Just upgraded to a 7.1 home cinema amp and am currently experimenting with speaker positioning. My room is approx 4m x 4m, with the TV in the middle of the north wall, the listening position a sofa almost touching the south wall.
I have Mordaunt short 903 Avant biopolar speakers for the er, side surround speakers and cheapy small Ariston speakers for the 3 rear surrounds.

My question is - what is the recommended hight to mount the rear speakers. As the sofa is so near the back wall it makes sense to mount these highish (6-7ft). Should the side surrounds be mounted at the same height? Also will it matter if the side surrounds are slightly in front of the listening position rather than directly side on.

Any help appreciated. Thanks!

Hi Paul, congratulations on your new 7.1 sound system. I’ll try to help you with some advice on speaker placement. Whilst the front speakers and the centre speaker should be positioned at ear level (when you’re seated), the surround speakers should be placed slightly above ear level. Some people recommend 0.5 to 1m.
I placed my surround speakers about 1m above ear level and about 0.4m behind the actual listening position – so far I’m quite satisfied with the result. However, I only have a 5.1 sound system and my sofa is not that close to the back wall.
All surround speakers should be placed at the same height for best performance. Try to experiment with the speaker placement in your own room to find the best possible position for your speakers. Although the side speakers should not be placed in front of the listening position there might be no other choice in your room because the sofa is so close to the back wall. Try to mount them next to your listening position or slightly behind.
You may also like to have a look at the "Dipoles and Bipoles" article on AVReview. This also includes advice links to some other websites where you can find easy-to-use interactive placement guides.

Thanks for the help.

Only way to have the 'side' surrounds directly side on would be to mount them close to the ceiling above door frame - too high I should think?

What's the height of your side wall? If you mount them at the position you described how high would that be above your listening position?

Hi Paul,

Why don't you post some photo's of your room in the gallery once you've decided on positioning? It would be good to see how people make the most of their space.

I imagined I was going to have the surrounds a maximum of 1m higher than ear level when sitting in listening position.
Mounting above door frame would put them approx 1.5-1.8m higher (than ear level). Might get some weird effects from the sound reflecting from the ceiling??

Did some experimenting last night with the bipoles about 30cm in front of listening position and was quite happy with the results. Mind you, this was with the surround speakers on temporary stands (so at ear height, rather than where they will be mounted). Other than getting my girlfriend to hold the speakers up a couple at a time (she's delighted about that, by the way), not sure how I'm going to do a proper simulation before mounting the speakers (not keen on putting holes in the wall then changing mu mind...).

Theres about 40cm between top of door frame and ceiling

Well, if you were quite happy with the results when placing the bipoles slightly in front of the listening position then why not go for this solution? Personal taste is all that matters. And an approach that works well for a friend or other advisor might not be the best solution for your specific listening room. All that counts is how it sounds to you - no matter what technical advice you can get.
Just try the placement above the door frame (your girlfriend seems happy to help) to find out whether it's better than the other solution. I don't think that you'll get weird effects from ceiling reflections because your speakers mainly fire towards the sides rather than to the top (or bottom). That's also the reason why rear speakers shouldn't be placed at ear level. Remember that the aim is to create a sound that can't be localised easily. Let me know what you’ve found out.