Transitioning to more than two channels…..

Unfortunately there isn't any way to move them to the back wall. Anything is possible I suppose but if I started tearing up drywall in a fully finished room, I wouldn't need to worry about sound quality because my wife would kill me.

Me not knowing the difference between side projections and side surrounds should explain how little I know about this. Thanks a million for the explanation!
 
In response to Puttermans post about using the HK as a Power Amp (I'm not able to reply/quote for some reason - I'll look into that later).

Is there some kind of wiring diagram to illustrate this? I * think * I'm following you.

So in other words, the HK would become nothing more than additional power for the entire system?
 
The two shorting plugs on the HK3490's back plate connect the unit's L and R preamp/tuner outputs to unit's power amplifier via its L and R inputs and then out to the L and R speakers. By pulling the plugs, you can run your AVR's Front L and R preouts directly into the HK's power amp inputs to drive your Front L and R speakers at higher output levels than (might be) available from your AVR.
 

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Unfortunately there isn't any way to move them to the back wall. Anything is possible I suppose but if I started tearing up drywall in a fully finished room, I wouldn't need to worry about sound quality because my wife would kill me.

Me not knowing the difference between side projections and side surrounds should explain how little I know about this. Thanks a million for the explanation!

When I said "side projection," I was thinking you had a physical projection attached to your side walls like I do in my home theater (think of a flat ceiling and a 2' x 2' drywalled A/C duct running along the side wall/ceiling from the back wall to the screen wall. THAT'S the side projection I thought I saw in your excellent drawing.

If you can't use the back wall for your surround backs, that's fine. You'll simply attach swivel mounts to your side wall near the back wall where the speaker wires are. Then you'll swivel the speakers to point toward the MLP. Simple, no drywall breakage other than attaching the mounting brackets. Close inspection of the area around the existing wires should give you a clue how the previous speakers were mounted there.
 
Well, if this helps, here are a few photos of the room itself. I think they show the layout of things but if they do not, please let me know. (sorry that things are a little messy - this is the last room in the house that we are getting together). I really appreciate everyone's help!

Honestly, I don't see how anyone could be mislead by my excellent CAD style drawings/layout. I spent hours on those LOL!
 

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Oh, you got it EASY, my friend! That room is perfect for a nice simple install that will suit you perfectly for 2-channel music, 7 channel (or more) HT, AND multichannel high-res music (and/or video) with an asterisk, sorry.

Here's a set of speakers I saw recently on CL. 7.2 just like you'll be looking at. The two biggies are 15" passive subs. The weird looking angled ones are your side wall dipoles. The four clones are the fronts (where you'll be using your existing towers) and the surround backs. The one with the two tweeters between the mid-woofers is the center that will go approximately where your HK3490 is right now.

* You might want to consider additional routing of the existing surround back speaker wires down to wall plates near floor level so you can plug in two towers instead of bookshelves for multichannel music (including 5- or 7-channel "stereo", don't laugh: even though it's a DSP, it is very lightly processed and sound fantastic!). With just the least bother, you set it up such that either swivel mounts up high OR floor standing towers or even stand mounted bookshelves can be used as your surround backs for HT and your rears for multichannel music. I'd kill for a room like yours.
 

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Just some random observations based on your picture.

From the placement of the side wires, I'd stick to a 5.x system.

Why? The two rear channels in a 7.x system are supposed to be mounted on the back wall facing forward, preferable a few feet in from the corners. Not in the back corners facing the center of the room. Now, if you want to extend those wires a few feet to meet that criteria, then a 7.x system will work fine.

Here's a visual of an ideal situation.

7.1 speaker placemewnt.jpg

You can still buy a 7.x receiver since most seem to be that anyway but there's no harm done using it in a 5.x system. A lot of people do that, including me.

Observation # 2. Yes, timbre matching the center and surrounds to the main is not that critical for HT but if you decide to get into MC music, then it becomes an issue. But, I still subscribe to the "front three match" school of thought. YMMV
 
Note that the skipper's 7-channel caution would be addressed by my suggestion of placing wall plates down low on the side walls and simply running the requisite lengths of discreet speaker cable to your rear towers positioned on either side of the window facing forward along the back wall.
 
Well, if this helps, here are a few photos of the room itself.

First things first. I'm assuming the side wall wiring (all four locations) routes somewhere on the wall behind your HK3490 somewhere under where the monitor is mounted. Have you checked each run for continuity and no shorts? No sense making what could turn out to be a costly assumption when your runs SHOULD be able to be so readily checked.
 
Was the wiring used by the previous owner? If so, you've got some assurance that everything was properly run and worked at one time. Also, you can possibly reuse or build on his mounting system for the side surrounds. At any rate, make sure you check for pair continuity on each run AND shorts between each wire and all the rest.

Let me know if you need further direction on installing wall plates for the surround backs(7.1)/rears(5.1). Basically you run a double line from the existing wiring down to the plate and back up. You can then either jack into the plate with your floorstanders or jumper it to operate your wall mounts. I use such an arrangement in my HT to allow me to switch between my in-wall fronts for movie surround sound and a set of floorstanders for serious 2-channel listening. With my AVR, I simply swap in saved configuration files with the Audyssey equalization curves and source settings for each. Kids/wife get their movies and I get my stereo. Works great for all concerned.
 
The wiring was used by the previous owner until he (they) moved out. I have access to him through the neighbors and we meet them during the selling process - genuinely nice people.

Seems as though we are on the same wavelength. If you don't mind, expect a PM or two!
 
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