Which direction should the speakers face for 5.1 DD Surround?

Question

I am setting up the home theater system in my new place, it is slightly larger so im not going with the classic thx set up anymore. I want the best set up possible,

I came across this diagram that i will most likely follow

http://www.audioholics.com/images/img1.jpg

So my question, do the front left and front right speakers just go straight forward or are they tilted toward me sitting on the couch? Not in the picture.. i mean how should it be?

One thing to note if i did that my left and right speakes would go in corners... and if you were to draw a line straight from each speakers the line would pass by my couch by about 1 and a half feet on each side.

Any help is much appreciated

Answer 1

I tend to echo SgtPeppers answer.

The amount of toe-in for the L/R speakers depends on your speakers, the throw pattern, the seating distance, etc.  You just have to play with various angles and listen to decide what sounds best for your room.

Some hints:

- Use a SPL meter to level-adjust things after each position change. While it's annoying, without this you may decide a inferior amount of angle is better simply because it's LOUDER.  

- Turn OFF the TV when listening. Otherwise your eyes over-ride what your ears are telling you about positions of things.

- Use a laser-pointer along side the L/R speakers to see where they are pointing.

- Try 3 different amounts of toe-in based on where the sound from the L/R speakers intersect:

A: where the speakers intersect 2 ft in front of the primary seat (The classic technique for a music system)

B: where the speakers intersect exactly on the primary seat

C: where the speakers intersect 2 ft behind the primary seat

D: Straight out.  (Who knows - this might draw your attention Left or Right and with the center filling in the middle - it will give you a nice, wide soundstage.)

Test chapters:

I like chapter 2 of "Star Trek: First Contact" for having a rich mix of voices, music, special effects.

Answer 2

Front speakers should be little toward to your sitting arrangement,Centre speaker should be just below the TV,Front and back speakers should be in square position,as recommendation of best setting for home Theatre.

-Sudan

Answer 3

A little towing in of your front speakers helps to improve soundstage and imaging of the audio. So it's better to turn them slightly towards yourself. In fact don't make them point to a triangle with you on the your couch as one end. Keep them slightly open.

Try to keep them away from walls (if they are not meant to be placed near the walls). Keep the distances from the side walls and back walls such that they are similar for both the front speakers and that side and rear distances are not equal to each other or are multiples of each other.

Center channel should be lower than your screen. I have kept mine so as to point slightly up towards the couch.

I don't agree with the sub-woofer placement in your picture and it should be experimented with. Subwoofer should be placed in front if your cross-over frequency for Sub has been set over 80Hz. If it's at 80 or anything less, then you should place the sub where it gives the tightest and best low frequency response. This can be found by experimenting. For more information search the answers for my other replies related to sub placement.

Another important thing to consider is your room acostics. Since it's a large room, you'll get good low frequency response. You might face problems with echoes in large rooms and so try to place carpets and curtains as required to fight these.

If you can spend more, invest in ASC tubetraps and control the standing waves too.