Question about rear speakers and imaging

[Gemini]

I got floor standing speakers for my fronts, but I have cheap wall mounted speakers for my rear speakers. They are mounted at the same level of the listener's ears. They are directly pointing towars the listener.
Though those small rears (KLH B979 or something) sound ok by themselves, I still do not get a 3D feel of the movies.

The most annoying part is that sometimes (actually, manytimes) they atract attention to them alot and listeners can pin-point them in the room, which makes it very distracting while watching a movie. This is defentitly not 3D or surround experience.

Is frequency matching between front and rear has anything to do with this? I matched the loudness level between front and back, but since they are from different brands/manufacturers, they do not have the same freq response...Could this be my problem?

I just want to know what are parameters to look for in rear speakers to give ideal imaging:
Is it loudness? I already set it up.
Placement? I guess at ear level directed towards the listener should be ideal.
Is it brand matching?
Is it freq matching?

Also any further tips to improve imaging would be helpful :)

Thanks in advance...

[BeFree]

What kind of front speakers do you have? I recently had a similar situation and made the following changes:

1. purchased good quality rear speakers

2. got speakers that were "voice matched" to my front speakers
(it's not absolutely necessary, but it's helpful)

3. mounted the direct radiating speakers about 6-7 feet high pointed towards the listener (with speakers, placement is vital)

Once I made these changes, there was a tremendous difference in sound quality in the rear. However, if you just do #1, you'll be way ahead of where you are now.

[steber]

Before you buy new rear speakers I would play with placement first.

Ideally you want a diffuse sound field(non directional sound, infinite reflections) from you surround speakers, this will make it so you cant determine the sound source.

YOu definately do not want them at ear level, i think ~2 ft above is recommened

YOu can also try having the speakers fire rear ward into the courners of your room or upward from behind your chair

[cschang]

Here is a good read on placement....

http://dolbylabs.com/ht/Guide.HomeTheater.0110.html#chapter3

[BeFree]

Placement alone won't help much. You're not going to be content unless you upgrade your cheap speakers. Consider bipolar speakers if you want a diffuse sound, but make sure your room set-up can accommodate them. Try going the timbre-matched route as Dolby Labs suggests.