Home Theater Surround Placement

[SurferJoe]

If somebody could shed some light on the best position for surround speakers in my room (please see diagram) I would be forever grateful. I'm not sure whether I should go with an in-wall in the column, a bipolar that could also be used as a dual mono for 7.1 or an in-ceiling speaker. Also what height would be best. The listening area is very close to the back wall in-fact only 3 ft. Or would a stand based book shelf speaker be best. I'm hoping one of you theater geniuses can help. Also I might want to do 7.1 or even 9.1 using in-ceiling speakers at some point. Side walls are not an option for me (nowhere to mount them).

[m R g S r]

Well with 7.1 you have surround and surround back, or front height channels as an option.

I have my 7.1 set up with front center surround in the middle of each side wall then surround back left and right. I also have distributed bass and enjoy the setup very much. I say play around with placement before cutting any holes or permanently mounting anything. Sometimes ideal positions don't work out so well due to room acoustics. So mess around with it!