2 in wall speakers as center channel (1 Viewer)

[Jassen M. West]

It's been a long time HTF, nice to be back. Finally got a house that I can have a dedicated theater room. Here come the questions.

I would like to have in wall speakers across the front mounted behind the projector screen. Mounting the center channel might be a problem as there is a stud right were I would need to mount an in wall center channel. I was thinking of mounting a speaker on either side of the stud and wiring them in series to act as the center channel. Would this give me a larger "vocal sweet spot"? Has anyone done this before? Would there be a delay/echo between the speakers? Any problems running Polk RC85i at 16 ohm? The receiver is currently a Sony STR dn1080.

Thanks,

 

[smithbrad]

My understanding is that there can be some canceling out effect when multiple tweeters are fairly close together and arranged horizontally. It apparently is primarily an issue within the higher frequencies, which is why the more common arrangement with center channel speakers is tweeters and mid-range speakers aligned vertically while the woofers are aligned horizontally. Woofers being aligned horizontally is generally to simplify spacing issues since vertically aligned speakers are more difficult to place as a center channel. If you space the centers out more to try remove any cancellation you also widen the perspective of the center channel, which also may not be good either.

If possible, you may want to see if you can test out potential configurations first before cutting into the walls and running wire. Depending on the amount of offset, one center speaker slightly offset, may still be better than two spread apart.

 

[JohnRice]

Having two center channel speakers horizontally placed does cause phase problems that center around 2kHz and makes dialog difficult to understand. It will widen the dialog area, but probably do more damage than good.

 

[John Dirk]

It's been a long time HTF, nice to be back. Finally got a house that I can have a dedicated theater room. Here come the questions.

I would like to have in wall speakers across the front mounted behind the projector screen. Mounting the center channel might be a problem as there is a stud right were I would need to mount an in wall center channel. I was thinking of mounting a speaker on either side of the stud and wiring them in series to act as the center channel. Would this give me a larger "vocal sweet spot"? Has anyone done this before? Would there be a delay/echo between the speakers? Any problems running Polk RC85i at 16 ohm? The receiver is currently a Sony STR dn1080.

Thanks,

Since you're talking about running the speakers in series, the receiver shouldn't present a problem. Placing speakers behind a projection screen will likely produce unsatisfactory results unless the screen is specifically designed [acoustically transparent] for this. If you don't mind the question, why would you place the speakers in-wall when you have the luxury of placing them behind your screen? Any bookshelf or floor standing speaker in the same price range will easily outperform an in-wall design. Have you already purchased the in-wall speakers?

 

[smithbrad]

Since you're talking about running the speakers in series, the receiver shouldn't present a problem. Placing speakers behind a projection screen will likely produce unsatisfactory results unless the screen is specifically designed [acoustically transparent] for this. If you don't mind the question, why would you place the speakers in-wall when you have the luxury of placing them behind your screen? Any bookshelf or floor standing speaker in the same price range will easily outperform an in-wall design. Have you already purchased the in-wall speakers?

Just a guess on my part, but with in-wall speakers the acoustically transparent screen can be mounted directly to the wall, but with standard speakers one must either extend the screen out the depth of the speakers or build a false wall to hide the speakers within. Might not be the look desired and likely much more work. In my limited experience, when one goes in-wall it is likely an aesthetic concern.

 

[Jassen M. West]

Since you're talking about running the speakers in series, the receiver shouldn't present a problem. Placing speakers behind a projection screen will likely produce unsatisfactory results unless the screen is specifically designed [acoustically transparent] for this. If you don't mind the question, why would you place the speakers in-wall when you have the luxury of placing them behind your screen? Any bookshelf or floor standing speaker in the same price range will easily outperform an in-wall design. Have you already purchased the in-wall speakers?

I was planning on mounting the screen to the wall, maybe offset by a few inches. Plans changed when I found a good deal on a Polk LSiM 706C that I have mounted just below the screen. Thanks for the reply.