Sanus Speaker Stand Heights? How Tall Should They Be in My Weird Room? (1 Viewer)

[Cramer Nelson]

I have the Pioneer PK52FS 5.1 system except for the surrounds which I'll be picking up soon. When I do, I'd like to get some Sanus stands for them as well as one for my center channel (which is sitting on an end table I found lying around). The mains are approx. 36" and the surrounds are approx. 12", which, if you can add, means that the surround stands should be 24". However, what about the center? It's about 7 or 8 inches tall but my bed still seems to block the sound direction even while it stands on the 19" tall table. Sanus sells 18" and 22" stands, so should I get the 22" to raise it above my bed or the 18" for the long run for when I'm sitting on a couch with my system?

 

[Type A]

As Sam mentioned in your other thread speaker stands should place your tweeters at ear height when seated. I would build for the long-term and purchase the shorter stand for use in your future living room. However I would recommend using temporary blocks either under the stand or under the speaker to allow the speaker to clear the foot of your bed while in your current environment. You never want any speaker blocked, in any way, from your listening position.

 

[Cramer Nelson]

As Sam mentioned in your other thread speaker stands should place your tweeters at ear height when seated. I would build for the long-term and purchase the shorter stand for use in your future living room. However I would recommend using temporary blocks either under the stand or under the speaker to allow the speaker to clear the foot of your bed while in your current environment. You never want any speaker blocked, in any way, from your listening position.

It's odd you should say that, because the mains' tweeters are at about 32" in height. With an 18" stand, the center tweeter would be at about 24". So are towers and centers supposed to have matching tweeter heights or not? Because I always see centers much lower than towers.

 

[Al.Anderson]

So are towers and centers supposed to have matching tweeter heights or not? Because I always see centers much lower than towers.

Ideally, yes, they'd be the same height. But unless you are placing your center behind an acoustically transparent screen, you have to make compromises. For mnay people, under the screen is the best compromise. (But try to angle it up.)

 

[Type A]

It's odd you should say that, because the mains' tweeters are at about 32" in height. With an 18" stand, the center tweeter would be at about 24". So are towers and centers supposed to have matching tweeter heights or not? Because I always see centers much lower than towers.

Sounds like you are asking for the technical aspects.

A vertical-oriented tower speaker has a predominately vertical radiation pattern. This creates a, shall we say, more forgiving pattern in the vertical plane. Whereas a horizontal-oriented center speaker has a more horizontal radiation pattern, this gives it a wider horizontal sweet spot while diminishing its vertical abilities.

Thus it is more important to situate your center channel's vertical orientation relative to your ear and not to your left and right channels. Yes, in a perfect world all tweeters would be at ear level but its not a perfect world. The height of your towers are based on several technical aspects; required volume of the enclosure, driver numbers and orientation ect to achieve a given performance parameter. You dont have any control over the tweeter height in your towers but you do have control over your center channel's

 

[schan1269]

And if you want to be purely technical about it...

You should have three tower speakers. But, how many companies allow you to buy only 1 tower speaker?(actually, quite a few. But most of them cost twice, individually, what this entire setup will eventually cost)

If I ever redo my main theatre as just a projector(there is also a 50" plasma behind it), I'll switch to an all tower front stage. Right now, the center resides approximately 6" above where perfect tweeter alignment is. The prior owner of the house designed this wall purposely for 46" tall tower speakers(forget what he had) and mine only stand 40".