Can a center speaker be placed on top of wall unit and pointed down to seating area?

[aubpw]

Hello,

First time posting. I have been doing quite a bit of searching online and haven't been able to find answer to my particular question:

Can a center speaker cabinet be placed on top of a wall unit (near the ceiling) and pointed down to the seating area? I know this is not recommended -- it's better to keep the fronts and center at the same height -- but can one still get by? Or, will having the center up high just mess up everything?
​

I know my question may be similar to a number of others out there, but it's more nuanced. Hear me out.

First, the background:

I have a 5.1 home theater setup in my basement rec-room. The TV and AV components are contained in an Ikea BESTÅ wall unit, with the TV itself mounted inside an Ikea BESTÅ BOÅS TV unit. My setup is very similar to this photo here:

Currently, my speakers are HTIB: the Klipsch HD 500. These little speakers do a reasonable job, but they seem a little weak for my 11'x23' room. What's more, the sub-woofer isn't well suited for mid-range frequencies -- Klipsch recommends the cross-over at 150 Hz -- so the bass tends to be very boomy.

I managed to improve things a lot by replacing the two front satellites with some large old 3-way bookshelf speakers that I've fixed up. It's 8" woofer allows me to dial down the sub-woofer cross-over back to ~ 60 Hz. It's much more realistic sounding now.

The Klipsch HD 500 center speaker is placed inside the BESTÅ BOÅS unit, directly underneath the TV. The rear satellites are on metal stands.

This gives me a reasonably good sound. But I want to know if I can do better!

I'm considering upgrading the whole speaker set. Considerations:

• My old speakers don't match the Klipsch HD 500 center speaker.
• My old speakers are white van speakers that I got for free! I've replaced the drivers to improve sound. The cabinet build quality still isn't very good.
• I'd like the full range sound of floor-standing speakers for when I listen to 2-channel music. (I'm more of a music listener than a movie guy anyway.)

I've found a used set of home theater speakers for sale in my area. All the speakers in the set are much larger, and the fronts are floor-standing. The center speaker is much larger as well.

My question for Audioholics:

The center speaker in the set I'm considering is much larger than my current one. It would not fit inside the TV wall unit I have now.

If I got this new setup, could I place the center speaker on top of the wall unit (near the ceiling) and angle it so sound is pointing down? Would this affect the sound quality or the soundfield in a bad way?

Would the tradeoffs with the new setup be enough to decide against making the purchase?

I'd value the community's feedback. Thank you!

 

[twoeyedbob]

Regardless of how you do it ...there should be a massive improvement in general sq....front 3 are matched and the centre's a decent size.....
Although it may have been an idea to let us know what these
New spkrs are..?

Can you not modify the cabinet to allow the centre to sit either above or below the screen...?
Note: if it's rear ported you'd have to open up the rear of the cabinet.

It's gonna sound a bit weird having it all the way up there..but
If you really cant do anything else...
You could swap between small centre in cabinet and new above
And decide whether sq or placement is more important to you



Sent from my HTC Vision using Tapatalk 2

 

[aubpw]

Thank you for your reply. The "new" speakers I'm considering are actually used speakers that I'm looking at online. (I believe they'd be about 15 years old). The speakers are made by Sound Dynamics, a brand that is now gone. However, they were previously was a sister company of Energy, Mirage and Athena. For info on the company and a profile of what speakers they made, see Sound Dynamics

I think in my case, I'm looking at:

• Sound Dynamics R-515 (fronts)
• Sound Dynamics Cine?? (center)
• Sound Dynamics R-65?? (surrounds)

I would continue to use the Klipsch sub.

 

[aubpw]

Can you not modify the cabinet to allow the centre to sit either above or below the screen...?

Just realized I forgot to answer this question...

Unfortunately, it would be very difficult to modify the cabinet such that the speaker would be directly above/below the screen. The centre speaker would be too high and too deep, so it would involve major serious reconstruction.

 

[twoeyedbob]

Tbh... if it's anything like the ikea thing..major reconstruction will only make it stronger
I speak from experience
Sent from my HTC Vision using Tapatalk 2

 

[lsiberian]

Always aim a center speaker directly at your ear height where you sit where it is in relation to the screen vertically isn't as important as where the speaker is aimed.

For centers the best option is to use the same exact speaker as the L-R channel. This only works in situation where the TVs is wall mounted or a projector is used.

The next best option is the matching center. If you can place the speaker reasonably go this route.

The other option is a phantom center if you can't get the speaker placed or can't get a matching center then leave it out.

Other things:
Subwoofers should never be crossed at 150hz this causes localization.
Boominess is a sign of poor placement and/or poor subwoofer design. Given it's a HTIB the design is the main culprit, but some placement adjustments can help tighten the bass in spite of that.
You will likely want a real subwoofer, but those are not cheap.

Don't try to run speakers fullrange the best place for a subwoofer is not the best place for a speaker and their placement is important.

What is your budget?

 

[j_garcia]

I've done it before. Auralex MoPads under the center allows you either a 4 or 8 degree tilt AND has a lip up front to keep the speaker in place, not to mention it decouples the speaker and lifts it off the surface it is sitting on. It works just fine. I use them on all of my speakers in my main system.

MoPAD Monitor Isolation Pads - Acoustic sound isolation products from Auralex Acoustics.

 

[aubpw]

Tbh... if it's anything like the ikea thing..major reconstruction will only make it stronger
I speak from experience

I've actually been surprised. In this particular case, it's proven itself to be quite strong. I'm afraid to do major reconstruction... I don't want to go there.

Always aim a center speaker directly at your ear height where you sit where it is in relation to the screen vertically isn't as important as where the speaker is aimed.
...
The next best option is the matching center. If you can place the speaker reasonably go this route.

I'm glad to hear this. This was the issue that I was afraid of.

Other things:
Subwoofers should never be crossed at 150hz this causes localization.
Boominess is a sign of poor placement and/or poor subwoofer design. Given it's a HTIB the design is the main culprit, but some placement adjustments can help tighten the bass in spite of that.

You may be right. Although I just assumed that this subwoofer isn't intended to go that high. In my current setup, it's been much better since I set the cross-over back to 60 Hz. I haven't done the "subwoofer crawl" yet, but I am aware that my results may improve if I take the time to find its optimal placement.

What is your budget?

Budget??! What's a budget?
Honestly, not very much. I'm hoping I'll be able to re-sell the Klipsch system that I bought, and use that money (along with some extra I'll chip in) to buy the larger set.

I've done it before. Auralex MoPads under the center allows you either a 4 or 8 degree tilt AND has a lip up front to keep the speaker in place, not to mention it decouples the speaker and lifts it off the surface it is sitting on. It works just fine. I use them on all of my speakers in my main system.

Thanks for the tip! I'm glad to hear that it's worked for you, and that you've used this successfully in your own setup.

 

[markw]

Yagotta dowat ya gotta do but, be aware, there may be issues.

Angling the speaker towards the listening ares is a good start but the main purpose is to "anchor" the sounds coming from the center speaker to the screen.

That means it should be as cliose to the center of the screen as possible. Now, I know this is impossible except for acoustically transparant projection screens but, for most of us, that means directly on top of, or below, the screen. If the sounds come from a point well above or below the screen, it may hamper it's main function.

BTW, your "new" surrounds look very much like my Sound Dynamics RTS-3's which I use sor my bedroom stereo and which I absolutely love.

 

[afterlife2]

There are some setups where people don't have room to place their centers and they use a small dinner table in front of the TV like this:

 

[lsiberian]

I've actually been surprised. In this particular case, it's proven itself to be quite strong. I'm afraid to do major reconstruction... I don't want to go there.
I'm glad to hear this. This was the issue that I was afraid of.
You may be right. Although I just assumed that this subwoofer isn't intended to go that high. In my current setup, it's been much better since I set the cross-over back to 60 Hz. I haven't done the "subwoofer crawl" yet, but I am aware that my results may improve if I take the time to find its optimal placement.
Budget??! What's a budget?
Honestly, not very much. I'm hoping I'll be able to re-sell the Klipsch system that I bought, and use that money (along with some extra I'll chip in) to buy the larger set.
Thanks for the tip! I'm glad to hear that it's worked for you, and that you've used this successfully in your own setup.

Once you feel the real deal from a great sub you'll wonder how you ever lived without. It may be time to work out a savings plan. If you saved 100 a month for 12 months you'd have 1200 dollars. That's enough to get you a good starter system.

FWIW my center sits on the floor and I don't really notice a big difference. Of course that may have something to do with my beverage of choice for the night.

 

[j_garcia]

There are some setups where people don't have room to place their centers and they use a small dinner table in front of the TV like this:

Obviously not as inexpensive as a folding table, but Sanus and a few others make stands for centers:

 

[Nestor]

My suggestion:

Do away with the divided shelf entirely and build another inside out of solid oak or ash. The shelf should should be long enough for the center channel and built to hang under the top of the unit.

Find a matching stain and you're done.



Do you have a woodworker friend?

 

[aubpw]

My suggestion:
Do away with the divided shelf entirely and build another inside out of solid oak or ash. The shelf should should be long enough for the center channel and built to hang under the top of the unit.

Do you have a woodworker friend?

I do. But the divided shelf is where my amp receiver goes. Also, the centre divide in that shelf goes the whole width of the shelf. I think it's needed for structural integrity.

 

[bobnegi]

Agree with the angle towards your ears, that is all I needed to do, just fiddle with the angle until it sounds right, it can take some back-and forth. I have mine hung with bungee cords, works great. and when the lights are low, you cannot even notice the centre channel up there. I also like your idea of the bigger centre channle. Most agree that 60-85% of all movie sound comes out of the centre

 

[fuzz092888]

View attachment 11881 Agree with the angle towards your ears, that is all I needed to do, just fiddle with the angle until it sounds right, it can take some back-and forth. I have mine hung with bungee cords, works great. and when the lights are low, you cannot even notice the centre channel up there. I also like your idea of the bigger centre channle. Most agree that 60-85% of all movie sound comes out of the centre

That sounds exceptionally high. Dialog is anchored to the center channel, but there is plenty of sound coming from the other channels. Depending on your preferences and even your front L/R a phantom center might work perfectly. Personally, I prefer to have a center channel, but if I turn off every single other channel except the center I would not call what I hear 60-85% of movie sound at all.