Advice on Surround Speaker Stands
Can someone recommend a decent surround speaker arrangement for me?
I currently have...
- a pair of rti28 fronts
- a csi30 center
- a psw350 sub
For now, I'm using a pair of Atrium speakers for my surrounds. I've temporarily taken these out of another room and placed them on top of a couple of stepladders...just to see (hear) whether I'd want to invest in a pair of permanent surrounds. Well, I was satisfactorily impressed...so I'll probably end of getting a pair of rti38s (as new fronts) and moving my rti28s to the back for surrounds.
However, my question is...what do I put these surrounds on (i.e. what do I use to replace my stepladders?)
Due to some room constraints (i.e. fireplace, only 2 walls in the near vicinity and a high, angled ceiling), I don't think it would be possible to mount the surrounds on the wall or on the ceiling. My only other choice is to place the surrounds on speaker stands...I think. But according to Polk's surround speaker FAQ, surrounds should be 2-3 feet higher than the listeners which means that I would need speaker stands that are 5-6 feet tall! Does anyone even make stands this tall? And even if they do, I don't like the idea of placing a speaker on a stand that high for stability reasons.
Maybe I should still consider wall-mounting a pair of speakers. But my layout has the TV in a corner and the walls extend (as you would expect) at a 90 degree angle. If you visualized it as a baseball diamond...my TV is at homeplate with my fronts on 30inch speaker stands to either side. If I were to wall-mount my surrounds, then they would be at 1st and 3rd base with me sitting at 2nd base. My guess is that this would probably be a lousy place for surrounds.
Any advice?
I currently have...
- a pair of rti28 fronts
- a csi30 center
- a psw350 sub
For now, I'm using a pair of Atrium speakers for my surrounds. I've temporarily taken these out of another room and placed them on top of a couple of stepladders...just to see (hear) whether I'd want to invest in a pair of permanent surrounds. Well, I was satisfactorily impressed...so I'll probably end of getting a pair of rti38s (as new fronts) and moving my rti28s to the back for surrounds.
However, my question is...what do I put these surrounds on (i.e. what do I use to replace my stepladders?)
Due to some room constraints (i.e. fireplace, only 2 walls in the near vicinity and a high, angled ceiling), I don't think it would be possible to mount the surrounds on the wall or on the ceiling. My only other choice is to place the surrounds on speaker stands...I think. But according to Polk's surround speaker FAQ, surrounds should be 2-3 feet higher than the listeners which means that I would need speaker stands that are 5-6 feet tall! Does anyone even make stands this tall? And even if they do, I don't like the idea of placing a speaker on a stand that high for stability reasons.
Maybe I should still consider wall-mounting a pair of speakers. But my layout has the TV in a corner and the walls extend (as you would expect) at a 90 degree angle. If you visualized it as a baseball diamond...my TV is at homeplate with my fronts on 30inch speaker stands to either side. If I were to wall-mount my surrounds, then they would be at 1st and 3rd base with me sitting at 2nd base. My guess is that this would probably be a lousy place for surrounds.
Any advice?
Post edited by Shoop on
Comments
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You either need to move your seating position up to the pitchers mound or move the speakers so they are even with or behind your seating location.
As far as speaker stands go they really aren't tall enough for surrounds as the surrounds should ideally be 2-3 feet above ear level ... if you can't mount them on a wall then maybe on/in a book case or media rack to the sides or behind. -
Most speaker stands I've looked at are not tall enough for one thing and more importantly, are UGLY! They are shoddily constructed unless you get into furniture grade and then the price goes way up. A couple of suggestions: go to your local home decorators stores like Hobby Lobby or Michaels or whatever yoy have, and look at the "faux" marble columns they have. Some are made of plaster, others are a blown/injected molded material. They come in a variety of heights and are decorative too. Another option is to look at plant stands. Again a wide variety is available in different styles and heights. I found a pair that works for me that have a black powder coated look to the legs with some decorative scroll work and a dark marble/granite top. Though they aren't as tall as I'd like, they are very steady and the wife likes the looks of them. Plus, they were less than $80 for the pair.
Bob R in OKC
Front: RTi8
Center: CSi3
Surrounds: RTi4
Sub: Velodyne CHT 10
Receiver: Onkyo TX-SR701 -
Faux marble columns...I like the idea! I'll have to check out what Michaels has tomorrow. Thx.
