Jemma
Member
There is a nearly finished room doing the rounds that is worth a look for the mounting idea alone. The space is about 11 by 14 feet, which is not a lot, and the owner has a 7.4.4 in it with four subwoofers. KEF R3 Meta up front, an R6 Meta, CI160QS in the surrounds, CI130.2CR for the tops, a pair of Klipsch RP-1600SW at the front and two rear subs built around LaVoce SAN184.03 drivers, plus a Marty 18 tuned to 17Hz.
The clever bit is the ceiling. He hung the absorption panels on what amounts to a double French cleat, but cut from a single piece of wood screwed into the ceiling. Anyone who has held a heavy panel overhead while trying to find a joist with one hand will understand why that matters. Cleats also mean the panels come down without damage when you want to move them a foot, which you will.
The part I would question is not the sub count. Four subs in a room that small is the right instinct, because at those dimensions you are fighting modes rather than chasing output, and spreading them front and rear is what evens out seat to seat response. What worries me is the surrounds. In 11 feet of width, side surrounds end up within arm reach of somebody head height, and once you go to seven channels the rears land close behind. That is where small rooms fall apart, not in the bass.
So the honest question for anyone who has done seven channels in a room under 12 feet wide: did the extra pair actually buy you anything over a well placed five, or did you just add two speakers you now sit inside of?
The clever bit is the ceiling. He hung the absorption panels on what amounts to a double French cleat, but cut from a single piece of wood screwed into the ceiling. Anyone who has held a heavy panel overhead while trying to find a joist with one hand will understand why that matters. Cleats also mean the panels come down without damage when you want to move them a foot, which you will.
The part I would question is not the sub count. Four subs in a room that small is the right instinct, because at those dimensions you are fighting modes rather than chasing output, and spreading them front and rear is what evens out seat to seat response. What worries me is the surrounds. In 11 feet of width, side surrounds end up within arm reach of somebody head height, and once you go to seven channels the rears land close behind. That is where small rooms fall apart, not in the bass.
So the honest question for anyone who has done seven channels in a room under 12 feet wide: did the extra pair actually buy you anything over a well placed five, or did you just add two speakers you now sit inside of?
