Surround Chanel Height - Ear Level or a bit higher?

Quad5Ny

I'm ready to purchase some rear speaker stands for some RTi A3's, but am unsure about how high I should go.


A 26" speaker stand keeps the rear tweeters at exactly ear level, but everywhere I've read says it should be at least 2 feet higher than ear level... Which leaves me with a bit of a problem, wall mounting is not a option for the way the room is setup. The stands I've seen so far are only from around 26"-34".

Music will probably be the main thing the speakers will be used for so I'm worried putting the rear speakers higher than ear level will cause them not to sound as good musically. But I also don't want to collapse the surround field by putting the tweeters ear level.


OK, so now for the question -
For rear surrounds that will be used for music & movies, how high should the rear tweeters be placed?
The stand options are:
26"(ear level)
28"
30"
34"


P.S. Has anyone tried the Sanus Steel series? - http://www.sanus.com/us/en/products/speaker-foundations/sp-steel

kevhed72

Before buying the stands, I would use whatever you have that is relatively stable to try out the different heights of the speakers; ie use ladders, crates, whatever and decide which height works best.

polkfan38

In theory, 2 feet above and 90 to 120 degrees off to either side from straight ahead. But, like everything else, it is subjective. Distance from the listener to the speaker will also dictate height. The farther away, the higher up.

Quad5Ny

polkfan38 wrote: »

In theory, 2 feet above and 90 to 120 degrees off to either side from straight ahead. But, like everything else, it is subjective. Distance from the listener to the speaker will also dictate height. The farther away, the higher up.

Yea, It's just kinda impossible to mount that high because the left side of the listening area is missing a wall.


Oh well, 34" stands it is. Hopefully 8" above ear height will be enough.

apphd

kevhed72 wrote: »

Before buying the stands, I would use whatever you have that is relatively stable to try out the different heights of the speakers; ie use ladders, crates, whatever and decide which height works best.

+1. No 2 rooms are the same, as well as no one else has your ears or tastes. Everything you have read is for the perfect room and usually originated from Dolby Labs, Lucasfilm (THX), or DTS. Which is a good place to start, but all 3 formats have slight differences in the optimum placement locations, which is a good indication that there is no 1 perfect spot. I think most everyone that does not have a dedicated HT room with a lot of pre thought put in to it, has had to make compromises. Follow kevhed's advice and experiment to find the spot that you like best.

packetjones

I have my A3's right at ear level and it sounds great to me. I am sure that any stand you get will sound fine. Plus you will not know what you are missing. lol.

Conradicles

I like them at least 3 feet above ear level when seated. Perfect.

swegyptian

One thing that I don't like about ear level is more from a practical standpoint. If you have people over, and your speakers are 90 degrees from dead ahead, then someone is going to be in the way of the surround speaker. If they are up higher, they don't get blocked, and you have a less obvious surround speaker, even if no one is in the way. I think it's kind of annoying when the speaker location is really obvious.

Quad5Ny

I will definitely be messing around with the placement and angle to find whats best for this room. But unless I can hang them off the ceiling, stands are my only option due to the lack of a left wall.

polkfan38

If you do hang them, let me know how that works. I have been toying with that idea for my whole set up with the exception of the sub and the center. I have a somewhat akward room myself. Not the shape, just the other stuff in it.