How to mount a screen securely away from a wall...

SwedishChef

SwedishChef

Junior Audioholic
Surely somebody out there is as crazy as me. Probably more so. But Google and forum searches aren't helping me find those who are crazy in my particular way so far....

I want to put my center channel at ear level behind an acoustically transparent screen. But for various reasons, I'm not going to remodel the room, start breaking into drywall, etc. at this time. I figured that, since I have the space, I'd just put the screen about 3' into the room and put my center channel on a stand behind, maybe with some bias lighting or something. No problem. Plenty of room either behind on the sides for L and R channels, the plan was coming together...

But I planned to use a fixed frame 2.35:1 screen, not a fancy in-ceiling roll-down. I figured that surely people must have done such a thing before and posted their solutions. I can't seem to find anything anywhere. I could cobble a stand together, but it would probably look terrible, stick out all over, and might not be terribly stable. So I'm looking for commercial solutions, custom plans, or the plain old real life experience of others. How have you - or would you - do such a thing? (I'm still in the brainstorming phase here - plans and funds are not committed, so I'm open to suggestions.)

I just can't believe I can't find somebody else who has done this - or at least tried.
 
ryanosaur

ryanosaur

Audioholic Overlord
VTI makes 36”high stands... enough to put a stand mount Tweeter at about 50” high. would that work?
 
highfigh

highfigh

Seriously, I have no life.
You want the front of the speaker to be as close as possible to the screen because distance enhances sound blocking properties. There's no such thing as 'acoustically perfect'- if it has physical dimensions and mass, it will block sound. It will let more sound through than other materials, but not at a greater distance from the source.
 
SwedishChef

SwedishChef

Junior Audioholic
Thank you both.

To be clear, I was just planning some sort of shelf to hold the speaker behind the screen. My real problem is how to hold the screen up - what to mount it on - in free space in the middle of the room, so that I can get that center behind it without remodeling or digging into walls. (I've come up with a couple options, and am still exploring. I welcome further thoughts.)

I will work to get the center as close to the screen material as possible, per your suggestion.
 
BMXTRIX

BMXTRIX

Audioholic Warlord
See now, in my mind, repairing a few holes in drywall when I'm done isn't a big deal.

So, I think I would use 2x4's and a lot of screws and build a floating frame to screw the frame to. Top and bottom is all that is needed and your wall is certainly strong enough to support it. With some angles inside to keep the frame from sagging, this would look amazing overall, and should cost 40 bucks or so to put together.
 
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panteragstk

panteragstk

Audioholic Warlord
I did this in a rental house and used simple shelf brackets to hold up my screen. Then I built another shelf at the bottom to hold the speakers. They were pretty much touching the screen and it worked well since I had 3 towers behind the screen.
 
SwedishChef

SwedishChef

Junior Audioholic
Thanks. I've decided on trying a wire shelving unit. I can just hang the mounting hooks of the screen right on the top shelf, which should hang straight down the side. I can tweak it easily if it isn't quite vertical by controlling spacing at the bottom, as well. The top of the screen will be at the top of the shelf, and the screen is wide, so you won't be able to see the shelf at all. I will put the center channel behind the acoustically transparent screen on a middle shelf, and put the towers on the sides right up against the screen. We'll see whether things go according to plan in a couple weeks when I have a chance to put it all together.

I'm trying to figure out now what to do "around" the screen. Do I need black fabric beyond what's already on the frame? Should I add some bias lighting? There's going to be a couple feet behind the screen and then bookshelves full of stuff beyond that, so I'm trying to figure out if I should leave well enough alone, or do something about it. (The screen will only have about 12 inches below and 8" above or so.)
 
1

1kwik72

Audioholic Intern
I built a frame out of Unistrut and associated brackets that we lag bolted to the wall. It is about 10" off the wall to accommodate my center channel, but you could easily just make the strut sections a little longer to be at 3' off the wall if needed. We initially wrapped the edge of the frame with pipe insulation but the screen manufacturer didn't give us as much "extra" as we figured so we just wrapped it around the strut without the foam you can see around the perimeter in the 2nd picture The screen is wrapped around the frame and held in by small bungy cords. I painted the wall back so the screen looks like it is floating. The room is far from done but I wanted it functional for the super bowl. The screen will come back down to finish the drywall as well as paint and carpet. Sceen is 200"x100" so I can view either 2.39 or 16:9
84005698_10220944309421495_2197827648325943296_o.jpg
Frame.jpg
Screen.jpg
Wall.jpg
 
D

Danzilla31

Audioholic Spartan
I built a frame out of Unistrut and associated brackets that we lag bolted to the wall. It is about 10" off the wall to accommodate my center channel, but you could easily just make the strut sections a little longer to be at 3' off the wall if needed. We initially wrapped the edge of the frame with pipe insulation but the screen manufacturer didn't give us as much "extra" as we figured so we just wrapped it around the strut without the foam you can see around the perimeter in the 2nd picture The screen is wrapped around the frame and held in by small bungy cords. I painted the wall back so the screen looks like it is floating. The room is far from done but I wanted it functional for the super bowl. The screen will come back down to finish the drywall as well as paint and carpet. Sceen is 200"x100" so I can view either 2.39 or 16:9
View attachment 33926View attachment 33927View attachment 33928View attachment 33929
Very very nice that's coming along well! Can't wait to see it finished
 
colofan

colofan

Enthusiast
I used a long piece of oak. I drilled two holes in it and mounted to 3/8 in all thread. I took the oak and screwed it into the ceiling joist. From the all thread I mounted a angle iron piece to hold the screen hanger.

This allows me to adjust up and down and side to the screen hanger to get everything nice and level. The side on the screen has the other half of the hanger and with one other person hang the screen like a picture.

If I ever need to change the holes are the size of #8 screw (4mm) easy to patch
 
T

Terry22

Audiophyte
Thank you both.

To be clear, I was just planning some sort of shelf to hold the speaker behind the screen. My real problem is how to hold the screen up - what to mount it on - in free space in the middle of the room, so that I can get that center behind it without remodeling or digging into walls. (I've come up with a couple options, and am still exploring. I welcome further thoughts.)

I will work to get the center as close to the screen material as possible, per your suggestion.
I bought heavy duty U hook, screwed it into the ceiling, attached chain to that, then used an S hook, attached that to the hook on the ends of the screen, cut a peace of tubing length wise, to cover it all. Got rid of tubing as the chain looked better on its own.
 
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