We've purchased and old home and are doing some work on it. I'd love to set up multiroom audio basically just for background music, and occasional entertaining.
There are two main living rooms connected by a oversized doorway (with no door -- it's open plan). When we eventually move in, the TV will be in the smaller room, above a fireplace (yes; I know!! I don't want to discuss the problems with this!!) because we don't want it right next to the children's rooms. The larger room will have a circular dining table at one end and a sitting/coffee table area at the other (not physically divided) as shown.
For the TV I think we're going to go with some sort of soundbar with rear speakers. Given the issues with the Playbar's 5.1 optical input (most TV's don't seem to support it) I'm inclined to go with Samsung HW-Q90R as it both has better audio reviews and more reliable 5.1 input. I'm going to hate losing my genuine 5.1 setup, but I don't think it fits around the fireplace. In any case, I'll use a Connect to link it in to the new Sonos system.
Now, my real question is about speaker layout in the larger room. I have no idea how to do this! Although some people have suggested putting speakers only at one end of a room ("you don't listen to a concert from the stage") it seems more common to try to surround the room. It's also relevant the sound will be coming in from the smaller room as there's no door.
I can see three options:
- In-ceiling speakers. I think this would be recommended, but I'm not sure we can run the wires in the flat roof -- it may be impossible. In this case as well, how do you decide which to make left and which right?
- Two Play:5's mounted in the middle of the room. In this case, from either side of the room the music will have an orientation (coming from the centre of the room) and the stereo orientation will be correct as each Play:5 has conveniently already a left and right (as shown)!
- Play:1's (or similar) in the corners. (or, wall-mounted speakers if this is possible). Again, how does one decide which to make left and right?
Thanks again!!!