Floyd / Guthrie Say Your Rear 5.1 Speakers Belong In The Corners!

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Every opinion herein rests on several reasonable experiments and follow-ups carried out over a lifetime.
That certainly in no way implies any pose of "infallibility."
...I encourage each of you to try things out, discover like I've discovered, what actually works for ear, and what is only visual chauvinism at work again in audio -- where it sure doesn't belong.



Different strokes for different folks.
Saw the below years ago, took it under consideration, experimented.
Decided it works best for me in my space for now.
Now have validation from Guthrie. 😇 😇


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NB that neither Dolby nor ITU recommend this setup, where each surround is 135 degrees wrt to center. 110-120 (Dolby) or 100-120 (ITU) are the common recommendations. Carlos touts 90-95 degrees...'surrounds' directly or almost directly left and right of MLP.

Like she says, it's all worth a try.
 
If you lying to your audio system, how can you expect it to be honest? o_O
It is standard practice to mix all the effects in the LFE channel into the front left/right as well. I would suggest it is film mixers not being honest by setting LFE levels so high they shake the floor through my main speakers. Sadly neither my Oppo 95 nor AVR have a setting for what level to mix the LFE channel into the main pair if there is no sub, they assume levels have been set sensibly. If I actually had a sub I could turn it up or down as much as I liked.
 
It is standard practice to mix all the effects in the LFE channel into the front left/right as well.

I cant say what is standard, but I can say for sure that there are many albums I listen to and have ripped that do not follow that rule. There are sounds that appear in the LFE that do not appear anywhere else.
 
I cant say what is standard, but I can say for sure that there are many albums I listen to and have ripped that do not follow that rule. There are sounds that appear in the LFE that do not appear anywhere else.
Then I'll have to miss them since my Oppo 95 has no control for what level to mix the LFE into the front pair. There really is nowhere to put a sub, except in an adjacent room and I doubt that would sound any good.
 
Then I'll have to miss them since my Oppo 95 has no control for what level to mix the LFE into the front pair. There really is nowhere to put a sub, except in an adjacent room and I doubt that would sound any good.
So what happens, the sub trim level becomes non functional once you tell it there is no sub?
 
So what happens, the sub trim level becomes non functional once you tell it there is no sub?
It's not even available to set when I say there is no sub. I suppose there's a chance I can say there's a sub, set the trim for it, then say there's no sub, and the trim I set previously applies. But it seems unlikely and it would make changes very awkward to do.
 
I'm glad everyone else has a living room large enough to put those rear speakers in the back corners and move the couch or chairs slightly up towards the fronts.
A sound system belongs in a dedicated room in the basement where the wife factor is not...em...errr.....a factor......
 
A sound system belongs in a dedicated room in the basement where the wife factor is not...em...errr.....a factor......

With the exception of my case.

I had full support from my wife for the renewal of the Living Room. I designed it as a mixture of dedicated theater room and living room. Total of 20 speakers. 9.1.4 for Atmos (In-ceiling) and 6 more for Auro-3D (bookshelf hanging from the ceiling).

Even, my wife helped me pull all the wires into the gutters and false ceiling, and the led strips for lighting.

I know this is not normal, but I am extremely proud of the attitude of my wife. She doesn’t need more than mono, but she is very happy because “I’m very happy”.

I forced my wife’s permissiveness when I installed additionally (after 1 year) the wides to go from 7.1.4 to 9.1.4. The exact recommended position (in the bisector of the front and the side surround) fell on the living room table, as you can see in the picture, from my sweet spot location. Of course I have to remove it when people come and have to use the table. But that happens very few times a Year. Normal lunch or dinner with guests are done in another room.
 

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With the exception of my case.

I had full support from my wife for the renewal of the Living Room. I designed it as a mixture of dedicated theater room and living room. Total of 20 speakers. 9.1.4 for Atmos (In-ceiling) and 6 more for Auro-3D (bookshelf hanging from the ceiling).

Even, my wife helped me pull all the wires into the gutters and false ceiling, and the led strips for lighting.

I know this is not normal, but I am extremely proud of the attitude of my wife. She doesn’t need more than mono, but she is very happy because “I’m very happy”.

I forced my wife’s permissiveness when I installed additionally (after 1 year) the wides to go from 7.1.4 to 9.1.4. The exact recommended position (in the bisector of the front and the side surround) fell on the living room table, as you can see in the picture, from my sweet spot location. Of course I have to remove it when people come and have to use the table. But that happens very few times a Year. Normal lunch or dinner with guests are done in another room.
I must admit that getting away with that speaker sitting on the dining table is impressive. However, you have not fully pushed the envelope until you get speakers that are so big that your wife says, "The monolith from 2001 would be an improvement."
 
A sound system belongs in a dedicated room in the basement where the wife factor is not...em...errr.....a factor......
My wife is always part of my setup because, well, I like her a lot, and enjoy her company. Her main objection to my basement room in our previous home was visible cables, so in my latest iteration, cables must be looked for. Lots of wiring, to be sure, but it’s all in the walls or behind the shelves.

We watch a few shows or movies a week together. It works for us, but as always, YMMV.
 
My wife is always part of my setup because, well, I like her a lot, and enjoy her company. Her main objection to my basement room in our previous home was visible cables, so in my latest iteration, cables must be looked for. Lots of wiring, to be sure, but it’s all in the walls or behind the shelves.

We watch a few shows or movies a week together. It works for us, but as always, YMMV.
Me too :D

I've been very carefuly with the hidden cabling, but I had the advantage of designing for it first as it was a complete renewal of the liliving room.

My wife is very delighted watching series and films together with me at the BIG Projector Screen with the great sound. She said: "Ohh, it sounds like in a theatre...". And she invites, from time to time, her friends and co-workers to have dinner with film session.

But it's only me who takes advantage of the Music in surround and Atmos. She says "it sounds good, yes." but goes to his office to watch youtube clips on the laptop (!).
I made her listen her favourite music in Dolby Atmos (when in Tidal) and she listens for 30 sec. tells me it sounds good, and goes to do another thing :(
 
Me too :D

I've been very carefuly with the hidden cabling, but I had the advantage of designing for it first as it was a complete renewal of the liliving room.

My wife is very delighted watching series and films together with me at the BIG Projector Screen with the great sound. She said: "Ohh, it sounds like in a theatre...". And she invites, from time to time, her friends and co-workers to have dinner with film session.

But it's only me who takes advantage of the Music in surround and Atmos. She says "it sounds good, yes." but goes to his office to watch youtube clips on the laptop (!).
I made her listen her favourite music in Dolby Atmos (when in Tidal) and she listens for 30 sec. tells me it sounds good, and goes to do another thing :(
Yeah, I’m the only one who really cares about the sound these days. Of course, at my age, many of my friends wear hearing aids, so any surround effects are lost on them.
 
...at my age, many of my friends wear hearing aids, so any surround effects are lost on them.

Surround effects are lost on a significant portion of folks with normal hearing.

Modern, quality hearing aids are a blessing, not a curse.
Most have a range of settings depending on the environment, including listening to music.

My experience with my father and others is the main cause of failure to appreciate and adjust to hearing aids is waiting until one is too old.
Everybody should take a screening hearing test if he's over 50 or been exposed to loud noise.

My "music" setting restores lost high frequencies.
I made it clear to the audiologist that was a requirement.
All you have to do is ask, the technology is available.

For older people, it's speech that's the priority.
So early hearing aids had the limited audio range of a 100-year-old telephone.
Not any more, for all but the most severe cases of impairment.
 
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