Does it matter whether bookshelf speakers are vertical/horizontal?

[abar20]

I am getting 5 Behringer B2030P (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16836196001) bookshelf speakers. Because of a space issue I want to turn the center channel on its side. Will this effect the sound since it is not a dedicated center channel. Also, just out of curiosity, can I do this with all the speakers? I like symmetry, that's all.

Also, what would be the closest you would recommend sitting to these speakers. Do they need distance for the sound to develop? Once again, space limitations are making me consider this option. Would their horizontal orientation effect recommended sitting distance?

Thank you all for your advice.

 

[j_garcia]

Only way to really know is to try it. Some 2-way speakers are skewed either slightly up or down in how they project their image, so turning speakers that have a slight phase angle like this may not sound as good when laying sideways.

 

[adwilk]

Only way to really know is to try it. Some 2-way speakers are skewed either slightly up or down in how they project their image, so turning speakers that have a slight phase angle like this may not sound as good when laying sideways.

Yeah, I agree... Laying a center on its side is likely no big deal, it doesn't (in my experience) work as hard to create a stereo image the way the left and rights do. For movies, you probably wouldn't notice too much of a difference, but when listening to music in 2ch the imaging would suffer. Best you can do is try it. The behringers off axis response is pretty darn good, might not really cause an issue. If you try it, make sure you (for the stereo pair) keep both tweeters oriented the same, either inside the woofer or out. I wouldn't line up all three speakers the same. That will also ruin your symmetry a bit. I'd recommend just standing the LR up.