rear speaker stand questions

Norm Apter

OK, so I broke down today and made my second purchase from Polk Ebay in 4 days -- picked up a pair of Rti a1s (to go with the rti a5s and csi a6 center i got last week).

They are scheduled to arrive tommorow.

I live in an apartment now and thus don't want to mess with trying to wall mount these things. In addition, our living room is kind of small and the couch is now back up against the wall. I've heard that for HT setup its best to position rear speakers directly behind the listening positions, but I can't swing that for now.

So hear is my first question, would it be better to (a) put them at a 45 degree angle toward each back corner of the couch or (b) position them directly to each side of the couch?

Second, I have heard that rear speakers should ideally be raised higher than the listening position. Considering that I would be working with stands here, what is the height I should shoot for? Second, anyone know of a good stand that would fit the bill for something in the Rti series (again these are the rti a1s, presumably the smallest of the line)?

Thanks for any hints,

Norm

Eric W

If it's a 5.1 system, put them closer to the sides of the listening area. Ideally they should be 5-6 feet off the ground, but if you're working with stands that may limit the height you can safely put them at. Are you sure you don't want to do wall mounting? It only takes one screw on the RTiA1.

treitz3

FYI, in an apartment dwelling you can install the speaker mounted to the wall. It is considered "normal wear and tear" when a screw or nail is used. Follow the mounting instructions provided by Polk and you will be fine, no stands necessary.

rdb2001

Eric Wong wrote: »

If it's a 5.1 system, put them closer to the sides of the listening area. Ideally they should be 5-6 feet off the ground, but if you're working with stands that may limit the height you can safely put them at. Are you sure you don't want to do wall mounting? It only takes one screw on the RTiA1.

Question Eric, just want clarification. I thought spearkers were supposed to be at ear level. I have my monitor 40's as surrounds on 31 inch stands. which makes them about 45-47 inches tall at the top of the speaker which is right at my ear level. Is that not right?

Eric W

Not ideal for surrounds, but for fronts, yes. The surrounds should be higher up to create more of a diffuse sound. Fronts you want the pinpoint accuracy, surrounds not so much.

Then again we're not curing cancer here If you prefer more of a direct sound in the surrounds, you can put them on the stands. Some listeners do prefer a more direct sound from the surrounds, but personally I feel it's too "pin point." Surrounds are supposed to be enveloping to put you in the middle of the action, not extremely localizable.

rdb2001

Eric Wong wrote: »

Not ideal for surrounds, but for fronts, yes. The surrounds should be higher up to create more of a diffuse sound. Fronts you want the pinpoint accuracy, surrounds not so much.

Then again we're not curing cancer here If you prefer more of a direct sound in the surrounds, you can put them on the stands. Some listeners do prefer a more direct sound from the surrounds, but personally I feel it's too "pin point." Surrounds are supposed to be enveloping to put you in the middle of the action, not extremely localizable.

Ok that does give me a better understanding. With the monitor 40's they are too big to be wall mounted anyways.:D One more question eric. I know this off the thread and I apologize but is it ok to mix the tsi and the monitor series. I know that the tsi are taking the place of the monitors and the monitors are now harder to find. Would it be ok to use a center or back surrounds from the ts1 with monitors.

Eric W

While they aren't exactly the same they're pretty close in sound quality, so yes I think you'll be just fine.