Location of surround speakers for music

Unless you need to create added height (angular incidence to cause the ear to perceive the sound as higher)all main and surround speakers should be at a height that conveys a realistic sound and surround stage height.

This may also be impacted by the vertical dispersion charachteristics of a particular speaker.

The suggestion of "above the listener" positioning you mention was originally based on attempting to create a less direct and more diffuse surround soundfield.

As well the placement of the side surrounds further to the rear (as opposed to directly to the side) was also to create the angular firing incidence that would make the ear/brain "hear" a more rearward directionality.

With 7.1 this is no longer needed.

In well recorded multi-channel music, the sides and rear speakers "should" only be for sonic support of that ambiant information that you would hear while actually sitting in the venue.

Using and positioning the speakers should be based on the best position for them to have the best reproduction. When listening to music, that is generally NOT with high firing angles.

IMO

Many SACDs have a specific setup for the speakers detailed in the included booklets. It is generally based on 5 identical channels at specific angles. This is different that what is generally recommended for home theater.

Thanks for the advice; I'll look at the booklets with my multi-channel SACDs. I just bought two pairs of 70's KEF Reference 102s with tweeters similar to those of my KEF Reference 104.2s to replace newer 200C and 102.2s with Uni-Q tweeters. I may need to lower the side speakers. Currently, I have only 5.1, the .1 being a Velodyne HGS-15 with SMS-1 DRC. Multi-channel music is limited to Blu-ray, because my Proceed PAV/PDSD pre/pro lacks HDMI. I've been looking at the Cary Cinema 11a as a replacement for the PAV/PDSD, so I can enjoy surround SACDs played on my Sony SCD-XA5400ES.

db