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

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I do envy you guys that have understanding wives when it comes to music. I did love my setup when I had it in the living room, and had bought some expensive swivel mounts for my rear speakers to keep them above the furniture, that are mounted right into the wall studs. (My corner speakers were manufactured with threaded ferrules right in the base of the cabinets, one reason I bought them)

But moving my audio gear into my "pc room" has had it's benefits as well. The pc has become my main playback mechanism and the disc players I don't use so much anymore. Bitstreaming via HDMI and PowerDVD/VLC has worked out pretty darn good for me for Atmos/DTS etc and good old Foobar is fine for quick access for flac/dvda/sacd. + 10 HDD full of ripped music, baby!
....and I can listen any time I desire vs competing with TV shows on the 65" TV.

The caveat is placing the setup mic in the smaller space. A few inches one way or the other and the setup program complains of "ambient noise too high". Getting it all to work together was a challenge, but a challenge met. Now it sounds pretty good.

So my solution was to remove the wife factor altogether. We each have our own space....and of course I let her have the larger room and TV!
 
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.
I am trying to figure out how to turn a living room into a liliving room.

I had an idea on hiding cables. Make cornice lighting around the room with a cable tray hidden in it.

I did the wrong thing here. All the cables are in the wall - for old surround systems. Atmos was not hatched yet.
 
I do envy you guys that have understanding wives when it comes to music.
They are Outliers:

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So my solution was to remove the wife factor altogether. We each have our own space....and of course I let her have the larger room and TV!
Wise choice. But I have the bigger TV. I bought it with my own money.
 
I am trying to figure out how to turn a living room into a liliving room.

I had an idea on hiding cables. Make cornice lighting around the room with a cable tray hidden in it.

I did the wrong thing here. All the cables are in the wall - for old surround systems. Atmos was not hatched yet.
To be able to pull wires trough the ceiling and install in-ceiling Atmos speakers the best way is to install a false ceiling and then you can remove and put the ceiling tiles. Even move the speakers and lighting if you didn't find the right position at first.

But to do that in a living room, with WAF approval, was a little hard. My wife thought it was going to be like the ceiling of her office at work. I looked for many 'nice' pictures on the internet to show her...

In the end I finaly convince her and was able to put the rock wool tiles to make some sound absortion. And it looks a little better than the normal drywall, that I put previously (for training...) in the kitchen with lighting and three in-ceiling speakers there. Also the kitchen and living room are wire connected (network, hdmi and speakers) and I can listen/watching from the living room AVR to the kitchen TV and speakers. Also the wire conections (network, HDMI and some old USB) goes to the Work Office/PC room where I have the server/NAS with all multimedia to serve to the living room and the kitchen.

Several years to manage that. I only could do that because a phased integral renewal of all the rooms.

I even have false ceiling with two speakers and bluetooth receptor in the bathroom. My wife is delighted with music in the bathroom from her mobile.
 
I must say, music in the bath sounds like a nice idea. And there is even room for a subwoofer under the bath behind the panelling!
On a shelf over the bathroom door .................. an Ethernet/RF connected Roberts Stream 93i Internet/DAB Radio which can stream (stereo only) from the NAS as well!
 
I am trying to figure out how to turn a living room into a liliving room.

I had an idea on hiding cables. Make cornice lighting around the room with a cable tray hidden in it.

I did the wrong thing here. All the cables are in the wall - for old surround systems. Atmos was not hatched yet.
I opted for the larger, white, square cable raceways. If you can hide the wiring, though, good. I was able to just get 4 12 gauge wires in, although I split one into 14 gauge about halfway through the run when I ran out of 12 gauge running to the rears/overhead speakers. I used all 12 gauge for the fronts and center. Yes, overkill, maybe, but I had it already from the long runs I moved from the larger room to the smaller one.
 
How fortunate for you that you have your own money. We don't work that way in my family.
We figured out a good system that we’ve used our entire marriage. Both our paychecks go into a joint account, but we also have individual accounts that get automatic transfers from the joint account. So just like when I was a kid, I get an allowance. Works for us, anyway. She doesn’t care if I buy music and I don’t care if she buys purses. Occasionally we discuss whether or not an expense is mine or ours, but so far it hasn’t necome a fight.
 
I opted for the larger, white, square cable raceways. If you can hide the wiring, though, good. I was able to just get 4 12 gauge wires in, although I split one into 14 gauge about halfway through the run when I ran out of 12 gauge running to the rears/overhead speakers. I used all 12 gauge for the fronts and center. Yes, overkill, maybe, but I had it already from the long runs I moved from the larger room to the smaller one.
Nothing wrong with a bit of overkill. I have plenty of my own instances.
 
We figured out a good system that we’ve used our entire marriage. Both our paychecks go into a joint account, but we also have individual accounts that get automatic transfers from the joint account. So just like when I was a kid, I get an allowance. Works for us, anyway. She doesn’t care if I buy music and I don’t care if she buys purses. Occasionally we discuss whether or not an expense is mine or ours, but so far it hasn’t necome a fight.
Sure. I guess it came out that I was being critical, but I didn't mean it that way. I'm for whatever works.
When we were both working it was a lot easier. Now that we're both retired and living on way less income, decisions on spending money have become more critical. My wife was a bookkeeper, and since I retired I've let her take the lead most of the time on spending. There's bills I pay, and bills she pays, but it's all from the same account.
 
To be able to pull wires trough the ceiling and install in-ceiling Atmos speakers the best way is to install a false ceiling and then you can remove and put the ceiling tiles. Even move the speakers and lighting if you didn't find the right position at first.

But to do that in a living room, with WAF approval, was a little hard. My wife thought it was going to be like the ceiling of her office at work. I looked for many 'nice' pictures on the internet to show her...

In the end I finaly convince her and was able to put the rock wool tiles to make some sound absortion. And it looks a little better than the normal drywall, that I put previously (for training...) in the kitchen with lighting and three in-ceiling speakers there. Also the kitchen and living room are wire connected (network, hdmi and speakers) and I can listen/watching from the living room AVR to the kitchen TV and speakers. Also the wire conections (network, HDMI and some old USB) goes to the Work Office/PC room where I have the server/NAS with all multimedia to serve to the living room and the kitchen.

Several years to manage that. I only could do that because a phased integral renewal of all the rooms.

I even have false ceiling with two speakers and bluetooth receptor in the bathroom. My wife is delighted with music in the bathroom from her mobile.
Suspended ceiling with rattling cross-tees and support wires?
 
Suspended ceiling with rattling cross-tees and support wires?
I did mine in a suspended ceiling, Nothing rattles.

You can't just use the standard building materials. I had to bond a piece of MDF to the backside of the tiles that hold the drivers and beef up the support wires on those panels. Then everything is lined wit rock wool. The panels with the drivers weigh a ton. They don't vibrate. They don't rattle.
 
Suspended ceiling with rattling cross-tees and support wires?

I fixed the wires to the ceiling as you see in the first picture.

I did two levels of the suspended ceiling. The level separation to put the lighting LED strips.

In the second picture, lower level suspended ceiling, with more space for the in-ceiling Atmos speakers. I put a plywood tile (hard) just on top of the rock wool tile (soft) to support the weight of the speakers.

Nothing is rattling in the suspended ceiling. When I play big bass, the only rattling I have found is some glass vases and furniture drawers. Moving and arranging them, and rattle disappears.

The bookshelf speakers, hanging from the ceiling (not the suspended) are for Auro-3D. I really notice better sound quality from those that the in-ceiling for Atmos. But I did not dare to install those bookshelf better speakers for Atmos. It's a pity. But I don't feel like redoing it. Just to enjoy the music, sound as it sounds.

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CBS' speaker layout recommendations were setout on the rear of the jacket of their SQ Quad demonstration record "New Quadraphonic Gala", from 1976;

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as you can see from the diagram on the Left, a 4-corner arrangement was what they advised "for the most vivid quadraphonic experience"

💘🥰
Their "extending listening" arrangement perfectly mirrors my "4 speakers on the corners of a twin bed" home office setup. Huh.
 
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