can bookshelf speakers be put on their sides

[flyboylr45]

I am using a pair of Monitor Audio S2 as center channels. Can they be put on their sides without hurting the speaker or influencing the way they sound? Also, would anyone recommend using the two speakers as a center channel or is it overkill!! Would you put the tweeter facing in or out? The room is about 15 by 14 but it opens up into the kitchen. So it is about 3000 cubic feet of space. Thanks.

 

[Seth=L]

I am using a pair of Monitor Audio S2 as center channels. Can they be put on their sides without hurting the speaker or influencing the way they sound? Also, would anyone recommend using the two speakers as a center channel or is it overkill!! Would you put the tweeter facing in or out? The room is about 15 by 14 but it opens up into the kitchen. So it is about 3000 cubic feet of space. Thanks.

One will do fine, ideally they should stand up but it will hurt nothing to experiment with the speaker on it's side. I have tried two speakers together, it caused problems.

 

[Kai]

My front speakers are on their sides, for now, due to space limitations. The tweeters are on the outside. My room is similar to yours and is also an open living area with the dining area and kitchen all in one is roughly a 30 x 30 area in total.

I do not think I notice a difference but I am no expert.

 

[mkossler]

... I have tried two speakers together, it caused problems.

Seth=L -Can you be more specific about what kind of problems you encountered? I'm assuming that your use of the plural means you had more than one problem. Did you experience lobing, or spikes/nulls, gain issues? What was the type of speaker and driver configuration, T-M or M-T-M or something else?

To the P.O., I would think that if handled with care, two speakers could do fine as a center channel. You'll find varying opinions about using an M-T-M configuration, which would be the equivalent of "tweeters inside" with your 2-speaker center. I would be careful to balance the output of the center channel to compensate for the extra speaker.

The only difference I would look for by putting speakers on their sides would be the differences caused by the room's acoustics. Are you on a hard surface or carpeting? Are the speakers raised off the floor by stands, or laid down?

At any rate, it never hurts to try! Let us know what you find -

Cheers,

Matty K.

 

[Seth=L]

Seth=L -Can you be more specific about what kind of problems you encountered? I'm assuming that your use of the plural means you had more than one problem. Did you experience lobing, or spikes/nulls, gain issues? What was the type of speaker and driver configuration, T-M or M-T-M or something else?

To the P.O., I would think that if handled with care, two speakers could do fine as a center channel. You'll find varying opinions about using an M-T-M configuration, which would be the equivalent of "tweeters inside" with your 2-speaker center. I would be careful to balance the output of the center channel to compensate for the extra speaker.

The only difference I would look for by putting speakers on their sides would be the differences caused by the room's acoustics. Are you on a hard surface or carpeting? Are the speakers raised off the floor by stands, or laid down?

At any rate, it never hurts to try! Let us know what you find -

Cheers,

Matty K.

I don't know much about the effects, just that it didn't sound good.

 

[flyboylr45]

Well right now they are on a flat panel tv stand. Should they be close together or separate. They are being run by an Onkyo TXSR700 receiver through an Ashly FTX1501 amplifier. The mains are run through the Musical Fidelity 3.2cr integrated amp and the Onkyo is only running the SFX speakers. Something just doesn't sound right. I'm thinking it's the Onkyo but I don't know. When I run all the speakers where they are at with the Musical Fidelity it sounds great. Any suggestions????!!!

 

[mkossler]

M'kay.

That setup looks like you have a couple of interesting challenges. I'd bet there are some fun interference pattern nodes from both of those front speakers the way you've got them separated (does the sound change as you move off-axis from the 'ideal' listening position?), and there would definitely need to be some distance compensation since the fronts are significantly closer to the listener than are the Front L&R towers.

You have some work to do since you are using separate amplifiers. It's not a bad thing, it just takes a little extra effort.

If you had the room (no pun intended), I'd move up those towers (don't move the centers back on that table!) to be the same distance from the listener as the fronts (unless you like playing with delays on the amps). That's going to affect your apparent LF base extension, since I don't see a subwoofer. Then again, they're far enough from the corners already that you may not see too much additional low frequency base attenuation ('roll-off').

I'd also move the fronts together and experiment with the tweeter in/out configuration (I'd bet with those speakers that the "woofer in" config would be best). I would also get an SPL meter from Radio Shack, and balance the output of the speakers from the listening position. Get yourself a couple of small, soft objects (little stick-on rubber feet work great) and angle the fronts up to point directly at head-level at the listening position (unless you're sitting on the floor ).

Ideally, the speakers should be at the same distance as the display, but I've seen plenty like yours that sounded great.

This is my .02, as always YMMV*

Cheers,

Matty K.


*YMMV: Your Mileage May Vary

 

[flyboylr45]

I got the room to move the speaker forward, got the spl meter and they are balanced. The config they are in is with the woofers inside. I will try moving the towers forward, the centers closer together,and putting rubber feet on the center aming them up. The subwoofer will be bought within a couple of months. I just don't know which to get either!! Thanks !!!!!! Any suggestions??

 

[mkossler]

Balance them again after you move the towers forward.

Subs, well, there's an entire section of this site devoted to that topic. I generally exclude myself from those conversations since I am a hopelessly biased SVS owner . I will say that it is hard to argue with the value offered by Hsu and SVS for their subs - and I will say that there's no such thing as too much sub . I would also consider the Axiom EP-500, given the size of your space.

Much depends on on your primary listening source - movies versus music. If it's the former, I would go for lower extension (20Hz recommended) and more SPLs, probably with an SVS. If it's music, I would go with Hsu and I would consider a sealed design (not a must though).

Just to wear my Captain Obvious soapbox hat for a sec-

You need to research this information yourself - don't depend on others' very subjective opinions, especially on forums such as this. There are many very knowledgeable people here, but there are also many folks who sort of function as "repeaters" for opinion sources they have read here and espouse for the sake of acceptance into the fold. Be critical, and be sure that when opinions are offered, they can be defended with objective data.

/Captain Obvious

So ignore me

Cheers,

Matty K.

 

[billnchristy]

It appears you have the room to set them upright, have you tried both? Also maybe trying to put them closer or just eliminating one alltogether...

You have a ton of options, I would put a song on repeat and keep trying them until you like one best...then tweak from there!!

Good luck!!