Right and Left Speakers for Fireplace mounted TV

[ChuckvB]

I'm looking for non-obtrusive speakers to use with a new fireplace mounted TV. I can recess them in the fireplace but only on the sides about three feet above the tv and they would face to the right and left and not towards the front? What do you think I should do? I could go with floor standing speakers as a last options but I'm trying for low visibility. We have a full theater in the basement for the full movie effect. This just needs to be good enough for daily tv viewing.

 

[lovinthehd]

Ah the dreaded fireplace placement....does make things difficult. What about in-wall speakers further away from the hearth area for separation and placement?

 

[ChuckvB]

I'm beginning to think that's the answer. I'm sure there are fine in wall speakers. What about the invisible speakers? I'm not sure that the highs won't be absorbed by the material over the speaker. They seem risky.

 

[lovinthehd]

Not sure what you mean by invisible speakers, do you have a link? There are definitely good in-wall speakers altho installation can be a pain. I wouldn't be worried about fabric over the speaker, speaker grills come with most speakers and they work just fine with such (and with an in-wall you could even design your own to perhaps appear as decoration/artwork).

 

[Kingnoob]

I'm looking for non-obtrusive speakers to use with a new fireplace mounted TV. I can recess them in the fireplace but only on the sides about three feet above the tv and they would face to the right and left and not towards the front? What do you think I should do? I could go with floor standing speakers as a last options but I'm trying for low visibility. We have a full theater in the basement for the full movie effect. This just needs to be good enough for daily tv viewing.

Put a tower speaker on each side of the fireplace so you don’t lose sound quality, add a center only if you dislike phantom ...
I sure like the look of towers over wimpy satellites and they don’t suck ...
I’ve used smaller speakers they are disappointing, any specific towers you like the look of ? White kefs maybe
Or mount a soundbar under the tv
Or this https://www.htd.com/VERSA-HTS1

 

[TLS Guy]

I'm looking for non-obtrusive speakers to use with a new fireplace mounted TV. I can recess them in the fireplace but only on the sides about three feet above the tv and they would face to the right and left and not towards the front? What do you think I should do? I could go with floor standing speakers as a last options but I'm trying for low visibility. We have a full theater in the basement for the full movie effect. This just needs to be good enough for daily tv viewing.

We might as well lance the boil. A TV placement over a TV is pretty much the worst placement possible. For one the TV is far too high and makes for very uncomfortable viewing. Another reason is that the heat from the fireplace ruins and destroys TVs.

We also have a TV in our great room where there is a fireplace. We also have a home theater and a system in the family room.

This is our solution to TV watching by the fire. My wife loves it.

That is infinitely better than placing a TV over a fireplace. That has tucked away three good potent speakers and a sub. The port for the sub, is along side the power amps.

 

[Kingnoob]

We might as well lance the boil. A TV placement over a TV is pretty much the worst placement possible. For one the TV is far too high and makes for very uncomfortable viewing. Another reason is that the heat from the fireplace ruins and destroys TVs.

We also have a TV in our great room where there is a fireplace. We also have a home theater and a system in the family room.

This is our solution to TV watching by the fire. My wife loves it.

That is infinitely better than placing a TV over a fireplace. That has tucked away three good potent speakers and a sub. The port for the sub, is along side the power amps.

your set up is far superior to above a fireplace, and no melted tv !!!
To the op I’d suggest better tv placement... or all towers
I don’t see it worth the hassle did you make regular speakers into infinite baffle ? Any closer pics

Forget the clutter haha but this is more comfortable then looking super high up for your tv. My larger tv not being used cable looks horrible on it .
I quit telling people not to use fireplace for there tvs because they won’t listen to facts .
It’s a poor option one guy on some site built a custom speaker into his fireplace mantle lmao ... on here I think ..

 

[TLS Guy]

your set up is far superior to above a fireplace, and no melted tv !!!
To the op I’d suggest better tv placement... or all towers
I don’t see it worth the hassle did you make regular speakers into infinite baffle ? Any closer picsView attachment 47824
Forget the clutter haha but this is more comfortable then looking super high up for your tv. My larger tv not being used cable looks horrible on it .
I quit telling people not to use fireplace for there tvs because they won’t listen to facts .
It’s a poor option one guy on some site built a custom speaker into his fireplace mantle lmao ... on here I think ..

The left/right and center speakers are sealed designs. The sub is a Transmission line.

250 watts available to each speaker, all channels driven.

This is the reverse tapered, aperiodically damped transmission line, if you have not seen one before.

 

[Kingnoob]

The left/right and center speakers are sealed designs. The sub is a Transmission line.

250 watts available to each speaker, all channels driven.

This is the reverse tapered, aperiodically damped transmission line, if you have not seen one before.

Yeah that’s pretty epic , t line subs give you tons of output with smaller drivers too .?
Building all your own speakers is a pretty impressive feature also !! Like a false wall turned into a amazing full wall with storage space also .

 

[ChuckvB]

Don't be deceived by the picture. This fireplace is huge the firebox is six feet wide, fireplace over 8ft wide. So even with a room that is almost 19ft wide putting the tv on the right or left was not a great option for layout. But we minimized the TV height using a linear fireplace and no hearth to kept the tv as low as possible. Also, it has a cool wall that moves heat behind the tv through pipes to the slot above. (note TV and receiver will be upgraded, but this room is just for casual TV. We have a full Theater in the basement for the good stuff )

back to the speakers. I could put the right and left in the face of the fireplace but aesthetically that's probably not great. I can put them in the wall to the left and right of the fireplace. (I could also mount them in the sides of the fireplace, they would be mostly out of sight but pointing the wrong way). In the wall, I could go with traditional in-wall or the invisible which I really like the look but have real concerns about the sound quality with a solid panel over the speaker. Does anyone have insight into the invisible speakers or other ideas

? )
Three invisible speakers (no real audio comparison)

 

[Pogre]

Ah, another "I want great sound, but I hate speakers" thread. I'm the complete opposite. I want great sound but I actually enjoy my speakers. My compromises are aesthetics, but boy it sure sounds good.

 

[highfigh]

I installed Artison speakers in a house with a fireplace wall that's similar- they each have a center channel midbass and tweeter, which crossfire, for coverage. They sound good with a sub and the drivers are excellent.

 

[highfigh]

That is infinitely better than placing a TV over a fireplace. That has tucked away three good potent speakers and a sub. The port for the sub, is along side the power amps.

Which drivers did you use? The tweeters look like Vifa/Peerless.

 

[TLS Guy]

Which drivers did you use? The tweeters look like Vifa/Peerless.

The details of the system are in this thread. The bass mids and center midrange are from Morel, the tweeters in the left and right are from Scanspeak, the tweeter for the center is from Eaton, and the woofer is a 10" Dayton.

I have tweaked it a little since the original report. It is a really good system and not just for in wall. It is a good system period. It is high spl. and accurate. Speech clarity is excellent. It is used for TV watching mostly, but is still an excellent music system. The bass is quite astonishing given there is one 10" driver. But that TL fills that space with no trouble. You have to keep it well controlled to stop it dominating. The bass on large pipe organs is prodigious. It is a very efficient design, and takes little power.
The total power available is 1000 watts all channels driven. It could certainly keep party goers happy without anything blowing up. I regard it as the ultimate in wall system. I know it would crush any in wall system currently on the market.

 

[TLS Guy]

Don't be deceived by the picture. This fireplace is huge the firebox is six feet wide, fireplace over 8ft wide. So even with a room that is almost 19ft wide putting the tv on the right or left was not a great option for layout. But we minimized the TV height using a linear fireplace and no hearth to kept the tv as low as possible. Also, it has a cool wall that moves heat behind the tv through pipes to the slot above. (note TV and receiver will be upgraded, but this room is just for casual TV. We have a full Theater in the basement for the good stuff )

back to the speakers. I could put the right and left in the face of the fireplace but aesthetically that's probably not great. I can put them in the wall to the left and right of the fireplace. (I could also mount them in the sides of the fireplace, they would be mostly out of sight but pointing the wrong way). In the wall, I could go with traditional in-wall or the invisible which I really like the look but have real concerns about the sound quality with a solid panel over the speaker. Does anyone have insight into the invisible speakers or other ideasView attachment 47827? )
Three invisible speakers (no real audio comparison)

Your only solution is a custom design and build. That is why it is so handy to be able to design your own system. I just don't believe there is an off the shelf system that would be any good to you. That absolutely requires a custom design and construction.

 

[ChuckvB]

Your only solution is a custom design and build. That is why it is so handy to be able to design your own system. I just don't believe there is an off the shelf system that would be any good to you. That absolutely requires a custom design and construction.

I've built speakers before. This time for the right left and center it's off the shelf. I'll check prices on the Artisan and reviews if there out there.

 

[Eppie]

I think people are forgetting that you mentioned casual TV viewing. Don't overthink this. For casual TV in-wall speakers should be fine. I have two Paradigm 2-way in-walls installed in my living room and they sound very good. The speaker grill is metal and is designed to be painted, so they blend right in, and are designed to be acoustically transparent. Not invisible, but with matching wall colour you hardly notice them. There are plenty of good in-walls from Paradigm, RBH, Revel, etc. You don't necessarily have to go with tall and thin designer in-walls. I good quality 2-way will serve the purpose. Only other consideration is whether you need a centre channel but for casual TV L+R can be enough if positioned properly.

 

[Eppie]

Here's an example of what's available from RBH. VA-610 is an inexpensive option, up to the VM series if you want hi-fi. Paradigm's in-wall offferings (Canadian dollars) and Revel in-walls are some examples. With in-walls, keep in mind what's on the other side of the wall as far as sound transmission or insulation goes. That may require the addition of an in-wall enclosure which means more framing, drywall and painting.

 

[Mr._Clark]

Don't be deceived by the picture. This fireplace is huge the firebox is six feet wide, fireplace over 8ft wide. So even with a room that is almost 19ft wide putting the tv on the right or left was not a great option for layout. But we minimized the TV height using a linear fireplace and no hearth to kept the tv as low as possible. Also, it has a cool wall that moves heat behind the tv through pipes to the slot above. (note TV and receiver will be upgraded, but this room is just for casual TV. We have a full Theater in the basement for the good stuff )

back to the speakers. I could put the right and left in the face of the fireplace but aesthetically that's probably not great. I can put them in the wall to the left and right of the fireplace. (I could also mount them in the sides of the fireplace, they would be mostly out of sight but pointing the wrong way). In the wall, I could go with traditional in-wall or the invisible which I really like the look but have real concerns about the sound quality with a solid panel over the speaker. Does anyone have insight into the invisible speakers or other ideas? )
Three invisible speakers (no real audio comparison)

I'm not sure if this is within your range of acceptable options, but if you were to have built in bookshelves installed on either side of the fireplace you could use bookshelf speakers. I have a pair of Philharmonic BMRs on bookshelves and a pair of subwoofers hidden in cabinets below the bookshelves. The speakers are not invisible but I do not find them to be objectionable at all (an they have a sufficient WAF, which is key). This was inspired in part by Floyd Toole's home system:

>>>The room was configured in 2000, as a 7.1 system. The front wall was deliberately constructed as a low-mid frequency sound scattering surface using display niches and other depth variations (including spaces behind the fabric covered doors) to alleviate the boundary effect for that wall. Two of the subwoofers are hidden in those cavities. This became a huge advantage when I recently decided to wall mount the inverted Revel Salon2s to reduce their visual dominance - the huge loudspeakers retreat into the background visually, but remain firmly in place acoustically.<<<

The Ultimate "Real World" Home Theater and Listening Room

By Dr. Floyd Toole, introduction by John Schuermann So, if you are literally one of the world's foremost authorities on loudspeakers, rooms, and acoustics - and have literally written the industry accepted book on the subject -- what components and speakers do you chose for your own personal...

www.thescreeningroomav.com

The TV in my system is mounted on a drop down wall mount that I use if the fireplace is not in use (and I feel like going through the hassle of lowering the TV)(I'm not wild about the viewing angle when the TV is above the fireplace, but I'll concede that I frequently do not lower the TV because I don't feel like taking 30 seconds to lower it).

I would not do it this way if I was building a dedicated home theater, but I needed to fit this system into a room with very few options regarding the TV location.

 

[TLS Guy]

I've built speakers before. This time for the right left and center it's off the shelf. I'll check prices on the Artisan and reviews if there out there.

If you can build them, I can design them. I just need to know the exact dimensions of those spaces either side of the TV, to see what space I would have to work with.
Your problem is crying out for a full custom design.