center channel partially behind TV, HELP!

wseroyer

wseroyer

Audiophyte
I'm almost embarrassed to ask this question and show my center channel placement but I don't have much choice. I live in a town house and it came with this weird built in entertainment center that has a fireplace in the middle of it and shelf that's above the fireplace that's been recessed into wall for your TV to go on, but the problem is the opening that is meant for your TV to go in is only 50in wide (clearly this was designed by a woman :rolleyes:). since I have a 60in LCD Samsung I had to mount it to the wall on a arm and bring the TV out passed the opening this worked fine even if it does look a little strange. This left a huge area behind my TV that I placed my center channel on the problem is that I have the Klipsch THX Ultra2 Surround system and the LCR's are the same speaker so the center channel is very tall and boxy for a center speaker, and half of the TV blocks it. this gives me a pretty bad echo and makes the speaker sound more like a horn (imagine that). I can't move the TV up anymore because it will be on the ceiling at that point and its already to high up on the wall for me as it is, thinking about putting acoustic foam on the back of the TV and the cavity that the speaker is sitting in hoping that will help what do you guys think what would you do?
 

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Grandzoltar

Full Audioholic
I would move the tv down closer to the mantle leaving more space up top. Buy a wall mount for the center speaker with longer arms and angle the speaker down toward the listening position. Padding behind the tv will not help that situation.
If that doesn’t work maybe a mount from the ceiling. You have to get the speaker away from obstructions.
 
HTfreak2004

HTfreak2004

Senior Audioholic
Why not make a bracket with an extendable arm you can mount a appropriate sized shelf to the. place the centre on so you can get it in front of your display.

Mount the bracket inside the shelf wall your display sits in and Bobby’s your uncle:p

It’s not a hard fix grasshopper just an hr of your time. It will look badass once done and be something to show off your innovative HT skills!
 
S

sterling shoote

Audioholic Field Marshall
I'm almost embarrassed to ask this question and show my center channel placement but I don't have much choice. I live in a town house and it came with this weird built in entertainment center that has a fireplace in the middle of it and shelf that's above the fireplace that's been recessed into wall for your TV to go on, but the problem is the opening that is meant for your TV to go in is only 50in wide (clearly this was designed by a woman :rolleyes:). since I have a 60in LCD Samsung I had to mount it to the wall on a arm and bring the TV out passed the opening this worked fine even if it does look a little strange. This left a huge area behind my TV that I placed my center channel on the problem is that I have the Klipsch THX Ultra2 Surround system and the LCR's are the same speaker so the center channel is very tall and boxy for a center speaker, and half of the TV blocks it. this gives me a pretty bad echo and makes the speaker sound more like a horn (imagine that). I can't move the TV up anymore because it will be on the ceiling at that point and its already to high up on the wall for me as it is, thinking about putting acoustic foam on the back of the TV and the cavity that the speaker is sitting in hoping that will help what do you guys think what would you do?
Yeah, I'm going to tell you what to do. Relocate the system to a room/wall/space which accommodates the system, instead of attempting to come into compliance with someone else's notion of how it's supposed to be. It's ugly, it looks ill-conceived, and it does not support the LCR configuration. Now, if you are precluded to the space, then buy a smaller TV and get a proper center channel for the scenario. That's it. Life is too short to let this installation take more than a few minutes of your time. One more thing, the TV is too high, you would need to view it from a bar stool to not get a sore neck from typical viewing. It shows that interior design must be compatible with actual life style. In your case likely wanting comfortable viewing from a couch without having to look up.
 
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wseroyer

wseroyer

Audiophyte
I would move the tv down closer to the mantle leaving more space up top. Buy a wall mount for the center speaker with longer arms and angle the speaker down toward the listening position. Padding behind the tv will not help that situation.
If that doesn’t work maybe a mount from the ceiling. You have to get the speaker away from obstructions.
I'd do that but, bad WAF, definitely not going to happen.
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
While I'm a fan of centers (but not tv's over fireplaces), I think the phantom center is a strong contender. Don't understand why WAF wouldn't permit a better arrangement of TV and speaker, but I'm single and my audio and tv goes where its best :)
 
Mikado463

Mikado463

Audioholic Spartan
HTfreak2004

HTfreak2004

Senior Audioholic
How come we can see so much of the centre speaker from the point of view picture but when scrolling to the shot showing the centre behind the tv it looks totally blocked?
 
Pogre

Pogre

Audioholic Slumlord
How come we can see so much of the centre speaker from the point of view picture but when scrolling to the shot showing the centre behind the tv it looks totally blocked?
It looks like for the front pics the camera angle is from under the tv. Intentionally, it appears. Maybe because it doesn't look so bad from that angle... lol.
 
Pogre

Pogre

Audioholic Slumlord
I just looked up that system. That's one hell of a system to buy only to compromise it for aesthetics' sake. How are the rest of your speakers set up? Did you get the full package? I'm looking at the 7.2 package on their site. I haven't read the specs yet, but it looks like it should deliver quite an experience, congrats.

There's a lot more to having good sound than the equipment involved tho. I'd consider rethinking the layout for a nice system.
 
HTfreak2004

HTfreak2004

Senior Audioholic
Tough call. None of us would like this anymore then wseroyer. If your dead set on utilizing your centre your going to need to make a mount with a shelf below your tv and relocate that centre in front and below your tv.

Your Eucherd with that fireplace so a compromise is definitely in order. The choice comes down to the Phantom centre or build a shelf mounted off the fireplace to relocate the centre.

Phantom centre is obviously a no brainer, the shelf requires a bit more time and planning.

Try watching your shows for a week without your centre connected using your main phantom centre and see if your satisfied. Just like an audition. If it doesn’t work out at least your not dwelling on it and you can build your centre a mount with a shelf!
 
graymatter

graymatter

Audiophyte
I'm way late to this discussion, but if you have not considered this already, I would look into demoing out that entire built-in area. It's almost certainly non-structural, would give you more space to work with, and would not be very expensive at all. Demo would take a couple of hours and it could be drywalled and taped the same day, finishing the following day. If you're concerned about having to fill in flooring, you can just cover that area with a nice TV box or cabinet for components or anything.

This would not only solve your problem completely, but would look way better than that 90s/early 2000s weird in-wall thing that builders were doing with production homes and increase your property value by more than what it would cost to do it because buyers no longer like these spaces in homes, and the new generation of home buyers don't even understand a world before flat screen TVs and sound bars.
 

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