Have your say & ask the experts

I have been reading articles on the placement of rear speakers in a home cinema 5.1 set up, most say they should be 2-3 feet above ear level.  I have to have my rear speakers on stands, the highest stands I have seen for sale, that would take book shelf speakers, are 100cm high.

For my rear speakers to be  2 feet above ear level I would need stands 160cm high.

The speakers will be close to my 3 seater sofa so does this mean they can be placed lower down?

Would appreciate any advice.

Hi - I use 1 metre stands for my rears and my sofa (seating position) is about 1.5 metres from each rear.  The surround sound is highly acceptable. How close will your sofa be to the rears, is there a gap between the sofa and the rear wall? If so just make sure the rears are against the back wall, either side of the sofa and toed in towards your listening position and you will be fine.

Don't forget that the usual advice for surround speakers places them to the SIDE and slightly behind the listening position, based on the Dolby model.  There are several articles online, this being one:

http://www.audioholics.com/tweaks/speaker-setup-guidelines/home-theater-speaker-layout-an-essential-guide 

Hi, Thanks for the replies.

 To answer your questions, my rear speakers will have to be very close to the sofa, probably about 20cm, which will mean if I'm sitting in the middle of the sofa I'll be about 1 metre away.

 

There is a gap of 2 metres between the sofa and the rear wall, but if I move the speakers close to the wall they will be the same distance away from the listening position as my front speakers are, which isn't ideal.  I can't move the sofa back because my bed is behind it.

 

My rear speakers have front firing bass ports, so they should be okay without a wall behind them.

If you say your set up sounds good with 1metre stands then I think I'll get a pair as this seems to be the best solution.

Hi - the stands I have are Atacama Nexus 10, I paid about £70 for them new about two months ago - well worth the money.

I wouldn't get too concerned with rear speaker placement, just make sure they are either side of the sofa and toed in. If you have auto set up AV then let the AV work its magic calibrating the speakers (it will be aware of the speakers distances and adjust the timing and level accordingly), or you can play with the settings yourself.  I would concentrate on a decent kit first and then play with the settings to suit your needs.

Thanks mattjax05,

 

I was also looking at the Nexus 10's where did you get them for 70.00? I can only find them for 80.00 with free delivery

http://www.petertyson.co.uk/ebuttonz/ebz_product_pages/atacama_nexus_10.shtml

 This is where I got them, free delivery - total cost £74.90

This company also sells them on ebay:

http://shop.ebay.co.uk/?_from=R40&_trksid=m38.l1313&_nkw=nexus+10&_sacat=See-All-Categories