This weekend, I'll be setting up my 6.1 system... suggestions?

[fjhuerta]

I'll be using it as a 50% music / 50% HT system.

Since I had to sell my "big" surround system, this one is pretty basic. It consists of the smallest Definitive Technologies around (ProMonitor 80's), but I bought 6 of them. No center channel or "rear surround" speakers. If I'm doing surround sound, every speaker will sound identical! :D

Anyway... I'll be using wall supports for them. But I have no clue as to proper height, whether they should be aimed downwards in order to match center channel height (center channel will be on top of a TV)... etc.

Also, if someone can help me with crossover settings, I'll be very grateful. The ProMonitors are sealed satellites, so I'd suppose having a 3" woofer, crossing them over at 120Hz should be the wise thing to do (maybe 100Hz... DefTech literature say they go down to 50Hz, but I find that truly unbelievable!).

Anything else you might help with, I'll be grateful. Tomorrow morning I'll start drilling walls and installing mounts... ah. Joy of joys :)

[seriousfun]

Not perfect, but I recommend all main speakers at the same level; the surrounds can be somewhat higher if you are closer to them than the fronts (better to have an acoustic delay rather than a digital delay). Aim all the fronts at your ear level (a laser level is a good tool), and aim the rears for desired diffusion.

Do you have access to any test discs or measuring gear? The Stereophile discs with warble tones in each frequency range might be helpful: you can listen to them and measure with a Radio Shack analog SPL meter to find where the speakers do roll off, and set your crossover there.

Be careful with the subwoofer if you have to choose 120 Hz (and you may). The subwoofer then has to be a mid-range speaker as well as a subwoofer, and this limits your placement. You will probably have to place it precisely in between the left and right speakers, probably behind the TV, or imaging will be dramatically skewed.

I'm confused...do you have a center channel speaker, or not?

[Vinyl-Addict]

Dolby does'nt offer specific info regarding 6.1 but maybe this will help anyway.
http://www.dolby.com/ht/Guide.HomeTheater.0110.html

[fjhuerta]

Serious, yeah, I got a center channel speaker - but it's not a center channel model. It's another ProMonitor 80. I didn't buy their center channel because I'll also be listening to SACD's, DVD-A's and DTS discs on the setup.

So I have 6 identical speakers now.

Thank you very much for your height suggestion. I have the laser alignment tool, and a couple of discs with frequency tones (or I can make my own with my laptop). I'll surely follow your suggestions.

I'll build the subwoofer (it's my second DIY project - my first one was a 214L, 15" monster!), so I can play a bit with its response. Sometimes, doing it by yourself is truly the best way :)

Vinyl, thank you very much for the link. I'm reading it right now!

[seriousfun]

It's funny. Identical speakers are definitely the way to go, yet speaker manufacturers have gone out of their way to design speakers which are mostly a compromise, just so they lay flat on top of a TV.

My center channel speaker doesn't exactly lay flat:

[fjhuerta]

SUCCESS!

I spent all day drilling, screwing and cleaning up. The results are superb!

How good?

The small speakers sound *better* than my old setup (with large towers and bipolar surrounds). The minimonitors, installed at the correct height and angles, sound stunning. They recreate a perfect soundfield - simply amazing.

Thanks a lot for your help!!!

[seriousfun]

congrats!

What crossover point did you end up with?

[fjhuerta]

I'm still building my subwoofer, but I'll definitely use 100 Hz. The speakers' bass response starts dropping fast at around 120 Hz :( so I won't have enough midbass response. It helped a lot to install the speakers very close to a wall and close to a corner, though.

My receiver has 80, 100, 150 Hz crossovers, so 100 is the highest I can go without sacrificing directionality.

The subwoofer will be tuned to 20 Hz and will (hopefully) deliver flat response up to 120 Hz. I'm still thinking about building a twin 12" vented sub - the receiver is a THX-Select model, but I think the speakers won't be able to take too much power. I don't know for sure, since right now they are being used at full bandwidth.

One thing I do know now - classical music on surround sounds stunning. :)