I am drastically under qualified to write a review that involves anything technical. Taking that into account I figured I’d write a review of a product that is pretty simple, that many people have asked about, but yet not many seem to write about. The product I chose is the B-Tech BT77 “Pro Grip” speaker mount.
Recently I purchased a set of larger bookshelf speakers to complete the speaker portion of my HT (for now). They weigh in at about 15lbs apiece and measure 8 x 15 1/4 x 11 15/16" so they take up the space. Originally I had them mounted on stands behind my seating area. I kept reading speaker placement suggestions that recommended rear speakers be between 2’ and 4’ above the listener’s head. I figured I try mounting them and see what happened. I looked around and saw these guys keep popping up when others requested speaker-mounting advice. My biggest concern was that I did not want to drill into the speakers themselves, but I did want to angle them down slightly. I discovered that Futureshop, a local big box chain store carries these mounts for $80 CAD. Online they retail for about $55 US, which means I would be better off buying them close to home. At first I thought that $80 was too much to spend on speaker mounts, but let me tell you, you get what you pay for with these mounts.
First impressions: The box these mounts come in is pretty small. I almost walked away when I saw the size figuring that they would be of shoddy construction, and then I picked up the box. Mamma Mia! The box weighs close to 20lbs. The cashier almost fell over, literally, when she took the box from my hand expecting it to weigh much less. When I got home I rushed into the basement and straight into my HT room, A.K.A., The Man Cave. I opened the box expecting to see a hundred small pieces fall out, instead there were ten pieces in total and a bag of screws, nuts, and bolts. I picked up the L bracket to see how sturdy it was and was very impressed. It is made of 2 pieces of thick steel with a very solid weld hidden around back. The colour I chose was black, but the mount is also available in silver. The black is not a matte finish, but it isn’t shiny or distracting either. There were a ton of little screws and parts in that little bag that gave me a little concern, but they shouldn’t have.
Installing: Installing these is a breeze. My hat goes off to B-Tech, everything has been considered to make these guys as idiot-proof as possible, which is something I really need, but more on that later.
The first step is to find wall studs as close to the desired speaker location as possible and mark off their location. The package does include wall anchors, but if your speakers are heavy then you really don’t want to use this option. If you have low ceilings to deal with like me then make sure to give yourself adequate clearance. Add about 4 or five inches from the top of your speakers to the ceiling to allow tilting and rotation.
The second step is to drill the L bracket into the wall. There are four or five pre-drilled holes in the L bracket to place screws into and this number of connections provides incredible security.
The third step is to slide a provided plastic cover over the L bracket. This covers the screws, looks good, and is a great Idea in my opinion.
The fourth step is to slide a plastic “landing” onto the exposed end of the L bracket. It is later bolted into place.
The fifth step is to place the speaker’s “ gripping perch” on top of the plastic landing and secure it in place using a supplied bolt, washer, and nut. This brings me to my only problem with the BT77. The locking nuts they provide are a poor choice in my opinion. They are very hard, if not impossible to tighten sufficiently in the beginning. My solution, and suggestion, is to go to Home Depot and replace the locking nut with a conventional one. There is a finishing cap that covers the nut to complete the refined look and it still fit on my Home Depot nut. With the nut loose you can swivel the perch and tilt it to a slight downward angle. I believe it is 7 degrees according to the manufacturer. Tighten the nut when have the perch lined up at about the angle you think you want it at.
The sixth step is to loosen the clamp from both ends to allow sufficient room for your speaker to be seated. You should have already placed some foam tape that is included across the parts of the clamp that will make contact with the speaker itself. This will prevent scratching. Now sit your speaker on the mount and tighten the clamps until they are very tight on the speaker. Now, here comes my hypocritical suggestion. Provided in the kit are some very tiny screws. These screws are meant to be drilled into the sides of your speakers through pre-drilled holes. I recommend you do this for the ultimate hold possible. Now you can loosen the nut again and play with speaker placement if you need to.
Final verdict: I have had these mounts for over a month and have no trouble recommending them wholeheartedly to anyone. They say they can hold up to 55 lbs, and I believe it. This whole package is very cleverly thought out, and looks very nice. I have to admit that my home theatre looks more like a movie theatre to me since I installed these mounts. B-Tech left no stone unturned and did all the little things right. Like I stated previously my only gripe was with the locking nuts, and that was a 50-cent fix at a hardware store. There is a noticeable improvement in sound in movies by placing the speakers where they are. I find that these stands are a great value despite my early reservations about the price. Below is a link to the B-Tech homepage so you can see for yourself.
B-Tech's website