How high to mount front speakers

Overkill

Gang,
Is there an optimal height to mount front L & R speakers in a 5.1 HT system? I've seen several pix and placement seems to vary quite a bit. Should they be centered heightwise next to the TV? Or same height as the center channel speaker? Or closer to the listener's height? Or does it make little difference?

I am starting to look for speaker stands. The center line of my TV is about 45" high.

TIA

Kchill

Put them at ear level when you sit down....if near a flat screen put them 1 foot away on each side with the center directly in front of you. Good luck...if you don'r like it then play around...but you must find the sweet spot for your speakers...btw what type of speakers do you have?

Overkill

Thanks!

I (will) have RTi A3 front speakers, CSi A4 center, and FXi A4 rear surrounds. Oh, and an Energy 10" sub. The front and center speakers are pending delivery any day now!

Overkill

Gang,
I've been reading up some more on speaker placement, on Polk's site and in the booklets that came with the speakers. I just don't think I'm going to get anywhere close an ideal placement for my front speakers. I think I'm going to be stuck with mounting them on the wall behind (and above, per all the literature I've read) the TV.

If y'all wouldn't mind taking a look at these pix and venturing your opinions, I'd appreciate it. I'm standing just behind the couch where we sit.





As you can see, the TV is not centered on the far wall, and centering it isn't an option per the wife (it would require re-arranging the couches in a way she won't go for). So it puts my right front speaker right in the corner by the fireplace. I can't get much stereo separation from the TV, and I can't get it away from being too close to the walls, much less follow that "33%" rule.

And we have a lot of screwy angles that might make for bad reflections--the wall with the fireplace is angled, and the vaulted ceiling is angled, going from 9' on the right side to about 16' on the left.

Any other suggestions aside from mounting the front speakers on the wall behind the TV?

TIA!

F1nut

Given the room and wife limitations, mount them on stands with the tweeters at ear level.

Overkill

F1nut wrote: »

Given the room and wife limitations, mount them on stands with the tweeters at ear level.

I forgot to mention, the tile is insanely uneven, so stands would probably rock even with shimming. And I have a dog and cat that run all over. If I could find a way to affix the speakers to the stand, that would be great (I posted separately about it here<--click). Then I'd just cable the stand to the wall. But I'd have to do something extra creative to strap them down.

kneedragger37

Speaker stands would definitely be the best bet here, if you need to keep the speakers close to the TV.

If you want more separation, and wall mounting is an option, why not wall-mount on the return wall on the left, and equidistant from the TV on the angled wall on the right? Proportionally, it looks like you could get them an equal distance apart and equidistant from your primary seating position.

As far as height, placing them high (further out of sight, presumably better for your marriage), rather than with tweets at ear level, is not ideal, but in reality this room is not ideal for a reference home theater system... you've got a lot of goofy angles, reflective surfaces (slate floor, tile on wall, looks like windows behind at least part of the couch), high ceilings, etc., so basically your imaging isn't going to be perfect regardless of where you put the speakers.

Here's the good news: the system will still sound great and it will be a ton of fun to listen to. My advice would be to place the speakers where they are equidistant from the TV and your listening position, and if they are up high simply aim them down toward your ear height. Most importantly, place them where they will not cause unrest in your marriage or upset the sanctity of your household! Believe me, the small difference it will make in the sound is not worth that kind of trouble!

F1nut

Well, you can get stands with adjustable spikes. You can also fill the stands with lead and/or sand and as much as I hate to say it, you can even drill thru the stand top into the speaker base and use bolts to secure them.

These guys make some nice ones, http://www.skylanstands.com/stands.htm

Cardinals-1

It is going to depend on the speakers, but I do know bookshelf speakers on the floor are a bad idea.

Toolfan66

can you upload a pic of the back of one of the speakers?

Igo

Put the TV where the fireplace is and the fireplace where the TV is. Jeeez. Do we have to do ALL the thinking for ya?!
: )

Igo

Hey. I have that same TV stand/unit. WEighs a ton doesn't it?

Whadyasay

As others have mentioned, you can get sand-fillable stands with adjustable floor spikes, which can have keeper discs under the spike points so they won't be scratching into the tile surfaces. Use a bubble-level on the stands' top plates to get them...well...level. You can also use some blue thumb-tack between the speakers and the top plates. For those speakers, I think stands around 26-27" high should be ideal, unless your seating position is quite low...in which case look at 24". I use these for my LSi9's...

http://www.dynamichomedecor.com/Target-Hifi-HR.html

...and filled with sand, they are like pair a of marble pillars.

netudki

I use these for my LSI9s,
http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=SANF&variation=30CHE

Overkill

Igo wrote: »

Put the TV where the fireplace is and the fireplace where the TV is. Jeeez. Do we have to do ALL the thinking for ya?!
: )

heh I actually considered removing the top 3 tiles over the fireplace and mounting the TV up there, but then none of our couches would be set up ideally, and surround speaker placement would have been really tricky.

Igo wrote:

Hey. I have that same TV stand/unit. WEighs a ton doesn't it?

NO KIDDIN!!! I think the glass is a big part of that weight. How did it go together for you? It was a big PITA for me. I had to re-drill and tap several holes that didn't line up, among other things.

Overkill

TOOLFORLIFEFAN wrote: »

can you upload a pic of the back of one of the speakers?

I'll post this today. I've been home with a nasty cold the past couple days, so I can futz around with this stuff more easily

Whadyasay wrote:

ou can also use some blue thumb-tack between the speakers and the top plates.

What exactly is this thumb-tack stuff? A sticky but removeable putty of some sort?

THANK YOU to everyone for your suggestions. If you have other thoughts, please keep them coming in

kneedragger37

Overkill wrote: »

What exactly is this thumb-tack stuff? A sticky but removeable putty of some sort?

Exactly. Blue-tack is very commonplace in the UK, but for some reason not so much here -- I'm not even sure where you would get it, though I'm sure a google search for "blue tack" would yield you plenty of sources.

Overkill

TOOLFORLIFEFAN wrote: »

can you upload a pic of the back of one of the speakers?

Here ya go.

BAD ASP

F1nut wrote: »

Given the room and wife limitations, mount them on stands with the tweeters at ear level.

+1 tweeters at ear level.

Igo

Overkill wrote: »

heh I actually considered removing the top 3 tiles over the fireplace and mounting the TV up there, but then none of our couches would be set up ideally, and surround speaker placement would have been really tricky.



NO KIDDIN!!! I think the glass is a big part of that weight. How did it go together for you? It was a big PITA for me. I had to re-drill and tap several holes that didn't line up, among other things.

I read a bunch of reviews about the stand on Best Buy and half of them said to barely start all the screws before you tighten any of the screws. This method of assembly holds true for many things. I also had a tiny 4V drill/driver. All these things were good 'cause I had to get this thing up to the second floor and put it together by myself. What was it packaged" 150 or 175 pounds?

Overkill

Igo wrote: »

I read a bunch of reviews about the stand on Best Buy and half of them said to barely start all the screws before you tighten any of the screws. This method of assembly holds true for many things. I also had a tiny 4V drill/driver. All these things were good 'cause I had to get this thing up to the second floor and put it together by myself. What was it packaged" 150 or 175 pounds?

Funny, depending on when you read the reviews, one of them might have been mine Yeah, even leaving the bolts loose, there was just no way some were going to line up. Check out my review >here<. I couldn't get a direct link, so it's currently the 20th, under the name Okillian. I included a pic of just how badly one bracket lined up.

We also live on the 2nd floor--I hear ya. I'm no muscle man, and my wife couldn't even help me get it out of my truck, so I had to hit up my next door neighbor to help (which is good because I've helped him a LOT over the years )

Igo

I don't remember reading that not I sure as heck didn't have the same problems. LOL. Mine went right together....and I didn't have to tap anything. LOL

Igo

What receiver is that anyway?

Overkill

Igo wrote: »

What receiver is that anyway?

Yamaha RX-V663.

Hrm, I just realized that it stopped adding my signature to my posts. I know the "show your signature" option is checked when I reply, too