Position of centre speaker help!
Discussion
Hi,
I'm just trying to fit out the speakers in the new room, and vie got a problem with the centre speaker!
It's a monitor audio SF2 in gloss black, and I have two choices of height it can go in due to a built in gas fireplace.
Choice a. Built into a recess in the wall (ie finished flush with wall surface) but at a height of only 500mm to the top of the speaker off the floor, ie under the fire
Choice b. Wall mounted (ie surface mounted so that it sticks out 90mm from the wall, above the mantle above the fireplace and under the wall mounted tv due to the flue being too close behind the wall to allow it to be recessed into the wall). Height to top of the speaker would be 1500mm but it would bump the tv 350mm higher up the wall (50" pannasonic plasma)
Any ideas? Would mounting the speaker low down totally ruin the sound?
It's powered by a marantz receiver as part of a full 5.1 system if that helps?
Would the audessy microphone compensate for the low installation height during initial setup?
Any help / advice appreciated!
I'm just trying to fit out the speakers in the new room, and vie got a problem with the centre speaker!
It's a monitor audio SF2 in gloss black, and I have two choices of height it can go in due to a built in gas fireplace.
Choice a. Built into a recess in the wall (ie finished flush with wall surface) but at a height of only 500mm to the top of the speaker off the floor, ie under the fire
Choice b. Wall mounted (ie surface mounted so that it sticks out 90mm from the wall, above the mantle above the fireplace and under the wall mounted tv due to the flue being too close behind the wall to allow it to be recessed into the wall). Height to top of the speaker would be 1500mm but it would bump the tv 350mm higher up the wall (50" pannasonic plasma)
Any ideas? Would mounting the speaker low down totally ruin the sound?
It's powered by a marantz receiver as part of a full 5.1 system if that helps?
Would the audessy microphone compensate for the low installation height during initial setup?
Any help / advice appreciated!
Can you not put the speaker on a box or other temporary stand in either position and see how it sounds? I moved my surround speakers around a lot and listened for some time before fixing their final position.
Choice 1 - I think sound quality from the height of the speaker from the floor is not the issue, but putting it a long way away from the TV might give a strange effect, as the centre sound needs to appear to come from the screen.
Choice 2 - I have also found that having the TV too high can be uncomfortable to watch, so don't push the screen any higher up the wall than absolutely necessary.
Choice 3 ? Have you considered putting the speaker just above the screen?
Choice 1 - I think sound quality from the height of the speaker from the floor is not the issue, but putting it a long way away from the TV might give a strange effect, as the centre sound needs to appear to come from the screen.
Choice 2 - I have also found that having the TV too high can be uncomfortable to watch, so don't push the screen any higher up the wall than absolutely necessary.
Choice 3 ? Have you considered putting the speaker just above the screen?
Griff Boy
In an ideal world the tweeters in each speaker L-C-R would be at the same height. However the world is not ideal. Personally in your situation, I would consider extending the fireplace out by 90mm (simple stud wall) then you can recess the speaker and flush mount (recess the TV), this would look neater and hide all the cables as well. You could vent this at the top as well to let out the hot air generated by the TV.
Generally though, unless you are viewing from a long way back, the TV should be mounted at seated eye height, so maybe above the fireplace is not a good idea, but as I said before the world is not ideal.
In an ideal world the tweeters in each speaker L-C-R would be at the same height. However the world is not ideal. Personally in your situation, I would consider extending the fireplace out by 90mm (simple stud wall) then you can recess the speaker and flush mount (recess the TV), this would look neater and hide all the cables as well. You could vent this at the top as well to let out the hot air generated by the TV.
Generally though, unless you are viewing from a long way back, the TV should be mounted at seated eye height, so maybe above the fireplace is not a good idea, but as I said before the world is not ideal.
DavidY said:
Griff Boy
In an ideal world the tweeters in each speaker L-C-R would be at the same height. However the world is not ideal. Personally in your situation, I would consider extending the fireplace out by 90mm (simple stud wall) then you can recess the speaker and flush mount (recess the TV), this would look neater and hide all the cables as well. You could vent this at the top as well to let out the hot air generated by the TV.
Generally though, unless you are viewing from a long way back, the TV should be mounted at seated eye height, so maybe above the fireplace is not a good idea, but as I said before the world is not ideal.
Hi David, In an ideal world the tweeters in each speaker L-C-R would be at the same height. However the world is not ideal. Personally in your situation, I would consider extending the fireplace out by 90mm (simple stud wall) then you can recess the speaker and flush mount (recess the TV), this would look neater and hide all the cables as well. You could vent this at the top as well to let out the hot air generated by the TV.
Generally though, unless you are viewing from a long way back, the TV should be mounted at seated eye height, so maybe above the fireplace is not a good idea, but as I said before the world is not ideal.
The problem with extending the false mantle is that I have designed a stepped mantle layout, so that the tv does not sit directly above the fire place in order to avoid any potential heat issues, instead it sits approx 150mm back, but will in turn be surface mounted. If I mount the speaker on the surface it will stick out further than the tv, and may not look ideal and raises the tv too high....
The room is pretty big, and the main viewing area is almost 5.5m away from the tv so slightly higher is not an issue for us ( with this new design it will be lower than previous,)
I don't want to create a recess for the tv, as it limits you for future upgrades / size increases etc.
Wirings already hidden in the mantle, and I'm just completing the first fix stage of the install, so unfortunately I haven't got it live yet to test the system beforehand. Hence the questions...
Swmbo wants it recessed in the wall, and indeed the left and rights are both in wall speakers, so it would look better for continuity. I am just concerned that setting the speaker too low would cause dialogue issues..
And your 100% right, ideal worlds do not exist except in showroom demo areas, which are designed and built without worrying about the wives!
This may not be an option for you due to the potentially difficult load seen by the amp ~ 2 center speakers wired in parallel with one above and the other below the screen. I've done this in the past and it works very well because their acoustic center is on the screen rather than too high or too low. I did have occasional issues when playing very loud but that was my particular amp's dislike of the low impedance not a fault with the principle. Might be a struggle to get swmbo to agree to yet another speaker though 
Crackie said:
This may not be an option for you due to the potentially difficult load seen by the amp ~ 2 center speakers wired in parallel with one above and the other below the screen.
If you are going to do this, then perhaps 1 either side of the screen would fit - Then maybe they would recess without fouling the flue? You can connect two identical speakers in series or in parallel to the one output, which one you choose depends on the impedance of the speakers and the spec of the amp - All is explained in detail here
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