Where should I mount my right in-wall surround speaker? (1 Viewer)

[ews2001]

For my left and right surrounds, I will be adding in-wall speakers so that people don't hit them as they go by the narrow walkway on both sides. Let's say I go with the Polk Audio 265-RT which is 7 1/4" wide by 19 1/4" tall. [Please see the picture attached to this post before continuing to read]. The problem is that I have a door on just the right side, as well as the stud space for "A" shown in the image is only 9" wide, not a full stud space of 16". So, I need your opinions on whether I should put the speaker in location A, B or C, or somewhere else for that matter. The lines aren't drawn to scale, but I just wanted to represent the stud spaces, A = 9 inches, B = 16 inches, C= 16 inches.

Some thoughts and questions:

1. Does it matter that an in-wall speaker NOT inhabit a full 16 inch standard stud space? Will it sound funny if it's in a smaller stud space?
2. I've been told to hang the middle of the speaker about standing ear level, is that the best location height-wise?
3. I've been told you don't want to put your speaker in line with your ear, even if it's up higher, that's the problem with stud space B. Is that true?

Forgot to mention, I will be using a tiered couch setup, with 2 rows (you can see the back row couch under the plastic.

 

[schan1269]

Standing ear level? No. Sitting ear height...maybe 12" higher up.

If your in-wall doesn't come with a "mount box"...then the rear cavity space is irrelevant(as in it is designed to be OB).

I would pick B.

 

[Type A]

Your right surround speaker should be 90 to 110 degrees relative to your seated position. However anyone sitting at the ends of row one will have a surround speaker very close and this will result in a speaker-in-the-ear effect. Another problem I see is row two will never happen as the surround speakers will actually be forward of the seated position. I would pick location C for proper surround sound effects of row 1 and consider row 2 a complete surround sound loss (which is inevitable with your options). Considering your room width, seating and placement limitations I would seriously consider dipole speakers for your surrounds.

 

[schan1269]

I chose B cause C is too far back for an in-wall that doesn't pivot.

Did you even look at in-walls with pivot tweeters?

 

[ews2001]

Did you even look at in-walls with pivot tweeters?

From the specs for the Polk 265-RT speaker:
"1" swivel-mount silk/polymer dome tweeter"
"Dual 6-1/2" woofers and a pivoting silk-dome polymer tweeter deliver wide frequency response, from deep bass to crystal-clear highs."

I'm curious if that would change your answer?

 

[schan1269]

I never looked at Polk's website, Amazon doesn't mention it.Pivot tweeter makes C the best option.

 

[ews2001]

I chose B cause C is too far back for an in-wall that doesn't pivot.

Did you even look at in-walls with pivot tweeters?

Because the in-wall speakers do pivot, should I mount them in location C, then point the pivots towards the front row? Is that what you're saying to do? Rather than location B?

 

[Al.Anderson]

Given the second row, definitely C; otherwise A. The primary parameter being the 90-110 degree standard.

Instead of in-walls, have you considered di-poles? They won't stick out quite as far, and are more forgiving for dual row use. Something like this: http://www.axiomaudio.com/qs4-surround-sound-speakers#t-3 (I'm an Axiom fan, but others make them as well.)

 

[ews2001]

Thanks everyone, I installed them in-wall last night in "C" per everyone's feedback. I considered di-poles, but it's such a narrow walkway and I have tall people in my family, I didn't want it to be annoying to duck or twist everytime you pass by, so for that reason alone I chose the in-walls. My only question is wondering which direction my tweeters should be pointed, does anyone have a suggestion there? Front row middle? Second row middle? Elsewhere?

 

[schan1269]

I would suggest toward the front row.