv down there ! Then there is another room off the big room ( you can see it in the pics) My plan is to buy a souround sound system that has 2 big tower speakers infront of the tv, then get some wired or wireless little speakers to hang on the walls beacus some times the basement floods by the drain but it wount get near the tv or any other equipment,, only if the speackers where on the gournd then it might, so that is why I want to hang them on the wall. So any idease on what brand to go with ext, ext. What is better wired or wireless.. In the pic the red cricles repersent where i want to put the speackers. The 2 big ones beside the green cricle are the tower speakers and:

Green Cricle - TV

Blue Regtangle - Bed

YEllow Regtangle - Bunk Beds

Pink Regtangles - Couches

Brown Regtangles - Dreesers

Grey Box - Fridge

There is more but that is basically the furnicure!

So do you think that will work where i have the speakers located.

( The little line then line sorta formming a > is a door)

house_speakers.bmp

[davisbaumung]

No one is posting! Jk lol Take your time!

[davisbaumung]

Any Sugestions??

[shanenin]

I would like to set one up someday. As of now, I don't have any useful infomation to offer.

Edited April 10, 2006 by shanenin

[davisbaumung]

Hum thank you for posting! It seems ever one has that problem

[JDoors]

(Don't know if you're still in the planning stages ... )

I wouldn't put the TV and large speakers in the corner. With the speakers that close to one another you won't get the proper "sound stage," there'll be little or no stereo separation. Almost all the sound would appear to be coming from the screen. I might move the TV to the middle of the 'top' (in the pic) wall and the speakers at least eight feet apart on either side.

This also makes the left/right rear surrounds easier to locate in the correct position, one 'below' the door (again, according to the pic) and one on the 'left' wall. If there's a center rear surround it could go on the 'bottom' wall, but that might be too far from the others, is a ceiling mount feasible?

How many speakers are you installing? Looks like an awful lot. Too many and you could lose the 'positioning' effects (a sound that should move in a distinct direction would spread out too much to get a sense of position). How much you spending on the system?

[davisbaumung]

Well i am still in the plaing stages, WHy dont you take my paint and use green or something and draw where you would but the speackers. I dont know how many speackers i need you tell me. I will mesure the room soon it is a large room about the hole half of the basment.

[JDoors]

For the "ideal" sound it would be necessary to know what you're getting before you can say where they go. In a smaller, less powerful system it would be better to have the speakers closer to the listening area, if you had a ton o' power that wouldn't matter as much.

The number of speakers depends on what you're getting too. A basic surround system could need anywhere from four speakers (plus the built-in speaker in the TV) to seven or even more.

Adding more speakers than you have 'channels' isn't necessary (and could distort the sound stage among other things, like burn out your amplifier).

There are a LOT of variables; power (more is better for a large area, but more expensive), channels (5.1, that is five plus a subwoofer, is fairly standard for movies but is giving way to 6.1, 7.1 or even more), speaker size (not as important as in the past, good systems can have large or small speakers), furniture placement (is the current setup unchageable?), etc. There are even 'surround' systems with ONE speaker box.

And, of course, how much you're spending. There are good 'home-theater-in-a-box' systems, and lower quality ones, or individual components where you pick & choose the features, qualities and cost for each component.

If that all sounds too complicated you can be happy just buying an all-in-one system too. Depends on what you're looking for.

Generally; left & right speakers go on either side of the TV approximately six to eight feet apart (varies), left & right rears go behind or beside the seating approximately the same distance apart & at ear level if possible (higher's OK), if there's a subwoofer it can go almost anywhere (corners increase bass but can be too 'boomy').

If you're spending big, expect the store to help you with choices and placement.

[davisbaumung]

Thank you i got to go to calss will repond when i get home.

[davisbaumung]

Well I am finnily getting around to posting! Thank you for that reply, This room is sorta big, but the caouches are in a corner as seen in the picture so what if i just surrund them. But then on the same note i alos want to use a Y cable and go form my PC and listen to music over the surround sound that is y i wanted it all over. Any suggestions there?

Davis Baumung

[JDoors]

The only problem I see with the corner location is the main speakers would be too close to one another. You'll get little or no left and right separation (a "narrow soundstage").

Your PC likely has an AUX-OUT, a jack for the output of your sound card. Running that to an AUX or an unused TAPE input on the stereo should work fine.

[davisbaumung]

I heard that you only need the green port for Y cable and run it to your speaker (amp or what ever the main box is called) then you dont have speakers on your pc unless you get spliters but then you loss sound quality. Can you take that pic and use like a black or something and draw where you would place the speakers. That would be awsome, thank you in advance!

Davis Baumung

[davisbaumung]

Post count almost to 60 only one more POST, lol

[JDoors]

I heard that you only need the green port for Y cable and run it to your speaker (amp or what ever the main box is called) then you dont have speakers on your pc unless you get spliters but then you loss sound quality. Can you take that pic and use like a black or something and draw where you would place the speakers. That would be awsome, thank you in advance!

Davis Baumung

Not sure I understand the above ... If the green port is AUX out or LINE out, you can use a "Y" adaptor with a three conductor plug that goes into the port, and the two cables split from that are your left and right leads to go to your AUX or LINE in at your stereo. There should be no degradation for sound.

I filled in the stuff I'd move or eliminate and redrew where I'd put stuff (solid red=speakers, one in the corner's a subwoofer if you get one):

With that arrangement you'd get excellent spatial qualities with just a few minor sound level tweaks.

Edited April 27, 2006 by JDoors

[davisbaumung]

ok for the y cable i dont relaly know what i was tlaking about! What are the red squarees?

What if we where to not worrie about the little room off to the side and just put the speackers in the big room, i mesured it all off and then I forgot the papper so ya i will get that soon and i will post back then.

[JDoors]

Red squares from left to right: Subwoofer (if present, many systems use one but you have yet to say what you're going to be using), left main speaker, center speaker (if present, same reasoning as for subwoofer), right main speaker. This placement will "locate" sounds in movies more accurately than your original arrangment.

I didn't make any changes to the other room since the apparent size of the room makes it almost irrelevant where you place the speakers. I could be more specific if you knew you'd almost always be in one spot while listening in that room, but it doesn't appear it would matter much, place the speakers where they fit.

[davisbaumung]

Allright Are the yellow boxes the couches? I am thinking about just going to one of thoses in box ones or pre paid ones, i was looking at one in walmart they range from 150 to 300 bucks there so i will have to see. I guses i can just put them around the outer edge of the room too. I will likely get a sub if i go with the box type, right?

[davisbaumung]

Allright Are the yellow boxes the couches? I am thinking about just going to one of thoses in box ones or pre paid ones, i was looking at one in walmart they range from 150 to 300 bucks there so i will have to see. I guses i can just put them around the outer edge of the room too. I will likely get a sub if i go with the box type, right?

[davisbaumung]

Allright Are the yellow boxes the couches? I am thinking about just going to one of thoses in box ones or pre paid ones, i was looking at one in walmart they range from 150 to 300 bucks there so i will have to see. I guses i can just put them around the outer edge of the room too. I will likely get a sub if i go with the box type, right?

[JDoors]

The yellow outlines are where you originally located the furniture, but with that arrangement you wouldn't be able to separate the two main left/right speakers far enough apart -- most of the sound would appear to be coming from directly in front of you and you'd lose sound effects that pan between the left & right sides.

Just moving the furniture a little bit would allow you to speparate the left & right speakers far enough.

At the price point you're looking for I'd recommend placing the speakers as close to your seating as is practical for the best sound (similar to what I showed rather than spreading the speakers throughout the room).

I haven't shopped systems for a while but I'm guessin' all-in-ones come with a subwoofer nowadays.

[davisbaumung]

All right thank you! I will look in to stteing the furnature up like that. You sure know alot about sound are you a slaes person or jsut have esperense/

[JDoors]

Some basic experience, that's all. I've had surround for oh, geez, fifteen years or so maybe?

[davisbaumung]

posting from school gtg bye will post when i get home

[davisbaumung]

O allright thank you for your advice ii will go with a in box one and see. I dont have that much money to spent so that will be cheapper then the original plan lol.

Davis