Hello!

Looking for feedback and advice on the layout of a 5.1 speaker system in a living room. Due to a fireplace and other factors that prevent using floor standing or in-wall speakers, I'm strongly considering going with a complete in-ceiling speaker setup.

The attached image is a rough example, showing the room layout, and proposed placement of the speakers. The room is roughly 32' long, however the sofa ends at around 16'. Room is approx 16' wide with 10' ceilings.

Room usage will be roughly 70% tv/movies and 30% ambient music listening while in the kitchen or dinette area (just behind the living room). Speakers will most likely will be powered by an Anthem receiver or similar device.

Questions:
1) I'm considering using HTR-7000 speakers for the front LCR channels. With this setup, which speakers would be best for the rears? Should I stick with the directional HTR-7000? Or use something such as the 650 (with the tweeter pointed down, or slightly toed in from the side walls)?

2) Based on this room layout, what distance behind the sofa should the rear speakers be placed? How far in from the walls?

3) Any advice on how far in to place the front LCR speakers from the back and side walls? (Have to factor in the fireplace, which sticks out 2')

4) Anything else to consider or suggest that I may be overlooking?

5) Any recommendations for a sub with this layout and room size?

Thanks!

An all in-ceiling using HTR 7000s is a hot setup and it looks like you can do this in the space. The front and rear speakers need to be at least 10-12' away from the seating area (assuming a flat 8' ceiling height) for this to work properly so you may want to move the rear speakers further back. A couple subs up front will complete the job nicely - maybe towards the two front corners so they are out of site/traffic.

Thanks for the feedback. For the rear speakers, in consideration of the room space/size and usage, which would be the better setup? HTR 7000 or the 650?

I am not a fan of using downfiring in-ceiling speakers for surround/rear (ear-level) applications. Also, can't have that in an Atmos/DTS-x setup.

Thanks for the feedback, much appreciated!

Any recommendations on receiver (or reasonable separates) that pair well with the HTR 7000?

I take it you're planning on mounting a flat panel above the fire-place? That puts the display higher than is comfortable and limits your speaker options. I'd seriously consider rotating your seating, so that the back of your couch faces the kitchen/bedroom and moving the display to the main solid wall, without any fireplace. Then, I'd go with a pair of GE 7s for my front speakers, and an SuperCenter XL for my center channel. I'd finish it up with a pair of Invisa 650s for the surround speakers. Note, in a 5.1 set-up, the surround speakers should be positioned at the sides, not behind the seating area. I think this would give a step up in performance, with conventional speakers for your front 3, which do the heavy lifting.

If that doesn't work for whatever reason, the layout you proposed is what I'd recommend, with Invisa 650s again as your surrounds placed as to the sides of your seating area, as much as possible while maintaining symmetry . However, this is much more of a compromise.

As the previous reply said, if you use Invisa 650s as surrounds, you pretty much rule out any future Dolby Atmos set-up, but I don't think Atmos is worth it, given the limitations of your room.