Center speaker on top of TV? (1 Viewer)

Juan.F · Jul 8, 2005

I’m setting up my surround sound system after moving into a new apartment. I’ve bought a new TV (Sony 34 KD-XBR960) and since it is fairly bulky, I have it on a TV stand instead of inside an entertainment center like I had my older tv. That being said, I used to have my center speaker on a shelf directly above my tv, but since I now just have a TV stand, I have nowhere to place the speaker unless I put it directly on the TV itself. Is this safe? It’s a fairly small JBL center speaker, nothing fancy.

R:o:b · Jul 8, 2005

its ok and safe to place the center speaker on top of the tv as long as it is magneticly sheilded. if it is not then it will destroy your tv ( i know from experince).:frowning: i would recomend getting some rubber feet for your speaker to create a little speration from the tv and to stop vibration. Also depending on the placement of your tv, you could build a wall mount for like 20 bucks. I was forced to do this after i purchesed the masive polk audio csi 5 and it wouldnt fit anywhere. lots of options, no worries

Juan.F · Jul 8, 2005

Thanks R.o.b. Man, "it will destroy your tv". I really don't like the sound of that! :frowning: Especially since I just bought my tv and it wasn't cheap. I don't think I have anyway of knowing if my speaker is magnetically shielded. I got it from one of those hometheater-in-a-box packages about seven years ago. I think it might have tiny rubber feet on the bottom. If a speaker is not magnetically shielded, will you immediately notice something wrong with the tv? Or is it something gradual that you won't pick up until it's too late?

John Garcia · Jul 8, 2005

I guess that means you've never put a magnet near a CRT... The effect is immediate and if it's strong enough, it can be permanent. It would be the very rare center channel that was not sheilded, and I would expect most/all HTiB centers to be sheilded.

Juan.F · Jul 8, 2005

Thanks John. Now that I think about it, when I had my old TV, for a short while I had a different entertainment center and I had this same center speaker on top of that tv for at least a few months. It was also a CRT. That older tv still works fine, so, it's a pretty safe bet then that the speaker is shielded I guess. I'm going to try it tonight (very, very carefully, just in case

) and see what happens. Hopefully nothing. Thanks.-

John Garcia · Jul 8, 2005

I have an HS510 and I have a pretty hefty center up there with no problem: Image. Sheilded yes, and 38lbs. You'll notice right away if the speaker is not sheilded.

Dean_S · Jul 8, 2005

You might want to try some Blu-tack to hold the speaker on the TV. It's not cheap stuff but it works great, is reusable and won't damage the speaker or the TV. One package is enough to make three little balls of the stuff for every speaker in your HT. I also use it to hold a tall skinny vase to my dining room table so my cat can't knock it over and break it and to hold my IR recvr and other light components (like my Panasonic DV-RP62 to it shelf so it doesn't move around when you press the front panel buttons). It's available at audioadvisor.com.

John Garcia · Jul 8, 2005

You should be able to find a Blu-tac equivalent at most hardware stores for $1-2. It's basically like silly putty and works great.

Juan.F · Jul 8, 2005

Thanks for the idea Dean. And John, the link to the image of your system doesn't seem to be working for me. Is it a bad link or is it just me?

John Garcia · Jul 8, 2005

Try it now.

EvanW · Jul 8, 2005

sheilding is not always safe, my older pioneer center sat on top my panay for several moths its sheilded looked at the driver myself, never strayed the fields noticeable, took it off after 3 months and i got a green screen, i almost the the pioneer out my second story window, i took a risk and demagnitized the screen with another magnet and got rid of the green, stupid pioneer almost polorized my tube for ever. (noticed no color oddities ever until i took it off, no one else watching movies ever noticed any either. that sony is a very nice tv, get a center channel stand.

Louisp · Jul 9, 2005

Have you thought about putting it directly below your Sony?

Don Scott · Jul 9, 2005

What would the signs of magnetic interference look like on a crt? I've noticed something strange on my sony wide screen RPTV lately. I can see curved lines on dimly lit scenes, say torches lighting a dark cave or a fade out between scenes for example. You can't see them in scenes with rich color or solid black. My JBL's are shielded but could this be magnetic interference? Any help would be appreciated.

Arthur S · Jul 9, 2005

Magnetic interference typically looks like purple discoloration. I don't know what your issue is. Perhaps someone like MichaelTLV will chime in.

John Garcia · Jul 9, 2005

I think it depends on the field, but discoloration can look blue, green or purple. My TV turned blue when I moved my SVS too close to it when moving it in, but it went away.

I had a simiar thiing happen when I upgraded to my new center after about a year. When I took it off, after having no visible discoloration issues, there was a slight green tint where the center was. I suppose that is from being exposed to the field, but it went away within a few hours without me doing anything to it, same as with the SVS. A strong magnet can cause instant damage, but an brief exposure to a weaker field probably won't result in damage.

ted* · Jul 9, 2005

I put mine on the top self of the TV Stand with triangle shaped elevators ( I took a wedge of wood and painted it black) so that the center channel is below the TV but facing upwards towards the ears. I put rubber stoppers behind the speaker so it doesnt glide backwards.

Still sounds awesome and extremely safe/cheap.

Brian_cyberbri · Jul 10, 2005

If you need to prop up the center channel to aim it down, try using a book. You can adjust the number of pages to get just the right angle. It's also handy if you don't have a couple of door stops sitting around.

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