Looking for advice on height of surround/rear speakers

[brand]

Hi guys

I just got a good deal on a set of direct radiating bookshelf speakers that I'm going to use as rear speakers in a 7.1 system. I run dipole speakers as surrounds. They're already up on the wall (145 cm/4.7 feet middle of speaker) but I feel like they should be higher (don't ask me why). I've read that they should be at somewhere in between 140-210cm  (5-7 ft) ideally. Before I hang my new rears I wanna get the dipoles right because the rears will be at the same height.

Any help is appreciated, mostly looking for the height you have you're surrounds at and why. Also any convenient way to figure out the ideal height would be appreciated as it's kind of hard to get two people to hold the dipoles while I play some sort of rain, helicopter etc sound on the system.

Last question would be wheter or not to angle down the direct radiating rears (or the dipoles but I don't think there's a point to that).

[knucklehead]

I have my 5.1 setup according to Dolby Labs. Works for me.

[brand]

Jan 16, 2015 15:53:14 GMT -5 knucklehead said:

I have my 5.1 setup according to Dolby Labs. Works for me.

See for example that's where it starts. There are different recommendations by Dolby to be found online. Sometimes higher than ear level sometimes on ear level, hence this thread.

[Canuck_fr]

With Dipôles, I recommend doing them 18-24 inch above ear level.

[bootman]

Jan 16, 2015 15:55:30 GMT -5 brand said:

Jan 16, 2015 15:53:14 GMT -5 knucklehead said:

I have my 5.1 setup according to Dolby Labs. Works for me.

See for example that's where it starts. There are different recommendations by Dolby to be found online. Sometimes higher than ear level sometimes on ear level, hence this thread.

Can you post these?
The one on the actual Dolby site is the actual Dolby recommendation.

If you notice they don't even mention dipoles.
That was started by THX and they have recommendations on surrounds but it isn't Dolby's.

[brand]

Jan 16, 2015 16:08:48 GMT -5 bootman said:

Jan 16, 2015 15:55:30 GMT -5 brand said:

See for example that's where it starts. There are different recommendations by Dolby to be found online. Sometimes higher than ear level sometimes on ear level, hence this thread.

Can you post these?
The one on the actual Dolby site is the actual Dolby recommendation.

If you notice they don't even mention dipoles.
That was started by THX and they have recommendations on surrounds but it isn't Dolby's.

Correct I've seemed to mix up THX and Dolby, still they recommend completely different heights and as you've said there is nothing about dipoles in Dolbys recommendations. I've also never seen a cinema that didn't have their surround higher than ear level but that might be for other reasons.

[Canuck_fr]

Careful because theaters also have other things in mind such as potential damage done by clients.

[brand]

Jan 16, 2015 16:08:48 GMT -5 bootman said:

Jan 16, 2015 15:55:30 GMT -5 brand said:

See for example that's where it starts. There are different recommendations by Dolby to be found online. Sometimes higher than ear level sometimes on ear level, hence this thread.

Can you post these?
The one on the actual Dolby site is the actual Dolby recommendation.

If you notice they don't even mention dipoles.
That was started by THX and they have recommendations on surrounds but it isn't Dolby's.

I did find this:

www.audioholics.com/home-theater-connection/how-to-set-up-5.1-speaker-home-theater-system

where it says:

"And lastly, the surround speakers. Per Dolby and DTS standards, your surround speakers should be 90-110 degrees off center, directly to the side or just a little but behind your seating position. Also, as opposed to our front speakers, the tweeter of the surround speakers should be 2-3 feet above ear-level when seated as this makes it them harder to localize. In other words, it makes it harder to hear exactly where the sound is coming from, which creates a more realistic surround field. This will likely necessitate wall mounting or using tall stands."

[hemster]

Dipoles should be mounted higher than the listening position by 2-3 feet. Mine are 3 feet above the ear position (to the middle of the speaker). This is to create a wide dispersion sound-field.

[Canuck_fr]

Jan 16, 2015 17:01:47 GMT -5 hemster said:

Dipoles should be mounted higher than the listening position by 2-3 feet. Mine are 3 feet above the ear position (to the middle of the speaker). This is to create a wide dispersion sound-field.

I agree with you, but it also dépends on distance. Mine are right behind me at 21 inches higher. If they are further back, they may be higher.

[hemster]

Jan 16, 2015 17:03:49 GMT -5 Canuck_fr said:

Jan 16, 2015 17:01:47 GMT -5 hemster said:

Dipoles should be mounted higher than the listening position by 2-3 feet. Mine are 3 feet above the ear position (to the middle of the speaker). This is to create a wide dispersion sound-field.

I agree with you, but it also dépends on distance. Mine are right behind me at 21 inches higher. If they are further back, they may be higher.

Yes, and at 21 inches you're in the ballpark. Mine are 7 feet behind me. With the rear seats on a riser, mine are mounted about 6" lower than the ceiling. 

[brand]

Ok, I think I have the height of the dipoles down. What about the direct radiating rears. I read the farther away the higher they can be mounted. Just mount them at the same height as the dipoles? They're about 14 feet from the seating area.

[yves]

realtraps.com/art_room-setup.htm

Note that the tweeters in the rear surround speakers should also be at ear height. Some people recommend placing the surround speakers high up on the side or rear walls, mimicking the setup of some commercial movie theaters. But that's a throwback to years past, when a single rear channel contained the surround information rather than separate channels as in today's 5.1 soundtracks. Back then, some movie theaters placed one or more speakers high up on the rear wall to increase ambience by including the room's natural reverb. But that was long ago, and in theaters much larger than anyone's living room.

Mr. Peter Goossens says don't put boiled potatos in the fridge.

[tota1pkg]

From what i understand they should be directly at ear level according to the mix.  However, since the'll typically be things in the way (other people, other couches) of this path, a slightly higher angle is better overall, pointed down towards the listener.   I ran my side surround about 95 degrees, and set the woofer at ear level, with a very slight angle downward.  since i have two rows, i put the rear surrounds up high and angled them down so it can almost form a line from the speaker and touch the top of the head of the back row and the front row, toed in towards the sweet spot.