Center channel above or below TV?

B

bladerunner6

Audioholic
Which way and why?

In regards to my current setup I have Monitor Audio Silver S6 for mains and the matching center.
 
Last edited:
H

Hetfield

Audioholic Samurai
I don't know the right way or the way most will say but mine is under the TV believe eat level so I used door stops to tilt it up toward ear level. Above would not have worked in my situation.

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk
 
B

bladerunner6

Audioholic
I'm trying to imagine your room!
The TV will be a 65” and we will be sitting about eight to nine feet away. Eye level when sitting on the sofa is about 37 inches and the TV will be placed on an 18” cabinet so the middle of the TV is at eye level.

I hope that helps.
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
The TV will be a 65” and we will be sitting about eight to nine feet away. Eye level when sitting on the sofa is about 37 inches and the TV will be placed on an 18” cabinet so the middle of the TV is at eye level.

I hope that helps.
I tend to favor center speakers above the TV. That gets the speaker closer to head images on the TV and gives better room coverage, especially in larger rooms and greater seating distances.

By the way is is a really bad idea and dangerous to place a TV that large on a cabinet. Get the required wall mounting bracket and fix it to the wall.
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
I have a 59" tv (plasma) sitting on a sturdy sub myself, and have another wall mounted....I worry more about the wall mount :), have no reason to worry about the tv's own stand and the surface it sits on in any case; as long as the furniture/tv stand is sufficient wouldn't worry about that too much. If you have a good way to mount above or below, I'd go with the mount that you're best able to aim the speaker to the listening position(s) best....the one time I used a mount above a tv it was quite a bit above the tv top edge, which didn't work very well in comparison to mounts I've used below a tv....but either would be fine as long as I can aim the speaker somewhat and have proximity to the lower or upper edge accordingly.
 
B

bladerunner6

Audioholic
I tend to favor center speakers above the TV. That gets the speaker closer to head images on the TV and gives better room coverage, especially in larger rooms and greater seating distances.

By the way is is a really bad idea and dangerous to place a TV that large on a cabinet. Get the required wall mounting bracket and fix it to the wall.
I appreciate your concern but the cabinet is going to be about 18 by 18 by 48. We have no kids and I can’t imagine any dog we will ever have jumping up on the tv stand.

In our previous set-up we used this to mount the speaker above the TV.

Center stage shelf.

I hope this clarifies how we would mount the speaker above the TV.

I hope this helps people in giving input.

Thanks.
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
If you can stand on your stand a tv shouldn't be any issue. Kids/dogs is a whole 'nuther thing which I don't need to contend with but even my tv on its own stand would be able to withstand most issues in that respect I'd think.
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
If you read the medical literature you would wall mount your TVs. Injuries from knocked over flat panel TVs can be horrendous, especially the electrical injuries. I think selling the things with stand mounts should be banned. All my three flat panel TVs are wall mounted, as they absolutely should be.
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
If you read the medical literature you would wall mount your TVs. Injuries from knocked over flat panel TVs can be horrendous, especially the electrical injuries. I think selling the things with stand mounts should be banned. All my three flat panel TVs are wall mounted, as they absolutely should be.
LOL. This is patently ridiculous. But somewhat normal for your rants...
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
LOL. This is patently ridiculous. But somewhat normal for your rants...
Well, I live by the rule, "If it can happen, it will happen." So I make darn sure it can't happen. Flat panel TVs tipping over are not a happy scene at all. So best to eliminate the possibility.
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
Well, I live by the rule, "If it can happen, it will happen." So I make darn sure it can't happen. Flat panel TVs tipping over are not a happy scene at all. So best to eliminate the possibility.
Why would that happen without children or pets running amok?
 
Timforhifi

Timforhifi

Full Audioholic
Most modern TVs are 40-60lbs and aren’t much of a risk if they fall on you. The electrical burning part is ridiculous, you’d have to pick up the tv and crash it over someone while on. If you have an older 100-150lb plasma or crt display you should be asking yourself why? Are you punishing yourself?
The tile is more dangerous in your house. The granite counters are more dangerous. The showers or bath is more dangerous. Did you carpet your entire house? Or put foam pads over all hard surfaces? Do you refuse the clean yourself? This is all too funny, almost as funny as the guy that said a few months ago that it was dangerous to wall mount TVs. Said you could hit water line or electricity. Could easily burn down or flood your house. I’ve wall mounted 20-30 TVs and run electrical outlets behind tv. Never an issue if you have a stud finder and common sense.
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
Most modern TVs are 40-60lbs and aren’t much of a risk if they fall on you. The electrical burning part is ridiculous, you’d have to pick up the tv and crash it over someone while on. If you have an older 100-150lb plasma or crt display you should be asking yourself why? Are you punishing yourself?
The tile is more dangerous in your house. The granite counters are more dangerous. The showers or bath is more dangerous. Did you carpet your entire house? Or put foam pads over all hard surfaces? Do you refuse the clean yourself? This is all too funny, almost as funny as the guy that said a few months ago that it was dangerous to wall mount TVs. Said you could hit water line or electricity. Could easily burn down or flood your house. I’ve wall mounted 20-30 TVs and run electrical outlets behind tv. Never an issue if you have a stud finder and common sense.
Well I can tell you we started seeing these injuries in hospitals from the start of the flat panel TV era. You never know when kid will visit, friends and neighbors visit with children. The nature of accidents are to be unexpected. "I never ever thought that could happen!". That is a common refrain. There is a body of medical literature in this issue.

Current medical advice is to wall mount flat TVs. This danger is not recognized enough by the general public. Mounting a TV to a wall is not difficult. It is safer for children and the TV.

This from the consumer safety division.

More here.

It also looks far better and more professional to wall mount these flat TVs. Putting them on furniture looks a really amateurish installation and not one to be proud of.
 
B

bladerunner6

Audioholic
I found this report.

Given we do not have children or a CRT I see no issues here.

Could we please get back to the issue of the original post- where to put a center channel.

Thanks!
 
H

Hetfield

Audioholic Samurai
I think putting TV's on the wall is very stupid. Number one, it's an extra expense, number two, once it's on the wall and in place it's can't be moved, number 3, if you move or change is position it's a big pain in the @ss.
I used to put all my TV's on the wall because it was the cool thing to do but I will never put one on the wall for flexibility reasons. I can do anything I want with my TV's with ease.
Now back to center channels, I like it underneath because again it's a easier option than mounting a speaker over the top of your TV. You can always tilt it up towards your ears. Mine is in that very position and I have no idea hearing dialog.

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk
 
Eppie

Eppie

Audioholic Ninja
Given the height of your TV stand I would also opt for above the TV. As mentioned, it gets the dialogue closer to the height of people's heads on the screen. Also, a centre speaker that low below the TV would require tilting it up towards ear level. You don't want the speakers firing into your knees. You may not have room in the cabinet to tilt it up to the proper angle. You want to be within 15 degrees of the centre axis vertically, so you can measure that from the lower speaker position and see if it's too low or not.
 

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