I am in the process of setting up a new system, I currently have a denon 3802 reciever running energy veritas 2.3 mains, a veritas 2.0c center, I am looking to add 4) veritas 2.0r surrounds, my questions are, 1. What is the best placement for these speakers (height, angle, depth) , 2. How to set them as they have dipole/bipole switches, 3. If I want to go 7.1 in the future how will these speaker placements affect my next upgrade (I am not thrilled with the thought of patching holes in the walls) 4. Do you think the energy rears are my best choice? I am thrilled with the sound of my fronts so they seem like the logical choice, My room dimensions are 13 wide x 18 deep (tv is on a 10 wall), any help would be greatly appreciated!

With the Denon, follow the menu for speaker placement, if Denon does one thing right, it is their menu system. I believe they have a graphical layout of a 6.1 or 7.1 speaker system in the menu's when you tell the receiver which one you have. And what layout you have your speakers in. The Denon lets you select either side or back rears and either a single or dual rear center thus 6.1 or 7.1.

I prefer a more direct sound so I would suggest using the dipole setting and pointing the drivers somewhat into the seating area. Yes sticking with the same name is a good idea for tonal balance throughout your system.

Matt, I would recommend the Bi-polar setting for a 'more direct' sound as compared to Di-polar.

Larry
www.fineelectricco.com

Perhaps I am confused on the operation of the menus, I thought that after placing the speakers you wen't to the menus to give the reciever this information so that it can set the correct delay times for your placement. What I am after is how to come to the optimum placement, also on the 7.1 issue does 7.1 mean rear surounds, rear center and side surounds, or does it come down to seperating a dual rear center and running it through the correct receiver/decoder? Thanks for any replies.

Ref: "how to come to the optimum placement"

Speaker placement recommendations.
[Link: crutchfield.com]

Subwoofer placement recommendations.
[Link: sonicdesign.se]

Center speaker placement recommendations.
[Link: remotecentral.com]

Surround speaker type (Dipole, Bipole, Tripole, Direct) discussion and placement recommendations.
[Link: remotecentral.com]

Speaker placement theory and more recommendations.
[Link: world.std.com]

Speaker delay setting theory and practice.
[Link: remotecentral.com]

Home THX (5.1) FAQ, including speaker discussions.
[Link: thx.com]

Generally useful HT stuff.
[Link: crutchfield.com]

Ref: "does 7.1 mean"

6.1 means a rear center channel playing through a single speaker on the rear wall, with the original (5.1) surround speakers on the side walls. Depending on the encoding standard, the rear center signal may have been discretely encoded or may be a matrix extracted from the 5.1 surround channels.

As it is popularly used today, "7.1" (not an official standard) refers to a 6.1 configuration where the rear center channel is sent to two speakers, allowing the center channel soundfield to be widened. A "7.1" may create smoother transitions when a signal moves between the rear center channel and one of the side surrounds, especially in larger rooms.

This message was edited by Bruce Burson on 01/01/02 05:12.20.

Bi Di, always get them confused, just by speakers with one set of drivers!! lol

At the risk of seeming to 'toot my own horn', as it were...for even more about bi- vs. di-polar, read this thread, and in particular, the long post contributed by (beep-beep!) yours truly:

[Link: remotecentral.com]

Larry
www.fineelectricco.com

I would like to thank everone that replied by email or post, I have learned a lot from all the info, now all I need to find is the money for the new stuff!

Thanks again