Mounting speakers on it's side (1 Viewer)

[Vince Chan]

I am thinking of mounting two Paradigm Titan speakers sideways in the rear of the room to act as surrounds. They would be toed-in and tilted downwards toward the listening position. The reason I am doing this is because mounting them vertically would result in people bumping their heads on the speakers as they walk under them.
My questions are:
1. Would mounting them like that be detrimental to good sound?
2. Should I mount them so that the tweeter is on the outside or inside?
Thanks!
-Vince

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Vince,
First, Welcome to the Forum!
I have my rear speakers hanging on the back wall horizontally, angled toward the seating area. Horizontal speaker placement might be detrimental to front imaging, especially if they are on a shelf, but hanging more-or-less in free-air should have no negative consequences. Besides, the rear surrounds tend to be much more forgiving of less-than-optimal configurations that the front speakers. Overall I’ve been very pleased with this arrangement in my system.
I found that rear location was more important than horizontal or vertical placement. For instance, I was not pleased with the results when I had the speakers spread too far apart, positioned too high, or when they were aimed straight ahead and not tilted down at the seating area (ours are about 8½ft. high on the wall).
As far as positioning the tweeter in or out, that will have to be a judgement call. For instance, if they are located near a side wall, you definitely want the tweeters positioned inward. If the rear speakers are to be hung far apart, it would again be best to position the tweeters inward. (This is what I did; there is 12ft. between our speakers.) Other than that, you might ask yourself where you would really like to mount your speakers compared to where you have to place them (if that is an issue in your installation). For instance it you would like to separate your speakers further than you are practically able to, you could gain extra-perceived distance by placing the tweeters to the outside. Conversely if you have to hang them further apart than you would like to, positioning the tweeter inward would tighten-up the soundfield.
Or perhaps you are the lucky one who is able to hang the speakers in exactly the prime location. In this case you could position the tweeter either way, as long as the it ends up in the exact space it would occupy if you were hanging the speakers vertically.
Hope this helps.
Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt
------------------
My Equipment List