Mounting what ,where? Please help!

brentski · June 2003

Now that I have my new speakers(thank's David) I have a big decision to make as far as mounting what where !!

I have the following
CS-400i
RT-55's
RT-35's
FX-500i's
CS-300(old ctr. spkr.) currently my rear center speaker.

My room is 12' x15' 8'H

My listening position is about 3 feet from the back wall.

Unfortunately , to each side is a doorway that's about 7' high.
The only way I'd be able to mount speakers directly to my sides, would be above the doorways, 4 ft above my listening position and 1 ft. from the ceiling. Theres no room between the doors and the rear wall to mount.
So much for mounting my side speakers directly to my sides.

So, I'm stuck with mounting my side speakers, approx. 18" in front of my seat, where I can mount the speakers at any height.
I know this isn't recommended but I really don't have a choice here.

So, which speakers do I go with here,on the side walls but a bit in front of me? The FX's or the RT's?
Also, how high above the listening position should they be mounted?

If the FX's go on the side walls , do I mount the RT's against the back wall, horizontally, facing the front?

How high and how far apart should the rear speakers be mounted on the back wall?

Any thoughts, suggestions and / or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,brentski

jesyjames · June 2003

I have a similiar situation to you for my rears. I have my couch flush with the wall and literally have no other options for it. To one side of the couch is a door that opens into the room. Out of neccesity I mounted my FXI30's in the space between the door and ceiling. Yes, it put the speakers about 4 feet above my listening position and rather close to my ceiling. But, in all honesty, I think it works out just fine. I properly calibrated the speaker levels and that certainly helps. In my situation, it also helped to create a little bit more space between me and the speakers where the sound doesn't originate next to my ear. I'm quite happy with the setup.

danger boy · June 2003

I rearranged my room when I got into home theater. twice so far. No i didn't remodel.. just rearranged the seating, lighting, and the whole functionality of the room to get the best viewing and listening out of my space.

That's one thing very few people ever seem to take into consideration... nothing is permanent, move, move, move stuff around. ... but the WAF does come into play i understand.

I still have one set up in my room that i haven't tried yet. I may have to wait till I get a new audio rack for that one tho.

Brentski, your room is the same size as mine.

good luck, Al

TonyPTX · June 2003

Originally posted by brentski
So, I'm stuck with mounting my side speakers, approx. 18" in front of my seat, where I can mount the speakers at any height.
I know this isn't recommended but I really don't have a choice here.

I don't think 18" is going to be that big of a deal. These numbers are guidance after all. Think of the fact that sound travels in a spherical pattern from the source. It would be better to mount the speaker 18" from your desired position rather than 4'. The delta here is that at 18", you might be off axis by say 10°, but at 4' in a room that small, you could be as much as 30-45° off axis which will give you a weaker signal at the listening position. granted you can calibrate this to a louder level like jesyjames claimed, nothing can make up for the dips and valleys in the FR as a result of being in an off axis location.

My two cents.

Ceruleance · June 2003

put the FX's on the side walls, and the RT in the back, because direct radiating speakers work better as rear surrounds, and the FX's can be on either wall.

as for positioning, try all different stuff and just see what sounds better. 18" in front may be better, above the doors may be better. Is it possible to actually mount them ON the doors?

BeginnersLuck · June 2003

In a room that small your best bet might be to stick with a 5.1 setup. Thats seems like an awefully small room to stick so many speakers in.

If you can't fit them all don't bother, a nicely placed 5.1 setup can sound just as good without making the room seem cluttered.

-BL

gidrah · June 2003

Somebody actually suggest using less speakers than what is possible. Not many would suggest this. I like to agree, then again I also want a room that's all speakers (except corners and with small dividers that extend toward my position), but I'm crazy.

The 18" shouldn't be a problem. Especially if you can adjust the delay of the other speakers.

If you mount the sides high, I'd do the same with the rears. If you listen to much multichannel music, I'd do my best to align them all horizontaly and make do the best you can for movies.

brentski · June 2003

First of all, thanks for everyones help and input.
This set-up will be used entirely for home theater use.

So, considering mounting the FX/500i's on the sides and the RT-35's on the rear wall , there would be a distance of approx. 6' from the side wall spkrs. to the rear speakers.

........(though I've also considered getting another CS-300 to match the one I already have to use as my rear surrounds and use the RT-35's in another room, but day......)

Regardless, How high should the side speakers and rear speakers be mounted above the listening position??

Is there a rule of thumb to go by, something that I can read up on, as far as where they're supposed to sound their best from the listeners position?
(I could try to get different size stands but that would be a LOT more dificult than it sounds)

My front 3 speakers are mounted so that the heigth of the tweeters on the center channel CS-400i, which sits on top of the TV, and the RT-55's, mounted on stands, are fairly evenly

Again, any more suggestions and/or help are greatly appreciated.
Thanks much ,brentski

Grimster74 · June 2003

Brentski, this may help a little but I just put some pics in the system showcase of how I have my H/T setup. My sides and my rears are roughly 2' above my listening position.

brentski · June 2003

If I make shelves to mount speakers above the doors to each side of me, should I mount the RT-35's there and mount the FX/500's against the back wall or....
should I do the opposite?
AND If mounting the FX/500's on the side walls is suggested,which is the proper way to point them ?
Is there a certain way they should go (in regard to the side with the driver and tweeter as opposed to the other side with just the tweeter) ??
Or is there a basic way to mount them regardless?

Thank you

Grimster74 · June 2003

I would place the FXi's on the side walls and the RTi's on the rear walls. And on the back of the FXi's there should be a sticker at the bottom the the speaker where the serial number is telling you wether its a right or left speaker but I'm not sure if the 500's are that way, I know the FXi30's are. But, if they don't have a sticker on them, the single tweeter side should be pointed at the listening position.

Tour2ma · June 2003

brentski,
Nice to see you are getting near the end of your journey, I know it's been a long one.

Good solid info above for you. Maybe I can add a thought or two.

FXi 500's: On the sides as stated. I'd set them up L/R as indicated on them initially, but after some listening you can swap them, and thus the tweeter direction, and compare sound. I think tweeters towards you, as Grimster indicated, will be preferred, but this playing is easy.

RT's: Rear as stated. May want to play with them secured to a couple ladders before you commit the shelving. May find you want them a certain distance from the sidewalls, or in the corners. May want them toed-in to some degree and/ or angled downward.

CS300: Hang onto it May want to create a mock center between the rear RTs at some point in the future to get a little more rear, especially if LR and RR become discreet signals at some point.
Im looking at doing this with a 350 I have. My listening position is on the back wall so I am going to try tucking it behind the couch to help focus my rear sides.

I know youre close, but have fun and take it slow

brentski · June 2003

So please, AGAIN consider this for my room, approx. 12W x 15L w/the mains and sides against the long walls.

1) I can mount the FX/500's, about 5' down from from my mains(RT-55's) towards me along the 15' wall, at a proper heigth, however,AGAIN though, about 2 feet in front of my listening position.
With that,I could mount the RT-35's horizontally along the back wall at a height and distance apart that sounds the best.

Again,my only concern is if it's at all advisable to mount the FX/500's 2 feet IN FRONT of my listening position at the proper height while alowing me to position my rear speakers, the RT-35's, at the proper height and distances apart on the back wall.

2)On the other hand ,I can mount speakers above the open doorways to each side of me(min. 7' off the ground ) and only leaving a space of 12-18" to the rear wall so that the rear speakers are so close to the sides that they'd almost diffuse,dilute the sounds of the two.

I could use either the RT35's or FX/500's above the side doorways in a 5.1 set-up and forget the rear speaker. 7.1 set-up for now.

Of course,we all want to use all the speakers we have at our disposal. I think there may be a point where too many is just too much and we have to cut our losses and stick away what we don't use today untill our NEXT HT room down the road.I think if I have to go with the 5.1 set-up,the FX's or RT's will have to be put away till it's time for them to come and play again.

Again,all your help/sugestions are greatly appreciated.
Thank,brentski

Mounting what ,where? Please help!

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