How to setup the speakers of my Onkyo 3500(physical setup)

[andy78]

Hi Friends,

I have Onkyo 3500 which I purchased recently however I have not yet setup the speakers on the wall. So was just checking if someone can help me on this.

I am planning to setup a home theater in my living hall.
The Onkyo guys had told me that two speakers which need to be installed on the backside have to be at a height of 5 feet with not more than 5 feet away.


Please suggest me with best options.

Thanks,
Andy

 

[baijuxavior]

Dolby Home Theater Speaker Placement and Setup Guide

Speaker Placement for Home Theater

 

[Athulan]

Mine may not conform to the text-book...I have placed the front sats about 8 inches on either side of my 7 x 5 screen and the rear sats on the rear as mirror images of the fronts. The height of the speakers is at ear level when we are seated in a sofa. The center speaker is below the screen in the middle. At present my gear is on the opposite side of the screen along with the projector and I have placed the sub near the unit. This arrangement works fine. I cannot try any other position because I have the nails for hanging the speakers fixed and hate to drill more holes on the wall. Hence not sure if this is the best possible arrangement - but this works fine for me with my HT-S3500. You can play around with the placement of the sub for optimum sound.

Hope this helps

Athulan

 

[rajeshg_k123]

What Onkyo guys have told you may be correct. 5 feet high might roughly give 1 to 2 feet above listening height, which is fair enough as per dolby(or 5.1) placement guidelines. 5 feet away I understand 5 feet away from listening position. May be the throw might not be efficient beyond that.
I have onkyo 3300, using it for 2 yrs. and rear speaker height is 5 ft and 6 ft away from the listening position.

 

[aakashr]

follow the 5.1 setup what Baiju has given...........the best and easiest way to do it. Might not be possible to adhere to it exactly as written but even if you get close it will work. Here is another link that might help, all of them are quite self explanatory.

Surround Sound Speaker Set Up

 

[andy78]

Well my current setup is like below
The front two speakers I have got them installed around 2 Feet from the TV on both sides. The Center speaker around 1 feet above the TV. The woofer at the floor just around two feet from TV.
It's the rear speaker setup which I'm more interested to know.
Both these were earlier installed at a height of around 8 Feet from the ground on the either side of the sofa for our earlier Sony HTS. However the Onkyo guy suggested to have them at around 5 Feet above the ground. But I also read somewhere that the rear speakers should be at a height of the ears so that comes out to roughly 3 feet.

 

[aakashr]

Well my current setup is like below
The front two speakers I have got them installed around 2 Feet from the TV on both sides. The Center speaker around 1 feet above the TV. The woofer at the floor just around two feet from TV.
It's the rear speaker setup which I'm more interested to know.
Both these were earlier installed at a height of around 8 Feet from the ground on the either side of the sofa for our earlier Sony HTS. However the Onkyo guy suggested to have them at around 5 Feet above the ground. But I also read somewhere that the rear speakers should be at a height of the ears so that comes out to roughly 3 feet.

Depending on tv position, Centre speaker should be directed towards the sweet spot at ear level if possible. If on top of the tv it should be angled down towards the sweet spot, if below the tv it should be angled up.

Surround speakers work best at a height of 2-3ft from ear level. They can be placed a bit behind the listening position or angled towards the sweet spot as illustrated in the above links.

 

[andy78]

Guys will I help if I post pics of the current setup.

 

[andy78]

Guys also wanted to check on one thing.
Earlier when I had setup my Sony Home Theater the guy who gave the connections had connected the wires from the speaker in such a way that the wires were connected to the internal wiring in the house. However the Onkyo guy when he came to setup suggested that connecting the speaker to internal wiring is not suggested as this may damage the system. I thought by doing internally it will look more aesthetic and I also don't' have to invest on the pipes. Can someone help me on this? Also I saw a neighboring flat guy who had connected his speakers to the jack on the wall which was similar to the phone jack.

 

[baijuxavior]

Is the internal wiring through dedicated pipes for the speaker cables or are they routed along with power cables? If with power cables then it can cause interference. If it is a dedicated pipe then you can do the internal wiring. Use good quality speaker cables. Wall plates for speaker jacks are available in mdrelectronics. MDR Electronics - MX Electronics - Audio Video Components & Accessories - Pro Audio / Studio Audio Cables & Connectors - Home Theater Cables & Connectors - Computers & Laptop Accessories - Fiber Optic Component & Accessories - Cable TV Component & Ac

 

[andy78]

Is the internal wiring through dedicated pipes for the speaker cables or are they routed along with power cables? If with power cables then it can cause interference. If it is a dedicated pipe then you can do the internal wiring. Use good quality speaker cables. Wall plates for speaker jacks are available in mdrelectronics. MDR Electronics - MX Electronics - Audio Video Components & Accessories - Pro Audio / Studio Audio Cables & Connectors - Home Theater Cables & Connectors - Computers & Laptop Accessories - Fiber Optic Component & Accessories - Cable TV Component & Ac

Baiju, I'm assuming it's the power cable. The options I have is getting the pipes externally fitted and having the wires go through them. This is not internal. However the other option is for the electrician to connect the wire to the internal power cable. As mentioned one of our neighbors seems to have hooked up these speakers to a jack on the wall which looks like a phone jack. However I'm not sure internally what kind of wire it is.

Do you suggest me to go for brand new wires I thought the ones that I got with my setup is good enough? I didn't want to invest on new wires unless it's really required. Also it's a rented flat so don't want to invest much at the same would want it to look little aesthetic.

 

[andy78]

Guys posting the pics.







For the pics near the sofa I have marked the wall with red where I'm intending to place the rear speakers. As suggested by the Onkyo guy this is 5 Feet from ground.

Kindly help.

 

[baijuxavior]

You got a new deity there.

What you really need is an AV rack for your avr and other devices. Also need to eliminate the wire clutter. Front speaker position seems to be good and you can place the rear ones at the place marked.

 

[technobhatt]

Andy, I think you can use batton to manage wire clutter for Rear Speakers. Just ask an electrician to do that and he can do it easily.
Putting the wires in open is always dangerous and looks ugly !!
Look at the pictures below. This is how I have managed in my small bachelor house.
The rear speakers are front facing, I wanted them to be a little tilted at 45 degree at least, but there was no wall nearby, so I had to keep rear speakers straight.
Can anybody provide a workaround to make the rear speaker tilted around 45 degree inside...just to make the surround effect more impressive ?

 

[andy78]

@technobhatt I didn't get when you say batton? What is that? Can you give more details?
Can you tell me more about the pics 2,3 & 4. I mean what height?
Can someone tell me about the height for the rear speakers? I heard somewhere it should be on ear's height whereas mine is at 5 Feet from ground which maybe little high?
I agree with Technobhatt it would be great if there is some way it can kept at 45 degrees.
Do you think I should push the speakers a little to the corner so that I can try keeping at 45 degrees
When I set up Sony Home Theater couple of months ago I had installed the flat pipes given in technobhatt pipes and the electrician to avoid using too much of pipes had connected the wires internally using the copper wire.
Is this OK? The Onkyo guy was saying we should not use the copper wire for internal purpose. Should use the cable that came with this.
Is it worth to go for another cables or this should suffice for quality?

 

[technobhatt]

@technobhatt I didn't get when you say batton? What is that? Can you give more details?
Can you tell me more about the pics 2,3 & 4. I mean what height?
Can someone tell me about the height for the rear speakers? I heard somewhere it should be on ear's height whereas mine is at 5 Feet from ground which maybe little high?
I agree with Technobhatt it would be great if there is some way it can kept at 45 degrees.
Do you think I should push the speakers a little to the corner so that I can try keeping at 45 degrees
When I set up Sony Home Theater couple of months ago I had installed the flat pipes given in technobhatt pipes and the electrician to avoid using too much of pipes had connected the wires internally using the copper wire.
Is this OK? The Onkyo guy was saying we should not use the copper wire for internal purpose. Should use the cable that came with this.
Is it worth to go for another cables or this should suffice for quality?

Well...Batton is nothing but a plastic wrap to cover electrical wires AFAIK!
yupp...the flat pipes !! But make sure, you buy some good quality speaker-wires and then it should not be an issue placing them in flat pipes.
On speaker position, you got the same problem like me...you can place the left speaker on the wall-joint somehow, but it seems no option for right side rear speaker (as in picture).
I think it's better if you can place the rear speakers a little lower on the wall (a little below the red marks, not more than 1 feet above your couch)...and it should be good enough as you have couch a little ahead of the wall. (I'm yet to get a couch)

 

[harshs23]

This is the placement done by the onkyo guy for me, still using the standby provided by the dealer as the booked 3500 has still not come in.

Sent from my Desire S