Need help with rear speaker placement

lost-and-found

Hi all. I'm a new proud CP member having purchased the TSI100s and the CS10s in an attempt to begin forming a nice entertainment center setup. I apologise to the mods if this thread should be in a different forum.

I ddn't have the money to buy everything at once so I've been buying pieces over time. First I bought an STR-DE575 receiver (I know it's crap but it was $40 at a garage sale, and it fits my current needs). Then I bought the TSI100s to put as my front stereo speakers, always planning to eventually move them to the rear. Next came the CS10. Now it's time to expand once again (actually, this is the last chance since I'm getting married soon and then everything will have to go through the approval committee if you know what I mean :P).

I plan to get the TSi200s for the front (my apartment isn't big enough to let me fit floorstanding speakers) and move the TSi100s to the rear as originally planned.

Now I have two options:
a) Hang the 100s but my apartment lease doesn't permit me to drill big holes in the wall and the studs don't even line up properly.

b) Put them on stands.

The problem I've hit with option b is that I can't seem to find stands with supports big enough (at least 7.5x10) to fit the TSi100s on them. I'm also on a budget (trying to pay for a wedding at the same time) so I can't go with custom made. So I was wondering if it would really make a huge difference in terms of noticable sound quality if I just put them on those wooden foldable tray tables at least until I get a new apartment or buy a house. What do you guys think?

cheif pontiac

Finding stands for TSi100's should not be a problem. Sanus makes many many models that will work. I have a couple of sets of sanus and have put RT7's, RT5's and F/x500i's on them all of which are bigger than the Tsi100.

John K.

L&F, welcome to Club Polk and congratulations on your upcoming wedding. Ideally, side surround speakers in a 5.0 setup would be mounted about 2-3' above ear level and just a bit(maybe 2')farther back than directly to the side of the listening position. If this can't be done, setting them on the tray tables directly to the side of the listening position certainly is acceptable. One hint to get the more dispersed sound suited for surrounds is to not point the TSi100s inward toward the listeners, but instead experiment with angling them toward the back wall, to get more reflected and less direct sound.

If your STR-DE575 is still in good operating condition it certainly isn't "crap" as far as the basic amplification goes. The features are quite dated, of course, for example it has only the old Dolby Pro Logic(rather than DPLII) processing to use on 2-channel material for some surround effect.

lost-and-found

Thank you both for the replies and the warm welcome.

Cheif, I was looking on Sanus website, but every model tha tI've clicked on showed base dimensions lower than 10". Could you point me towards a model that you're using?

John, thank you very much for your suggestions regarding placement. I will definitely play with the angling and position of the speakers. I like my apartment, but it's definitely not sound friendly as I'm now learning. One of the front speakers is directly against a wall, whch ends half way between the speaker and the couch (due to a hallway). I already noticed that this creates an uneven sound field in many places.

As far as my receiver goes, yes it fits my needs, and again for the price it was worth it. It does annoy me that it doesn't have multiple coaxial inputs however (my TV and DVD player both have coax outputs but no optical) so I'm forced to only get digital sound from the DVD player. Do you know if there are coax to optical converters by any chance?

spock 2054

Here you go...

http://www.amazon.com/Cables-Go-Coaxial-Optical-Converter/dp/B0002J2MV4