Wall mount speaker placement - Need some help! (1 Viewer)

[andsoitgoes]

Hi everyone,


So I’m trying to finally install my speakers after 11 years in my place.


I can’t handle the floor standing setup so I reworded everything and that has made a heck of a difference in sound quality, but I am torn as to where to mount the speakers on the wall.


I am aiming to have them 2-3’ above the main listening position, but I’m struggling with the limitations of my room and where the best spot to place them would be.


They are 2 energy encore bookshelf speakers, and if I want them up off the floor I’ve got 2 different placement options. It’s a 5.1 system.


Here’s the layout from the front and the back


https://imgur.com/a/GjQJFLr


The blue is a stud, but placing it there is about level with my right ear. The other option, if I want to keep them equal in placement is not in a stud. They’re 5 pounds and I have the necessary equipment to secure them, although I’m a little anxious about them being in drywall only, I also don’t know what’s inside the wall there and I’m hoping it’s just empty, but there’s no way without spending a fortune to know.


I also can’t really do much else with the install cost wise. I posted on another forum and they had some suggestions for an in wall mount but it’s gotta be on the wall alone.


So the question is do I mount them at the blue arrow which will be in a stud but also be right to my right and left ear. Or I can go back about a foot and have them in drywall and pushed out to behind the light on the left side, which isn’t ideal for anyone sitting in the corner of the couch.


I’d love any thoughts as to what might work best.


I have a denon avr with Audyssey which has worked really well to optimize the sound quality now that I have decent wiring in place with good quality banana plugs.


Thanks in advance!

 

[Mike Frezon]

Hey, Nick! Welcome to the HTF!

Here's a post of mine from a few years ago when I changed from tower speakers to wall-mounted speakers. The post contains a YT video of the speaker mounts I used. My walls are real plaster that are more than 100 years old. The installation was easy and four years later Polk Ri6's are still rock-solid. I used the same brackets to mount my rear speakers too.

Here's a picture from the next page of that thread--showing off the bracket:

 

[andsoitgoes]

Nice! I picked up the Btech speaker mounts when BestBuy had them on for a decent price, being in Canada means some frustrating limitations for where we can get stuff!

Now that I’ve got those I’m just struggling with the where in the placement. Do I drill and use the drywall screws to have them “behind” my head, but the left speaker would be in a weird spot for anyone sitting in the corner or at the end of the couch, that’s kind of my biggest concern. Combine that with not knowing what’s inside the post identified in the imgur link and I’m just unsure of my options.

My preference would be to drill into the stud. It’ll be super secure but I know being “beside” me isn’t ideal. If I placed them on the post that runs throughout it still poses the challenge that I don’t have a good way to angle the speakers because they’re a weird shape.

Thanks again for helping, I really appreciate it!

 

[Mike Frezon]

FIrst off, I'm no expert on this subject...and I hope other members will respond with their thoughts...

But if I'm understanding your images, the one with the two sets of arrows is pointing at the potential placement of your rear surrounds. Right?

Looking at your images (and the most important thing I see in those images is the pooch! I'm partial to dogs as you can see in my thread) I don't think the few feet in difference in placement (between the blue and red arrows) will really amount to THAT much of a difference in the impact of your rear surrounds to the people sitting on your sectional. Plus, Audyssey can compensate for wherever you end up deciding to put them.

No room is perfect (well, some people have near-perfect HTs!). In my living room though, for example, my rear surrounds are not behind me at all they are mounted on my side walls (near the back wall) and pointed on an angle towards our main seating area on the back wall and into the room. But an aggressive sound mix still fills the room and Audyssey has helped me adjust things so that I am quite happy with the balance at most spots in the room.

 

[Mike Frezon]

And I just realized that you said the speakers you will be mounting are just 5 pounds. Those Polk RTi6s are nearly 17 pounds apiece!

Those brackets I used are just mounted in the plaster walls. No studs.

The industrial strength drywall anchors mentioned in that YT video were key to that process!

 

[Mike Frezon]

I just found the drywall anchors I used--purchased from Amazon. (Love their search engine on orders!).

So if you prefer the drywall locations for those speakers, those should give you the security of not worrying about that decision.

 

[andsoitgoes]

And I just realized that you said the speakers you will be mounting are just 5 pounds. Those Polk RTi6s are nearly 17 pounds apiece!

Those brackets I used are just mounted in the plaster walls. No studs.

The industrial strength drywall anchors mentioned in that YT video were key to that process!

Oh awesome. Maybe I need to grab those, but then if mine are only 5 pounds I can’t imagine the screws included in the mount would be all that problematic! I don’t know why I’m so anxious, maybe because I love these little speakers oh so much!

 

[andsoitgoes]

FIrst off, I'm no expert on this subject...and I hope other members will respond with their thoughts...

But if I'm understanding your images, the one with the two sets of arrows is pointing at the potential placement of your rear surrounds. Right?

Looking at your images (and the most important thing I see in those images is the pooch! I'm partial to dogs as you can see in my thread) I don't think the few feet in difference in placement (between the blue and red arrows) will really amount to THAT much of a difference in the impact of your rear surrounds to the people sitting on your sectional. Plus, Audyssey can compensate for wherever you end up deciding to put them.

No room is perfect (well, some people have near-perfect HTs!). In my living room though, for example, my rear surrounds are not behind me at all they are mounted on my side walls (near the back wall) and pointed on an angle towards our main seating area on the back wall and into the room. But an aggressive sound mix still fills the room and Audyssey has helped me adjust things so that I am quite happy with the balance at most spots in the room.

I think you’re totally right and that Audyssey will fix a lot of the issues the placement may have. I was underwhelmed when I set up the system initially, but I wasn’t really considering how badly wired things were. I was mixing crappy wire (it was 18 awg with some poorly set banana plugs) and I ignored the phase errors that Audyssey through out (which were I believe caused by the wire and plugs).

Now that those are all adjusted the sound is magnificently improved, but it’s left me with some real anxiety about that placement. Do I go blue and open up the soundstage for everyone or red and optimize it for me and I totally am the most important person because no one else really cares! I also realize that the left rear is basically in the same location that it would be when mounted anyway... but man am I worried about what’s behind that post. I’m really hoping there’s no weird vent there if I place it in that location.

I think my biggest anxiety though is just having the sound blasting directly from my side, but if you think I can trust Audyssey to adjust things appropriately, maybe that’s not a concern?

Ugh. Here I was thinking I just needed to get them up, then it just went into overthinking alley and reading a lot of stuff that tried to stress not to install them directly to the side. Stupid overthinking!

 

[andsoitgoes]

I just found the drywall anchors I used--purchased from Amazon. (Love their search engine on orders!).

So if you prefer the drywall locations for those speakers, those should give you the security of not worrying about that decision.

Holy crap those are cool. Watching that install video was very satisfying! Now I’m off to see if they’re available in Canada!

 

[Mike Frezon]

Most phase issues involve mixing up the positive/negative wiring between the speakers and receiver. Just be sure you are careful about the markings on your speaker wire and consistent with using the same side to match up the pos/neg posts.

I had a phase issue which my Audyssey barked at me about for a few years. When I got those new speakers four years ago, like you, I rewired with all new wiring and ran the wire for my rears down into my basement, etc. When I unwired the old stuff I realized there was a hidden splice in one of my runs to the offending speaker...and wouldn't you know it...the pos/neg was reversed at that splice so even though I had checked the connections at both ends I hadn't realized that the wire had been cobbed together incorrectly.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Holy crap those are cool. Watching that install video was very satisfying! Now I’m off to see if they’re available in Canada!

If you're talking about the video on the Amazon product page for the drywall togglebolts...they really ARE that easy. Hanging those brackets/speakers was one of the easiest DIY projects I've ever undertaken. The hardest part was getting those 17-pound speakers up to the bracket. That and cleaning up the plaster dust after drilling the holes.