Bought a new house, need speaker advice! (1 Viewer)

[hock20]

Hey everyone, I'm new here and have this livingroom cutout sectional to work with. Can I put floorstanding speakers in the side cut-outs or will that mess with the imaging? What is my best option here for a 5.1 setup? Pics: Dimensions: TV Opening - 41" H x 59" W x 72" Diag Speaker openings - 41" H x 15.5" W

 

[schan1269]

You can put whatever you want in there. There is no "sonic" difference between a bookshelf and a floorstander...other than its own internal cabinet volume.

 

[hock20]

You can put whatever you want in there. There is no "sonic" difference between a bookshelf and a floorstander...other than its own internal cabinet volume.

Great, so it wouldn't sound weird having the speakers elevated so high above my ears? That's the main thing I'm worried about. Have not seen floor standing speakers raised like this before.

 

[gene c]

Not an expert in this area (speaker placement) but as long as you buy towers with front ports instead of rear ports and place them as close to the fron edge as possible it should be O.K. I know there is the thought that speakers need room to "breath" on all sides and sometimes sound better a foot or two from any walls you have to use what you have to work with. Choose your receiver carefully. Doesn't look like much room for ventilation for an avr. Was that a custom design? Doesn't look like something a home builder would do.

 

[hock20]

Not an expert in this area (speaker placement) but as long as you buy towers with front ports instead of rear ports and place them as close to the fron edge as possible it should be O.K. I know there is the thought that speakers need room to "breath" on all sides and sometimes sound better a foot or two from any walls you have to use what you have to work with. Choose your receiver carefully. Doesn't look like much room for ventilation for an avr. Was that a custom design? Doesn't look like something a home builder would do.

Ok cool, hopefully there will be some more input from people who have tried this. There actually is a good amount of room below in the cutouts, the picture is very deceiving in size. The entire home is custom pretty much, but it was done when the house was built.

 

[schan1269]

That looks built "prior" to 16:9. Your center should go in with the TV, above the TV if you want. That "spot" just below the big opening...your AVR could sit right there...unless you go with a "sumo class" AVR(look at the Yamaha RX-A3020 or Onkyo NR5010), I think it will have enough room. Of course, you could still sit a fan on the top of the AVR(similar to laptop fans) to keep airflow going.

 

[gene c]

Great, so it wouldn't sound weird having the speakers elevated so high above my ears? That's the main thing I'm worried about. Have not seen floor standing speakers raised like this before.

That's a good point. The higher up the tweeter is the brighter a speaker tends to sound (in my experience anyway). The tweeters are supposed to be at or near ear level, particularly if you're sitting pretty close to them. Are you stuck on towers or would a large or dual-driver bookshelf work as an option?

 

[schan1269]

There is always inverting the tower speaker...

 

[hock20]

That looks built "prior" to 16:9. Your center should go in with the TV, above the TV if you want. That "spot" just below the big opening...your AVR could sit right there...unless you go with a "sumo class" AVR(look at the Yamaha RX-A3020 or Onkyo NR5010), I think it will have enough room. Of course, you could still sit a fan on the top of the AVR(similar to laptop fans) to keep airflow going.

The home was built in 2007 so that could be true. I can fit a smaller center channel below a 65" TV if I mount it on the wall. I need to figure out the side speakers now.

That's a good point. The higher up the tweeter is the brighter a speaker tends to sound (in my experience anyway). The tweeters are supposed to be at or near ear level, particularly if you're sitting pretty close to them. Are you stuck on towers or would a large or dual-driver bookshelf work as an option?

Not stuck on towers at all, I'm here for advice from everyone as I'm pretty new to it all. A dual-driver bookshelf would be good for this?

 

[schan1269]

Why would you mount a TV in there? Leave the TV on the stand. Some center speakers are big enough you could sit the TV right on it. This one is 10" deep. http://www.amazon.com/JBL-Performance-4-Inch-Channel-Loudspeaker/dp/B000LRA6TM/ref=sr_1_41?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1359340801&sr=1-41&keywords=center+speaker There are also ways to "mount" the center to the TV... http://www.amazon.com/CSB1210-Bracket-CSB-1210-Mounting-Speaker/dp/B00504G0U0/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1359340884&sr=1-3&keywords=center+shelf+speaker http://www.amazon.com/Sanus-Systems-VMCC1B-Vision-Channel/dp/B000EHU874/ref=sr_1_7?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1359340913&sr=1-7&keywords=center+speaker+mount

 

[gene c]

The home was built in 2007 so that could be true. I can fit a smaller center channel below a 65" TV if I mount it on the wall. I need to figure out the side speakers now. Not stuck on towers at all, I'm here for advice from everyone as I'm pretty new to it all. A dual-driver bookshelf would be good for this?

It would have been just because they are shorter. But finding a front ported one might be a problem. A rear port might sound kind of "boomy". How much were you looking to spend on the speakers? The Infinity Primus P163's and a PC351 might work well. http://www.crutchfield.com/p_108P163BK/Infinity-Primus-P163.html?tp=186&kw=&org=pla&nw=g&crv=6535433305 If it fits... http://www.crutchfield.com/p_108PC351BK/Infinity-Primus-PC351.html?tp=189

 

[hock20]

Why would you mount a TV in there? Leave the TV on the stand. Some center speakers are big enough you could sit the TV right on it. This one is 10" deep. http://www.amazon.com/JBL-Performance-4-Inch-Channel-Loudspeaker/dp/B000LRA6TM/ref=sr_1_41?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1359340801&sr=1-41&keywords=center+speaker There are also ways to "mount" the center to the TV... http://www.amazon.com/CSB1210-Bracket-CSB-1210-Mounting-Speaker/dp/B00504G0U0/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1359340884&sr=1-3&keywords=center+shelf+speaker http://www.amazon.com/Sanus-Systems-VMCC1B-Vision-Channel/dp/B000EHU874/ref=sr_1_7?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1359340913&sr=1-7&keywords=center+speaker+mount

That is a great idea! I never thought about that, I was going to mount the TV so I could put the speaker below it. I wanted to fit a 65" TV in there, will leave 1.5" of space with a moderately sized center channel speaker in there. How good can bookshelf speakers be? I wanted amazing sound.

 

[hock20]

It would have been just because they are shorter. But finding a front ported one might be a problem. A rear port might sound kind of "boomy". How much were you looking to spend on the speakers? The Infinity Primus P163's and a PC351 might work well. http://www.crutchfield.com/p_108P163BK/Infinity-Primus-P163.html?tp=186&kw=&org=pla&nw=g&crv=6535433305 If it fits... http://www.crutchfield.com/p_108PC351BK/Infinity-Primus-PC351.html?tp=189

I will spend up to $2500 or so for the entire setup, I want something that will sound really nice in 5.1. I have the klipsch quintet 5.1 setup in the other room but want something more powerful.

 

[schan1269]

It would help to have the "overall" dimension of the TV spot. IF that was originally designed for a 4:3, is a 65" going to fit in there? $2500 is plenty of cash. I would forget ported speakers and buy acoustic suspension.

 

[hock20]

It would help to have the "overall" dimension of the TV spot. IF that was originally designed for a 4:3, is a 65" going to fit in there? $2500 is plenty of cash. I would forget ported speakers and buy acoustic suspension.

Dimensions: TV Opening - 41" H x 59" W x 72" Diag Speaker openings - 41" H x 15.5" W I'm not familiar with acoustic suspension, can you give me some examples? A 65" TV is: 58.6 W x 37.4 H x 13.8 D Inches (58.6 x 34.3 x 1.9 Inches Without Stand)

 

[schan1269]

Acoustic suspension=sealed. Means it doesn't have a port. Maybe that was designed for a 16:9. The Panny 65VT50, on stand, just squeezes in there(says 59.1 wide...but I doubt the .1" makes a difference)

 

[hock20]

Acoustic suspension=sealed. Means it doesn't have a port. Maybe that was designed for a 16:9. The Panny 65VT50, on stand, just squeezes in there(says 59.1 wide...but I doubt the .1" makes a difference)

Ok got it, will look for sealed speakers. So with these TV's with 5-6" left in the height area, I won't have much room to work with for a center channel. Can I put the center in the sectional above the TV cutout and angle it down on a stand to point towards my ears? Like this:

 

[schan1269]

Here is a good speaker choice. I think Axiom supplies "port plugs" to make the speaker sealed... http://www.axiomaudio.com/m50-floorstanding-speakers#t-0 Edit: Answering the prior post... You can put the center above or below. Angled down like shown in the pic is the usual thing done. Or, you can out the AVR "up there" and put the center underneath. If you put your "non-touched" devices up there(AVR, Roku box, sate/cable STB)...you can save space closer to the floor for PS3/BD/Wii etc.

 

[schan1269]

As a "side question"...is there back side access to that spot?

 

[hock20]

Here is a good speaker choice. I think Axiom supplies "port plugs" to make the speaker sealed... http://www.axiomaudio.com/m50-floorstanding-speakers#t-0 Edit: Answering the prior post... You can put the center above or below. Angled down like shown in the pic is the usual thing done. Or, you can out the AVR "up there" and put the center underneath. If you put your "non-touched" devices up there(AVR, Roku box, sate/cable STB)...you can save space closer to the floor for PS3/BD/Wii etc.

Never thought about putting the AVR above as well as the other devices. I may try to wire the center channel up there. As of now there is now there is no back side access, would have to drill for wiring. Also there are speaker wires for surround sitting in the bottom section ready to hook up.