speaker placement (1 Viewer)

[Tom Heim]

I have yet to purchase a home theater as of yet but when I do I am going to have to mount my center above a doorway to get it close to being in the center of the listening area but, a problem with that as I understand it is speakers should be at ear level.

So my question is should I mount all the speakers high in the room then angle them down? BTW I am looking at getting the pioneer HTP 220

 

[John Garcia]

Ideally, the main speakers (tweeters) should be right around ear level when seated. The rears have a number of options, depending on the room, but I stuck with ear level with those as well.

The center of the listening area should be the screen, otherwise movies will sound a bit odd. I would consider moving the fronts to a location where you can get them at more reasonable levels.

 

[Lee Carbray]

Tom, if you center is going to be above a door way, where is you tv. Maybe you could provide a description of the room layout for other suggestions.

 

[Tom Heim]

Thanks Lee

_________ ___

 

[Tom Heim]

well that diagram did not come out right

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Tom,
is their any other way that you can arrange your room? I ask this because if your going to mount your center speaker over a doorway, that would mean that your tv would have to be beneath it, which makes no sense because the tv would then be IN the doorway, which that obviously can't be. So in addition to the speaker being over a doorway, am I right to assume that the tv and the speaker will also be off centered from one another?

The problem with this configuration is that the dialogue that's intended to appear to come from the actor's onscreen will now sound 'disembodied' and appear to be coming from a space somewhere well above and to the left or right of the screen which is not a good thing. The actor's will appear to be 'throwing their voices' so to speak.

Could you maybe place the center speaker directly on top or below the tv?

 

[Tom Heim]

Yes I could probably put it under the TV but it would then be forward of the left and right fronts which I plan on mounting on the wall.


I had read that you don't want to have the center forward of the left and right fronts.

I guess I am just looking for the best of a non optimal setup

 

[Jeff Newman]

Foward shouldn't matter since most recievers allow you to set speaker distances. I.E. my onkyo is programed that my fronts are 12 ft away and my center is 10 ft away, so the center volume is automatically adjusted to compensate.

 

[Lee Carbray]

Actually the distance is to compensate for the sound delay coming from two speakers at different distances. This is to ensure the sound from each speaker reaches the listener at the same time. The test tones are for adjusting the actual speaker volume.

Having the centre forward from the mains is probably better then having it off center above a door.

 

[ChrisWiggles]

Yeah, distances does NOT set volume, only delay. Test tunes and an SPL meter are used to set the volume

 

[Ted Lee]

however you decide, get the speaker as close and center to your tv as possible.

if this means putting it on the floor and angling up...that will still be better than having it far away from the tv. just imagine if you were looking at me, but hearing my voice from the left side. that would seem kinda weird.

 

[Tom Heim]

Thanks for all the Help I really appreciate it! my 27" Panasonic will not fit in the opening of my entertainment system so I will put the center there and tweak as needed

Thanks again
Tom