Home cinema positioning in this dodgy setup....

[Legend83]

I am thinking of finally purchasing the 2.1 Onkyo HTX system to match up with my Pio and PS3.

I wanted something compact and discrete in my lounge as the due to the layout of the room, the position of my TV for this purpose is not optimal.

Basically it is in the corner of the room within one of the chimney alcoves, facing the sofa at an angle (sorry pic size is a bit big):



What would others do?

The problem with placing the speakers either side is that the right side of the TV is at such an angle for viewing that it hangs over the shelving lip.

[Plotloss]

I'd use a soundbar.

[Legend83]

Any recommendations on a tight-ish budget?

The Onkyo system is £239 and would give me amp and speaker package, HDMI v1.4 and TruHD sound....

[Plotloss]

TrueHD?

Out of two speakers?

I'd say not, to be honest.

[Legend83]

http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page/moreinfo.c...

Perhaps some of the features I cited can't be taken advantage of without the additional speaker package, but that is only another £90 taking the full package to £320.

So I guess that would be my budget.

[ribbit]

If you are unable to rearrange the room to appropriately accommodate your proposed home cinema setup, I'd recommend spending the money on something else. You'll never maximise the potential of the equipment, so it seems rather a waste of money.

[cjs]

Can the Tv go in the window and the sofa opposite?

[hornetrider]

To make the best of a bad job, personally I would angle the TV as much as possible toward the middle of the room, and do my viewing from the far left hand end of the sofa.

I would then place the right speaker to the right of the window, left speaker to the left of the fireplace and adjust volumes to suit.

[Legend83]

Thanks for the opinion Hornet.

cjs - unfortunately I can't make those changes as to the left of the sofa position is a partition wall jutting out to make a separation between the lounge and dining room.

I am beginning to warm to the idea of a soundbar but a decent one is not cheap!

[hornetrider]

In fact I have a similar setup myself, just swap the window and hearth positions. I have a DTS amp under the TV and had a 5.1 Jamo speaker setup (link below) around the room. The build and sound quality is excellent.

I've swapped the front Jamos out for Kef 5005s now though. Less discreet but bigger sound.

Linky

Edited by hornetrider on Wednesday 8th September 15:14

[Rosso Rebel]

put the tv on the wall above the fire ?

[Plotloss]

Rosso Rebel said:

put the tv on the wall above the fire ?

go to bed every night with a crick in your neck?

[Legend83]

Plotloss said:

Rosso Rebel said:

put the tv on the wall above the fire ?

go to bed every night with a crick in your neck?

Indeed, fireplace is quite tall, plus there is a mirror in the way....

Cheers for the advice, looking into the Yamaha YHT-S400 soundbar - http://www.whathifi.com/Review/Yamaha-YHT-S400/

Edited by Legend83 on Friday 10th September 09:10