Angle a center channel speaker downwards?

[Techlord]

Hello,

I'm faced with a dilemma, I have a center channel speaker (MK Sound LCR-950) mounted on a custom shelf that I made out of steel and hardwood. I then had the whole shelf covered in a beautiful black lacquer finish and want to be able to angle my center speaker downward without using some ugly looking rubber door stops, is there something out there that will not kill the beautiful looks of my homemade shelf when angling my speaker downwards? I have plenty of room to angle my center speaker down without any interference between the shelf and the speakers front baffle, an all black rubber door stop would be alright if I can find some, haven't had any such luck.

Thanks Techlord.

 

[sholling]

It depends on the depth of the center and the angle that you need. You'll also want at least a 1/4" lip at the bottom edge so that they don't slid off the stand. Audioengine makes stands for their tiny A2 that are black rubber and at 15° they pretty steeply angled but not nearly long enough for really deep speakers. I've used them before while supporting the back of the speaker with high density foam-rubber blocks.

I happen to like Auralex Mopad speaker isolation pads a lot better but that's personal taste. Mopads are much deeper (but can be cut down) and adjustable for angles up to 8°.

If you want a better match with your shelf you could always make something to match. Just don't forget the lip or you'll be picking your speaker up off the floor. If you go that route then I'd place some felt or rubber pads between the stand and speaker to provide some isolation between speaker and stand.

 

[Techlord]

I think I need a 35 degree angle, my speaker has big rubber feet the size of dice that I bought at Radio Shack. Keep the suggestions coming, to bad those Mopad don't come at steeper angles.

Thanks Techlord.

 

[FirstReflection]

It's a good idea to decouple your speakers anyway. So you can kill two birds with one stone here by using a decoupling device as your angle block.

As suggested, the Auralex MoPads are one option. They are just dark grey foam though, so I'm not sure what you'll think of the looks.

Another suggestion that I have are the Bright Star Audio IsoNodes:

IsoNodes from Bright Star Audio

What I would suggest is that you get one 4-piece set of the small IsoNodes ($14.99), and also one 4-piece set of the large IsoNodes ($24.99). The price for both sets ends up being $40, which is pretty much the same price as the Auralex MoPads.

What you can do is put the small IsoNodes at the front of your center speaker. At the back, if all you need is a small downward angle, you can just use the Large IsoNodes. If you need a steeper downward angle, you can create two spheres by taking two of the Large IsoNodes and sticking them back-to-back.

Hope that helps!

 

[Rickster71]

The rubber door stops are the cheapest way to go. I use door stops with my Audioengine A5's on my desk.
If you can't find black you can spray paint them. No one will ever know and they will blend with your black shelves.
My $0.02

 

[just-some-guy]

is this center on top of a tv ?

 

[sholling]

At 35° I wouldn't be surprised to see the speaker start getting tippy.

 

[Techlord]

At 35° I wouldn't be surprised to see the speaker start getting tippy.

I found some nice looking door stops with a nice gooey sticky rubber on bottom and top, tomorrow I will secured the tipsy center channel with some picture wire (two wires) attached to a metal reinforced hook to the wall behind the speaker. The angle of these doorstops is right on the money angle wise, the picture wires will allow my center speaker to hang off in front of the shelf so I can eliminate defraction. I bought them at Home Depot and cost $6 each, the highest point is 1.25" inches. Have a look,

-Techlord

 

[Alex2507]

Those are some nice door stops! All shiny!

I think using them on top of the Mopads would get you closer to 35 degrees,
further your decoupling objectives and address your fear of falling.

 

[sholling]

I found some nice looking door stops with a nice gooey sticky rubber on bottom and top, tomorrow I will secured the tipsy center channel with some picture wire (two wires) attached to a metal reinforced hook to the wall behind the speaker. The angle of these doorstops is right on the money angle wise, the picture wires will allow my center speaker to hang off in front of the shelf so I can eliminate defraction. I bought them at Home Depot and cost $6 each, the highest point is 1.25" inches. Have a look,

-Techlord

Those door stops look like they're about 15 degrees.

 

[walter duque]

I can save you a lot of trouble. I have the perfect center for sale that would take care of your needs and look good. It has a 11 deg. frontal incline, so it's perfect for top and bottom use. Here http://www.sourcespeaker.com/CC-4.html it is.

 

[Techlord]

Today I managed to finish installing my center channel, my digital camera isn't very good at taking pictures in low lit conditions, have a look anyway. Also I notice that I can no longer upload any new pictures, when I try to theres a red line across to top~?

-Techlord

 

[just-some-guy]

why did you put the tether right to the wall ? i would have put it to the shelf.

just sayin

 

[Techlord]

why did you put the tether right to the wall ? i would have put it to the shelf.

just sayin

I really wasn't sure if this plan was going to do the job and it was already there from when I mounted my center speaker vertically. I believe my LCR 950 has lost its imaging and now sounds muddy, I think I need to detach the speaker from the surface underneath it using either some Mopads or IsoNodes, which is going to be the better option between these two methods and which will give me more degrees downward?

-Techlord

 

[sholling]

The 5" deep Audioengine may be deep enough for that speaker. Or take the Mopads and cut them and then wedge in chunk of the extra foam at the rear to add more angle. I've gotten about 15 degrees that way.

 

[Techlord]

The 5" deep Audioengine may be deep enough for that speaker. Or take the Mopads and cut them and then wedge in chunk of the extra foam at the rear to add more angle. I've gotten about 15 degrees that way.

You lost me at, " 5" deep Audioengine may be deep enough for that speaker."?

 

[Alex2507]

You lost me at, " 5" deep Audioengine may be deep enough for that speaker."?

In post #2 Sholling provided a link for an Audioengine product on Amazon but said that he prefers the Mopads. From what I know of the Mopads I think they would decouple your speaker from the shelf and the wall so that the sound is coming more from the speaker and less from everything else. People report that the difference is very noticeable. I think that would clean up the sound more than any amount of downward angling.

 

[DD66000]

I really wasn't sure if this plan was going to do the job and it was already there from when I mounted my center speaker vertically. I believe my LCR 950 has lost its imaging and now sounds muddy, I think I need to detach the speaker from the surface underneath it using either some Mopads or IsoNodes, which is going to be the better option between these two methods and which will give me more degrees downward?

-Techlord

Your problem is you are taking a vertical array speaker and laying it on its side. And it makes no difference that the tweeter is at one end, as opposed to being between the midrange/midbass drivers.

The worse dedicated horizontal center speakers I've ever heard are true mtm, where the tweeter is mounted along the centerline of the woofers.

The better horizontal centers either have the tweeter & midrange mounted vertically with the two woofers to the sides, such as JBL PC600 or having the tweeter mounted above the woofer centerline. Such as the Infinity PC351 in which the tweeter and dual midrange drivers form a triangle, putting the tweeter above the centerline. The mid-bass woofers are then to both sides of that triangle.
Here are those two centers.

 

[sholling]

You lost me at, " 5" deep Audioengine may be deep enough for that speaker."?

Audioengine stands are only 5" long and will support a speaker 5-7" deep at a 15 degree angle (same as your door stops). You might be able to get away with an 8" deep speaker without it flopping over backward but I don't know for sure. The hollow rubber construction decouples fairly well but not as well as a Mopad.

Mopads are foam and decouple very well. Because they are so long you'll have to cut them down to fit your shelf. Just take that extra material and use it to prop up the back of the speaker.

 

[Techlord]

The fact that three identical LCR 950 speakers should sound "exactly" the same they don't, this really does show how placement matters! I ordered the Mopads for my center and am excited to hear the difference, I will definitely report back once I hear the difference once installed.

I have a question, even with my M&K LDM stands that have ten pounds of dense gravel at the bottom do these suffer from the same issues (clearly not to the same degree) as my center speaker? Now this question have triggered another question, my surrounds (SUR95T) are mounted seven feet high to the side walls less than a half inch from the wall. While these are probably the worse offenders placement wise how can I improve upon getting the surrounds decoupled from the walls? They definitely sound deeper than they probably should, more mid/bass than my L/R speakers!

-Thank thus far, Techlord