Speaker Positioning

[Shadow_Ferret]

I have a dilemma of sorts. We have a small living room, 12' x 14' (about 168 sq. ft. or 1344 cu. ft.). We have a huge entertainment center that stands about 6'4" tall, and is 6' wide. The TV is in a center opening and there is only about 5" of space above the TV. This means that if I want a center speaker, it has to be less than 5" tall, which means I can't look at any tower speakers (the center speaker match would be far too tall).

So I'm wondering, sonically, can I place the center speaker on top of the entertainment center? It will then be 6'4" off the ground and about 22-1/2" above the TV. Now I hear that the tweeters should always be about ear level so would having the center speaker this high create something sonically and spacially that will ruin my surround sound experience?

Or should I just stick with tiny satellite speakers since I have such a small room anyway?

 

[jaxvon]

If you get a powerful enough center, I think it could work (TV or E-Center, but I'd go TV if I could). To reiterate a tip from another part of this site, it's good to use cheap rubber doorstops unerneath the back of your center to aim the tweeters at the listeners. This allows you to place your center above the TV and still get good sound.

 

[sjdgpt]

We have a small living room, 12' x 14' (about 168 sq. ft. or 1344 cu. ft.).

My room is 11x13 so you got a bit more volume that me.

huge entertainment center that stands about 6'4" tall, and is 6' wide. The TV is in a center opening and there is only about 5" of space above the TV. This means that if I want a center speaker, it has to be less than 5" tall, So I'm wondering, sonically, can I place the center speaker on top of the entertainment center? It will then be 6'4" off the ground and about 22-1/2" above the TV. Now I hear that the tweeters should always be about ear level so would having the center speaker this high create something sonically and spacially that will ruin my surround sound experience?

I tried my center speaker on top of my 34" 16:9 TV, as well as below the TV. The top mount center speaker had a great distance from the main speaker tweeters than when I moved the speaker to below the TV. In my close listening arrangement. I found the top position to be less desirable.... all because of the increased distance.

I would advice against having your center speaker vertically separated by such a large distance as you are suggesting.

Try it, see how you like it.

 

[Fb111794]

I have a dilemma of sorts. We have a small living room, 12' x 14' (about 168 sq. ft. or 1344 cu. ft.). We have a huge entertainment center that stands about 6'4" tall, and is 6' wide. The TV is in a center opening and there is only about 5" of space above the TV. This means that if I want a center speaker, it has to be less than 5" tall, which means I can't look at any tower speakers (the center speaker match would be far too tall).

So I'm wondering, sonically, can I place the center speaker on top of the entertainment center? It will then be 6'4" off the ground and about 22-1/2" above the TV. Now I hear that the tweeters should always be about ear level so would having the center speaker this high create something sonically and spacially that will ruin my surround sound experience?

Or should I just stick with tiny satellite speakers since I have such a small room anyway?

Three thoughts come to mind....

First, is there any way that a good wood worker could "modify" your entertainment center to accommodate a center channel shelf above the TV?

You could "replace" the older entertainment center with something "designed" for todays HT equipment. There are many very nice looking racks and ET centers now that are IMHO.... VERY reasonably priced.

Is there room on the floor in front of the ET center to use a center channel stand something like this?..... These are built with the speaker "tilted" up at the perfect angle to aim the speaker/tweeter at the listening position.

 

[Leprkon]

I would advice against having your center speaker vertically separated by such a large distance as you are suggesting.

Try it, see how you like it.

You might be able to make it work if your receiver has a built-in room adjuster (like YPAO), that will make small delays in the signal to the other speakers to make sure all the sound gets to the listening spot at one time. Jax's door stops to angle the speaker downward are a must as well.

I have a similar situation in my bedroom HT where the Infinity Alpha center is up on top of an armoire and it works decently with the delays.

If you can't adjust the delays, the dialog will sound like it comes down from Heaven, not from the person talking, and you'll also have the sound travel up-and-down when any movement goes across the screen...

 

[shokhead]

I think the tweeter thing is more for your mains,not center. Get towers or smaller and put on stands,doesnt matter. Its all about them matching timbre. My center is on my entertainment center a good foot above my mains. I put rubber door stops under the rear of the center to aim it at me better,works great. Its hard to setup speakers all being the same distance to you,thats why you setup in the menu the distance and volume level for each speaker.

 

[Leprkon]

I think the tweeter thing is more for your mains,not center. Get towers or smaller and put on stands,doesnt matter. Its all about them matching timbre. My center is on my entertainment center a good foot above my mains. I put rubber door stops under the rear of the center to aim it at me better,works great. Its hard to setup speakers all being the same distance to you,thats why you setup in the menu the distance and volume level for each speaker.

He did a lot better job of explaining it than I did....

 

[MDS]

Rubber doorstops or the like to angle the center down towards your ears is a good idea. I think a cleaner looking solution might be to get these from Auralex: http://www.auralex.com/sound_isolation_mopad/sound_isolation_mopad.asp

They supposedly help to isolate the speaker from whatever it is resting on and they are already angled. I haven't tried them myself, but they seem like the perfect solution for angling your center.

 

[shokhead]

Whats the price on those,pretty cool. Mine was home depot for 2 bucks a pair. LOL

 

[MDS]

$30 for 4 of them. You can get them on-line or at GuitarCenter.

Just think how impressed your friends will be when they seem them instead of $2 door stops.

 

[shokhead]

Wont happen. They would rather spend 2 bucks and get the same results.

 

[Shadow_Ferret]

Thanks for the suggestions.

Well, replacing the entertainment center just isn't in the budget. hehe, hell it took me quite a lot of convincing just to up my original budget of a couple hundred dollars for an HTiB to separates!

And woodworking wouldn't work. Above the TV is a 1" thick solid unadjustable shelf that is part of the glass doored curio cabinet. I did have the idea of putting the speaker in the curio cabinet and opening the doors whenever I used the home theater, but then someone might crack their head on the open doors and I doubt if my wife would let me replace her dust collectors for a big center speaker.

 

[guess88]

why not take the door off the cabinet, refinish the hinge side, put the center speaker in it, and place a custom grill over the opening?

 

[Shadow_Ferret]

Um, because it's a giant piece of cheap laminate wood?

 

[guess88]

couldn't you take off the glass door and put the center speaker in it though?

 

[Nomo]

Just for the moment putting myself in Shadow Ferret's place.............
I'm thinking that after making that suggestion to my girlfriend, or in his case wife, there would be a brand new suggested place to put the speaker.

 

[shokhead]

And wont that make you walk funny.

 

[Shadow_Ferret]

hehe, exactly. I've been an audiophile all my life, having a love affair with not only music, but the desire to improve the reproduction of it. I see nothing wrong with spending several thousand on good quality audio products.

My wife grew up in a family that relegated their cheapo all-in-one Realistic turntable-radio to the basement where it was seldom used.

So I'm fighting years of ingrained thinking that you can listen to music with nothing more than a $20 boombox.

Like I said, I'm lucky to have gotten her past the $200 HTiB.