Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions How important is symetrical placement of QS8's?

If I decide to mount my pair of QS8 "surround" (side) speakers to the walls of my home theater, one side will be 9 feet from the center viewing area whereas the other speaker will be 12 feet from the center.

My original choice is still an option, which would be to mount them to the underside of the framed out ductwork running between the front and back half of the room. Only problem is tht it puts the tops of the speakers about two inches from the ceiling (something I think I can rectify with a nicely stained piece of oak block to bring them down beneath the acoustical ceiling panels) and about 6.5' to 7' from the floor. On the plus side, this has the advantage of providing symetcial mounting distances from the center listening area.

...so which way do I go? I've read that the QS8's are incredibly forgiving. Is it better to wall mount them with a 3' discrepancy but more space above the top speaker, or mount them equal distances apart, 2" to 4" from the ceiling?

I'm insulating my framed out walls this week in the hope of hanging sheetrock this weekend, so I'm locking down speaker placement.

Thanks for your help.

Regards,
Spence

My first choice would be to use the oak blocks to mount them equidistant from the listening area, and a reasonable distance from the ceiling. Axiom usually recommends about 3 inches of breathing space for the drivers, I think. But, I know of some who have only a couple of inches of space above or below the QS8 drivers, and have no complaints.

However, you are correct that the QS8s are very forgiving regarding placement. Mounting them at different distances from the seating area can, for the most part, be compensated for by setting the correct distances in your receiver's speaker setup menu.

It comes down to doing what you feel comfortable with and find the easiest. I wouldn't be too concerned about going with any of the choices you have available.

I put mine on ladders to test the sound. One is 5 feet away. The other is 20 feet. Still sounds great!

Spence:

I have my QS8 wall mounted, and the left one is about 2-3 feet further than the right one (from the TV-center plane). I have a window and a panel that didnt let me put them simmetrically. It does not bother at all the surround effects, but the speakers levels in the preamp I had to adjust them as one speaker is therefore closer to the listening position than the other. My preamp allow me to individually adjust the SR and SL levels, and I have notice that some receivers dont do it.

The enveloping effect of the QS8 does forgive this small discrepancy at my listening position. The only thing i can notice is that sometimes, is some movies, I can identify which speaker is closer to me, maybe because I cant set a specific time delay for each speaker, just for the surround pair. Sometimes I think is just psychological the fact I can detect a 2-3 feet difference with my ears just because I know they are assymetrical, but is something that maybe will bother you in an assymetrical configuration. As Ajax mentioned above, setting he right distance/time delay will solve that and it will go fine.

My QS8 are about 3-4 feet from the ceiling. I guess that if you can provide that separation, you will be alright. Either option will give you satisfying results, and if you can locate them simmetrically with some nice decor, then go for it, it will ease you setup.

Can you temporary mount the QS8 and give them a try in the mentioned configurations before fixing them?

I can test positions using the "ladder method" to see how they sound. I'm inclined to mount them to the wall as I've got the "full metal brackets" for both side as well as the second pair of QS8s that will be mounted to the rear wall.

Using ladders and testing positions should be no big deal as the ceiling will be the last part constructed for the area.

My aging "flagship" Onkyo (TX-DS989) has full configuration for speaker distances of up to 30 feet from listening area so I should be all set (providing it still works after over a year in storage... the wait is killing me and I'll probably cry when I hear my Axioms for the first time... but I digress).

Seating area will be beneath a support beam, with an enclosed post to the right. The mounting wall is another 7 to 10 feet to the right of the post.

If I mount the speakers on either wall, they will be seperated by about 25 feet, and about 2 - 3 feet ahead of the seating area. If I mount them from the ceiling (beneath the framed HVAC duct) they will be about 15 feet apart, but may be placed to either side or slightly behind the seating area (any preference?).

With either mounting location, I'll be able to angle them down toward the listning position.

GAWD I CAN'T WAIT TO HEAR THESE! When done, I'll have a 27' deep by 25' wide, 7.1 channel home theater with the equivelent of an Epic Grand Master 350 v7.1 speaker system (and a "suplimental" secondary 15" down firing Cerwin Vega sub).

I've come a long way from my first Kenwood AV system & tower speakers!

I've got my 4 Qs8's attached to the boxed in duct work and it works fine. The regular ceiling is 9ft, and I think the boxed in area is about another 10" or so. I found some nice shelf brackets at Menards with gloss black plastic covers to hide the wiring. The Qs8's do not have to be exact in distance as some of the others have stated. They are very forgiving and you can adjust your delay and levels to get the right sound.

I hope you have an SPL meter. You will need one to adjust levels and test both positions.

Spence, as far as distance from the ceiling goes, even 2-3" should be adequate room for the top woofer. If you'll have back surround speakers in a 7.1 setup you don't have to have the side surrounds behind the seating position to give some "phantom" back surround imaging. The side surrounds should then ideally be directly to the side of the listeners or even slightly in front.

SirQuack? Thanks for the info on the brackets, they are indeed "shiny" (that's "Cool" for those of you "non-Browncoats"... by the way Serenity is one awesome sounding movie recently released on DVD, it would do any Axiom speaker system PROUD!!).

...but I digress (yet again). SirQuack-man? You speak of Menard's. I've always thought of Menard's as a small regional chain. Where are you located? If you're in my neighborhood (Madison WI), I'd love to invite myself over to listen to your system. I'll check out those brackets, but leaning toward the FMBs that I've already purchased (rather than go to the hassle of selling them on eBay and losing money, plus, I like that they allow for easy adjustment when aiming).

Bugbitten? Roger on the SPL meter! It will however, have to wait for "fine tuning" as it is currently buried (along with aforementioned 7.1 channel receiver, not to mention y sorely missed 800+ title DVD library) inside the bowels of my storage area, to be emptied once carpeting is laid.

Thanks for the reassurance JohnK! I'm feeling better about my HT design (40% pre-planned, 60% made up as I go).

This forum is fantastic! Thanks again for the assistance!

Spence

Good luck on your project.

And Have a Happy New Year!