Bookshelf speaker as Center

[varsis]

So I am going to be using a Bookshelf speaker as my center speaker Will it be ok to mount it horizontal or does it need to be vertical for optimal sound?

 

[afterlife2]

Anyway is fine as long as the tweeter is by your ear. Pics of room/TV placement will guide us better.

 

[zieglj01]

Yes you can - if you are talking about the Boston

 

[varsis]

Yep that's what I'm thinking. Got to rig something up I guess.

 

[WaynePflughaupt]

I had my front bookshelf speaker turned on its side for many years. Sounded fine, but there noticeable shift in timbre when you moved from one location to another on the couch. This was due do the orientation. A while back I modified my cabinet to accommodate upright orientation and all seats on the couch now sound the same.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[varsis]

Looks like I will be just mounting it Horizontally as that makes my Life a bit easier..

Thinking about buying this:
http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/70299879/#/70299879

(I can buy shelves as needed, I also need to keep the girlfriend happy in terms of looks :S)

Putting all of the speakers in it, with room to spare for other stuff, and my receiver.
(Left and Right, Center above the receiver in the Middle)

Will putting it lower than the screen really affect sound that much? I am thinking I can angle the Speakers to Point towards listening height. Other option is to put speaker stands next to the tv (But there is minimal extra space, ~.5" on each side my tv measures 54" wide.)

 

[TLS Guy]

Looks like I will be just mounting it Horizontally as that makes my Life a bit easier..

Thinking about buying this:
http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/70299879/#/70299879

(I can buy shelves as needed, I also need to keep the girlfriend happy in terms of looks :S)

Putting all of the speakers in it, with room to spare for other stuff, and my receiver.
(Left and Right, Center above the receiver in the Middle)

Will putting it lower than the screen really affect sound that much? I am thinking I can angle the Speakers to Point towards listening height. Other option is to put speaker stands next to the tv (But there is minimal extra space, ~.5" on each side my tv measures 54" wide.)

A bad decision. You need to mount it vertically. The lobing error in the horizontal position will be very irritating.

Vertical it will be superior to the MTM horizontal which is the usual bad solution.

 

[zieglj01]

Looks like I will be just mounting it Horizontally as that makes my Life a bit easier..

Thinking about buying this:
http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/70299879/#/70299879

(I can buy shelves as needed, I also need to keep the girlfriend happy in terms of looks :S)

Vertical is always the better option - and with a cabinet like that, you should
be able to place/arrange it to be vertical. The speakers are 11 inches tall.
Plus, it will look better vertical

 

[3db]

A bad decision. You need to mount it vertically. The lobing error in the horizontal position will be very irritating.

Vertical it will be superior to the MTM horizontal which is the usual bad solution.

Is mounting a bookshelf speaker horizontally worse than the MTM solutions?

 

[Swerd]

Is mounting a bookshelf speaker horizontally worse than the MTM solutions?

No, not in theory.

Two drivers, horizontally arrayed, can sound out of phase with each other when a listener sits off-axis, with resulting cancellations. The range of frequencies at which these cancellations can occur vary with the angle at which the listener is sitting off-axis.

In a 2-way speaker, with a typical 4th order crossover, the woofer and tweeter will both be working only at frequencies within one octave of the crossover frequency. If the crossover is at 2 kHz, this range would be from roughly 1 to 4 kHz. And that does include some, but not all of the human voice range.

In an MTM, both mid woofers work at all frequencies in their pass band. So the potential for cancellations would be greater.

Generalizations about this quickly break down. Cancellations vary widely with the angles and distances of the listeners. What seems to be theoretically a set up for failure, often doesn't work so bad in practice.

 

[zieglj01]

Is mounting a bookshelf speaker horizontally worse than the MTM solutions?

No, not in my experience

However, there are many bookshelf speakers that I would
not turn on their side.