Era 300 placement - Couch against the wall

  • 13 February 2024
  • 4 replies
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Advice needed.

I currently have an Arc (behind the camera) plus Gen 2 sub (behind the couch) plus a pair of One surrounds on stands (shown) and just upgraded the One’s to Era 300 (which arrive tomorrow).   The floor displays what happens when our dog gets a new squeaky toy.   The right side is open to the dining room with a wall maybe 12 ft away.

 

Right now when I tune the system I sit in the middle of the two surrounds for the initial settings but when people sit next to either surround it is too loud with the surround by their ear.  

 

I also bought new stands for the Era 300’s but now I’m wondering if I should wall mount them.   I’d rather not.

 

I was also thinking of moving the couch toward the TV a bit (maybe a foot) but the better half will strongly object.

 

Anyone have a similar setup?   

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4 replies

Ken_Griffiths

I personally would not use Era 300s for surrounds in this room, because that speaker fires outwards/sideways when used as HT surrounds and the side-walls are not equidistant. My choice would be Era 100s and I would place them pointing towards the TV/Soundbar and have them equidistant from wherever the primary seated position is on the back wall with the main picture/painting.

Its not an ‘easy’ room to use as a Home Theatre and I would certainly try to find what sounds okay to you and more importantly do not upset the ‘better half’ - we all know that’s not worth doing.😁

I would personally use speaker stands (because you can then adjust the position to find where they work best) and obviously keep them at head height, above the back of the corner seating.

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I received the two Era 300’s yesterday and replaced the existing one surrounds in the same location.    They were quite a bit bigger but the better half approved.   

I must say, after tuning and playing various Atmos flicks and music that all I can say is “WOW!”  

If the location isn’t good for these speakers, I can’t imagine what a better room environment would bring. 

One question I had was the height slider in the Sonos app.   Do I just leave that alone?   We have 9 ft ceilings. 

 

 

Ken_Griffiths

The main thing here is that you’re happy and I think the Era 300s are a great speaker, used either as HT surrounds, or as a stereo pair. Even better with a Sub in the mix.

Height channel can be boosted or reduced and it’s again down to what you like to hear… I would listen to some Atmos Movies and look out for things like rain, helicopters and general sounds overhead and replay any noticed sections in the movie and trying the height channel slider at different positions. My ceilings are 8-9ft high and I have just left my height slider at zero, but I’ve seen others here boost theirs to around +4 

You will hear the difference, as you change the slider control, so put it where it suits you and the better half. Some movies to maybe try…

  • The Force Awakens 
  • Ready Player One
  • Nobody
  • War of the worlds
  • 6 Underground
  • The Matrix
  • Jumanji
  • A quiet place part 2
  • Mulan

There are also some Dolby Atmos sample/test videos. Here are some links I have collected from the community here (hope they still work)…

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After this, I am seriously thinking of replacing my music only setup in another room (Roon +DAC+Amp+Speakers)  with a pair of Era 300s or maybe 5’s.

Thanks for the advice.

Ill give your height settings recommendations a close look .

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