Hi,

I'm sorry, but the television placement and seating arrangement are really, really bad from both a viewing perspective and a sound field experience.

The only seat that is even close to viewing the screen is the couch, which is still way off center. People in the loveseat need to turn their necks 90 degrees to see the screen. The bar area can see the screen but at a very off axis angle. The windows can also produce some very bad reflections off the plasma screen.

From a sound standpoint, there is nowhere in this setup to allow for a 5.1 speaker configuration where the front R/L speakers are on either side of the screen, with the center channel speaker under the screen, and the rear R/L speakers directly behind the viewer - and that they are perceived that way by the viewers.

With the current distance around the stage for the drum kit, it doesn't appear you're playing gigs there, so I'd suggest moving the television to the lower wall (in the diagram) and arranging the seating to all face the screen, bar area center, with the sofa and loveseat at slight angles.

Then, maybe move the stage for the drum kit up to the upper right corner in he diagram.

Hi Yosemitebill,

Thanks for your reply. You make good points, and we we are not good with furniture arranging. We will try to move the TV to another location. When you suggested moving the the TV to the lower wall, did you mean placing it where we show the stage? If so, should it be on an angle? Would it be too much trouble to have you explain in more detail where the couch, love seat and bar area should go and if they are all to be placed on an angle. After I hear back from you, I will attempt to rearrange according to your suggestions to see how everything fits.

BTW, the stage can easily go where we show the slot hockey, but can't go too close to the upper right corner near stairs as that is where we enter and exit the stairs.

Thanks so much for your help!

Carol

Hi Carol,

If I look at the right side of the area, and ignore the stage for the drum kit, the most logically placement for the television would be on the wall opposite the entrance between the windows.

Could be either be a wall mount, or you could use a cabinet that allows for setting the television on top and placing the A/V equipment in the lower portion.

Speakers could be on either side of the screen for R/L and under for (or near) the center of the screen. Rear surround speakers could then be on the back wall - one to the right of the entrance and the other near the corner.

Seating would then just be so that everyone has a forward, or slightly offset forward view, to to see the screen and have the sound to the right/left of the screen.

Hi yosemitebill,

Thanks for alerting us to the fact that the stair placement wall for TV would be poor. We are reworking the TV location as a result. We will play with locating the TV on the south wall (wall at the bottom of the screen) as you suggested. I also think the TV could go on the east wall sort of where the loveseat is located. Do you see any problem with it going in this position (between windows where loveseat is shown)?

Thanks,

Carol

Hi Carol,

My preference is the south wall since you have both a front wall and rear wall for speaker installation.

Since you mentioned speaker placement, I assume you wish to have a relatively nice surround sound setup for the television.

With that in mind, optimum speaker placement for television surround sound should be that the front R/L speakers are at approximately ear level in the seated viewing position to the right and left of the screen. Center channel for dialog, in the center usually under the screen - (with perforated projection screens it can be placed behind the screen). The rear speakers can have a wider placement but should be about 2-3 feet above ear level.

Many home theater receivers even include a microphone which can be placed near the viewing position and then do a one time auto calibrate setup.

To achieve this this arrangement, it really requires walls or speaker pedestals. Ceiling mounted speakers are great for music but are really not meant for television surround sound.

Bill