Need Input on Speaker Layout

[NorCalAnthony]

Hey Everyone,
I'm replacing an older Samsung all-in-one home theater with a new ML setup and was looking for some input on my speaker layout before I go ahead and start cutting holes in my ceiling. The current plan is to use a Motion 30 for the center, a pair of ML-67I's for the front surrounds, a pair of ML-62I's for the rear surrounds, and a Dynamo 700W in a rear corner for the sub. I'm also thinking about running a pair of the ML-62I's in the kitchen and dining area for a 2nd zone stereo for when we're working in the kitchen. So I guess my questions at this point would be does this look like a good setup or is there anything you guys would tweak or change altogether? Here's a quick sketch I put together of my floor plan and rough dimensions to where everything will be going.

 

[GW1800]

Couple of comments:
I think with your room conditions the rear speakers are probably away from the wall about right but personally I would spread them out to from 10' to 12 or 14'.

I would also shorten up the front speakers to 8'

It seems to me the two people that will have decent sound are in the one sofa opposite the panel is that what you are going for? The rest not so good particularly the left of panel sofa is that sofa even needed seems to be taking up a lot of space to just sit two people?

Do you have a cabinet below the panel? Where are the electronics? Will the center channel be hung on the wall this makes a much neater appearance then just sitting on the electronics cabinet if you have one up front. I also found the sound was better up off of the top of a cabinet.

I assume the sub is wireless? If not that is a long cable to run. You would have room up front either left or right of the panel which is more typical.

Kitchen and Dining room are the single speakers stereo? I have a single stereo in a small bath room and it works quite well. Or is this a set of stereo speakers one in the dining room and one in the kitchen? If its a set of stereo speakers the placement seems odd consider placing both in one room or another for better sound.

 

[NorCalAnthony]

Thanks for the feedback.

I can definitely play around with the ceiling speaker locations and do 8' apart in the front and 12' in the rear. I think I had read somewhere that it's best to keep them the distance apart and that's why I was planning on both being 10' apart.

Like you pointed out, the main sofa opposite from the TV is where my wife and I typically sit so that's where I was planning on having the best listening location. We plan on getting new furniture soon so the layout may change a bit but the listening location will remain in the same spot due to our goofy floor plan (ie can't really put the TV anywhere else).

Correct, there is a 3 tier component shelf under the TV with the receiver, cable box, etc on it and the new center channel will sit on top of that. There's only a little more than a foot between the TV and shelf and with the Motion 30 being 10 1/2" deep I'm not sure if it'd be worth the effort to try and squeeze a shelf in there...

Yep, the sub I'm using is wireless. That was one of the main selling points when I was looking at the Dynamo 700W since I really didn't want to get in my attic to run any more wires. I had the sub in my old system up front by the component shelves like you mentioned but I was told subs perform much better when placed in a corner so that's I thought I'd try it out.

Yes the ML-62's I plan on using in the kitchen and dining room areas are single stereo speakers. Looking at the paperwork it looks like they have 2 tweeters that point in opposite directions to disperse the sound so I was thinking I would orient the one in the kitchen so it spreads the sound along the walk way and then orient the other one rotated 90* so it'll point the sound towards the dining area and the back part of the living room where the other speakers might not reach as well. Hopefully that makes sense...

 

[GW1800]

Thanks for the feedback.

I can definitely play around with the ceiling speaker locations and do 8' apart in the front and 12' in the rear. I think I had read somewhere that it's best to keep them the distance apart and that's why I was planning on both being 10' apart.

Like you pointed out, the main sofa opposite from the TV is where my wife and I typically sit so that's where I was planning on having the best listening location. We plan on getting new furniture soon so the layout may change a bit but the listening location will remain in the same spot due to our goofy floor plan (ie can't really put the TV anywhere else).

Correct, there is a 3 tier component shelf under the TV with the receiver, cable box, etc on it and the new center channel will sit on top of that. There's only a little more than a foot between the TV and shelf and with the Motion 30 being 10 1/2" deep I'm not sure if it'd be worth the effort to try and squeeze a shelf in there...

Yep, the sub I'm using is wireless. That was one of the main selling points when I was looking at the Dynamo 700W since I really didn't want to get in my attic to run any more wires. I had the sub in my old system up front by the component shelves like you mentioned but I was told subs perform much better when placed in a corner so that's I thought I'd try it out.

Yes the ML-62's I plan on using in the kitchen and dining room areas are single stereo speakers. Looking at the paperwork it looks like they have 2 tweeters that point in opposite directions to disperse the sound so I was thinking I would orient the one in the kitchen so it spreads the sound along the walk way and then orient the other one rotated 90* so it'll point the sound towards the dining area and the back part of the living room where the other speakers might not reach as well. Hopefully that makes sense...

I'm not talking about mounting a shelf to mount the center channel on but to mount to the wall directly the sound improvement will be noticeable compared to just on the top shelf.

 

[NorCalAnthony]

I'm not talking about mounting a shelf to mount the center channel on but to mount to the wall directly the sound improvement will be noticeable compared to just on the top shelf.

I figured that's what you meant but I don't see how you could do that. The Motion 30 is pretty heavy and it's 10-1/2" deep without any mounting points anywhere in the housing which is why I mentioned doing a small shelf or something along those lines. Mine's still in the box but here's a Google pic of the back:

 

[GW1800]

Yes you are right. I'm used to the Stage X or my new Focus as mounting to the wall did help but I see with this unit you can't. So have are you going to start installing your speakers this weekend?

 

[NorCalAnthony]

Wow I had to look up the Stage X and Focus units to see what you were talking about and those things are sweet. Just way out of my price range right now lol.

I think I'm probably another week or two out from getting everything installed. We're in the middle of a small remodel and need to wait until the new floors and ceiling texture are done (getting rid of the popcorn stuff). I'll be sure to post some feedback/results once it's all up and running.