Can center channel be placed vertically?

akarl

I have a cs300 center channel, along with two RT55s (right and left) and a DSW3000 as a subwoofer.

I had had the CS300 sitting on top of our old CRT TV and have just bought a plasma. Trouble is I am now unable to have the CS300 sit on top of the TV because of the thinness of the panel. The TV is sitting on top of an entertainment console. There is an opening in the center of the console but is unfortunately not wide enough. However, it is tall enough for me to place the CS300 vertically. Would it cause issues if I placed it this way. Or should I just plan on mounting TV a bit higher on wall and keeping center channel on top of console?

sm88

It's essentially just a MTM speaker turned on its side, so you certainly can, the only problem is that I think you'd lose a bit of imaging with the configuration due a more narrow soundfield that extends vertically instead. The RT55's are TMM, not a huge difference, it would be similar to having a third RT55 acting as center. A lot of people use identical centers to their mains, supposedly it provides a more coherent soundstage and more precise imaging than a sideways speaker, but I don't think the difference will matter much in this particular case.

polkfarmboy

What I do is whip out a centre channel stand when watching a movie then put it away when I'm done

John K.

Karl, performance should be improved when it's oriented vertically. Keep in mind that Dr. D'Appolito created the MTM design to be used vertically and to give wider horizontal dispersion when so placed. Putting it down on its side makes the horizontal dispersion more narrow and uneven.

Your proposed placement should work well. One suggestion would be that the speaker shouldn't be recessed into the console; position it so that the front edge extends a fraction of an inch forward, so as to minimize diffraction and reflection from the console surface. Another would be to tilt the speaker slightly backwards so that the tweeter points at your ears, if it's otherwise too low.

BKSinAZ

It depends how many drivers there are in the center. If it is only one driver and a tweet, sure... mount it vertically. If there are (like mine) two drivers, one on each side of the tweet, I would not. Thats just my opinion and does not mean I am always correct.

ShinAce

John K. wrote: »

Karl, performance should be improved when it's oriented vertically. Keep in mind that Dr. D'Appolito created the MTM design to be used vertically and to give wider horizontal dispersion when so placed. Putting it down on its side makes the horizontal dispersion more narrow and uneven.

Maybe my memory is failing, but I would say almost the opposite.

You've got a center that is mid-tweet-mid(MTM). If you make a line through the center of each driver and that line is vertical, you have very good vertical dispersion and normal horizontal lobing. If that line is horizontal(like most centers) then horizontal dispersion if more even and lobing is vertical.

I would avoid having my center mounted vertically, but I am willing to try it and see how it sounds.

Remember, whatever you can't fix electronically you can fix with beer consumption.

Face

John K. wrote: »

Karl, performance should be improved when it's oriented vertically.

Yes, but what if the crossover was designed for horizontal placement only?