Mirage nanosat 5.1 Ceiling mount (1 Viewer)

[HTJitters]

Need help but let me first provide some background on hardware and roomsize followed with my question.


Iam going in for a HT in my walkout basement. The dimensions of the room are 15.6 x 21. Across the width of the room is a window and a door to walk out of the basement. Along the length it has a wall running on one side while the other wall has a window. We have carpet in the basement and wooden blinds on the door and the window.


The projector screen will hang across the 15.6' width. Will lose some of the window if the screen is permanently drawn down (Elite M100XWH W93" H 59").


Project: Optoma HD20 (Ceiling Mounted)

AV : Onkyo HT RC260

Speakers: Mirage nanosat 5.1

Sony Blu ray BDP-S570


Question: I know the Mirage speakers are omnipolar. But on this forum and other sites I have read the front speakers must be mounted at ear level. I want to ceiling mount all my 5.1 speaker (including the center speaker) upside down. Will it negatively affect the sound quality. If yes, what are the better options. I dont want to rewire the entire basement since cost is a constraint. I would like to do it before Xmas as a surprise for my family.

 

[CB750]

To quote the Nanosat web site it looks like you have some flexibility


"So, tuck it away on a shelf, place it on the mantle, or mount it on the wall and you’ll still experience audio like never before"


But is says nothing about mounting them on the ceiling. You are right most manufactures suggest placing speakers at ear level.
I would suggest that before you make your final wiring install that you try the speakers at both ear lever and on the ceiling and let your ears decide if a ceiling mount will work for you.

 

[HTJitters]

Thanks Bill,


I have asked a technician to come around the house and take a look at the scope of work. He does say he has installed HT earlier. Will pick his brains and let you know what he thinks might work.


For lack of layout here is my explanation why I want it on the ceiling than on the walls. My seating arragement with respect to the walls that would hold speakers is not a clear line of sight. But the ceiling is. Another reason is the speakers if mounted on the walls will be too close to the walls. Getting speaker stands is not practical either since people and kids will move around in the basement and I dont want to risk someone tripping over the wires or tripping my speakers over :-- )


Next time I get a house I will first look at how the home theatre fits in before I decide on the rest of the house!!!!

 

[CB750]

Zook


Mounting satellite type speakers on walls using provided or optional wall mounts is an accepted installation method. What makes you think mounting them on the walls would be bad?

I have to agree from my own experience that speakers especially the front sound stage should be set at ear level when seated. When I was setting up my 5.1 system with satellites my L & R speakers where going to be placed on built in a book shelves with 6 shelves on either side of my 52" LCD so I had 6 different height positions available to me and I had the option of placing my center channel either above or below my TV.

After much experimentation I found that placing the L & R on the shelf that was at ear lever and 7 feet apart and placing the center below my TV produced the best combination of sound for both dialog and music. This tends to be the recommendations from my speaker manufacture as well as Dolby Labs.


Placing the L&R speakers closer to the floor tended to muddy the sound to my ears. Placing them close the ceiling produced a thinner sound which tended to lack directionality. This is the reason that I sugguesed that you experiment with your Nanostats the same way.

 

[Jason Charlton]

Originally Posted by HTJitters

Next time I get a house I will first look at how the home theatre fits in before I decide on the rest of the house!!!!

Funny - 5 years ago when my wife and I were house-hunting we each compiled our shortest "must have" list to aid in the search. Tops on my list was a basement layout that would "work" for home theater. Everything else, I figured, was gravy. It's amazing how much easier it is to find the "right" house when your requirements list is nice and small.

 

[CB750]

LOL Jason and Zook


I get a charge with those Home and Garden shows where the couple builds their dream home from scratch or does a major renovation on an existing home and end up putting the TV over the fireplace.

 

[gene c]

Originally Posted by HTJitters

Next time I get a house I will first look at how the home theatre fits in before I decide on the rest of the house!!!!

Nice to see we're helping you get your priorities in order!


One of my two matching glass and aluminum stereo cabinets is smack dab in the middle of my sliding glass front door. Friends/family know to go to the back door. Those who don't know me quickly find out where my priorities ly!

 

[HTJitters]

Mounting satellite type speakers on walls using provided or optional wall mounts is an accepted installation method. What makes you think mounting them on the walls would be bad?


Hi Bill,


I dont think mounting speaker on wall are bad. Due to the way my room is laid out, if I opt to mount them on the wall I end up too close to the side wall. On the other hand if I mount them upside down on the ceiling I gain the flexibility to move them closer into the room. (The room is 15.6' wide and I would be happy with L n R being 10/12' apart...am I making sense?)


I guess I will end up with speakers upside down on the ceiling and trying to direct them towards my seating position but not at ear level. Iam not an audiophile so dont know if I can contribute to intelligent chatter. I do think I can spot if something is 'not quite right' Having said that I might have the whole thing installed this Saturday. Will let you know how it all unfolds.

 

[CB750]

Zook,


My Family room is 22' x 14' and I have followed the Dolby installation guide for 5.1 system http://www.dolby.com/consumer/setup/speaker-setup-guide/select-config-5-1.html


As I have written before I have also tested the Dobly recommendations and found they do provide the most pleasing sound in that room. My front L & R speakers are ear height and about 7" apart centered on the TV, and my center channel is mounted below my TV. My surround speakers are just to the rear of my prime seating area at ear lever on opposite L & R walls. The are sitting next to the walls on pieces of furniture but are 14' apart. I use Audyssey room correction software to calibrate all of my speakers and the software and following the Dolby guidelines work best for me.

I think you will find that in your front stage that it is more critical to have proper separation of 7'-8' between L & R speakers but that separation is not important for your surround speakers and placing them on the walls just behind your prime seating will work just fine.