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Center speaker - above or below screen ?

78K views 65 replies 31 participants last post by  sivadselim 
#1 · (Edited)
Center speaker - above or below video screen ?
If I place it above, it will be about 20 degree higher than ear level. Sound is less directional when it's above us, but is this too high?
If I place it below, it will be about 10 degree lower than ear level. This will be closer to ear level, but will it be better?
FYI, the left and right speakers are at ear level.


What's the upper limit before it sounds disturbing?
 
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#2 ·
Center speaker - above or below video screen ?
If I place it above, it will be about 20 degree higher than ear level. Sound is less directional when it's above us, but is this too high?
If I place it below, it will be about 10 degree lower than ear level. This will be closer to ear level, but will it be better?
FYI, the left and right speakers are at ear level.


What's the upper limit before it sounds disturbing?
Below looks better. Why not use some rubber feet, or even better a self made wedge to point it towards ear level?
 
#3 ·
Center speaker - above or below video screen ?
If I place it above, it will be about 20 degree higher than ear level. Sound is less directional when it's above us, but is this too high?
If I place it below, it will be about 10 degree lower than ear level. This will be closer to ear level, but will it be better?
FYI, the left and right speakers are at ear level.


What's the upper limit before it sounds disturbing?

I'd put the center speaker below the TV.....here's a pic of my system.
 

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#4 ·
My center used to be on the lowest shelf in my stand. I remodeled and was able relocate the center on the top shelf by wall mounting the TV. Sound quality was greatly improved.

The center is below ear level, but it had adjustable feet which allowed me to aim it at the Listening Position.

Compromises must be made when locating the center. Say, if you mount it at ear level, now your TV must be mounted higher which to me makes for uncomfortable viewing. The center of the TV should be at eye level when seated.
 
#7 ·
My center is considerably below my TV -- almost on the floor. It sounds fine, there. My center is a very wide 6 driver Axiom speaker. There is no tendency of voices to localize from below the TV, where the center is. If there were such a problem, I think that Dolby PLIIz Height mode, which I usually use, has a user adjustment available to raise the apparent position of dialogue upwards. I listened and decided I didn't need that.
 
#9 ·
I feel that if raised your center higher, the sound quality would benefit more than PLIIz's height mode. Your front 3 speakers being at or near ear level is very important.
 
#11 ·
David, please be certain to fact check before making declarations purported to be true.

Also, when you jump to a conclusion, as you do above, please identify it as that - that is, nothing more than your opinion (as opposed to what you expect readers to believe as an actual manufacturer "recommendation", which it is not.)

Moreover, if you seek to leverage your claimed experience as a credible contributor to AV publications, then as readers we expect that when referencing speaker set up recommendations from any manufacturer, you will please follow standard and expected journalism rules of fact gathering and reporting by providing a cite to the so-called "recommendations" upon which your argument relies. We are smart enough to ferret through the source material and come to our own conclusions.

THX's website does NOT make ANY recommendations for preferred placement of center channels or any other channels. THX clearly states that the center channel can be placed "either above or below the display". http://www.thx.com/consumer/home-entertainment/home-theater/surround-sound-speaker-set-up/. Curiously (to me at least), their artwork diagram for speaker placement shows the center channel above the display.

Stewart Filmscreen's website does NOT make ANY recommendations for placement of center channels or any other channels. http://www.stewartfilmscreen.com/. However, one MIGHT be tempted to conclude that either above or below screen would be okay given that they have multiple photographs of installations where both center channel above/below locations are featured. But again, that's an unfounded assumption and would need to be verified with Stewart Filmscreen before asserting it as their "official" or recommended position.

Dolby's website does NOT make ANY recommendation for preferred placement of the center channel beyond stating to "keep [speakers] at your ear height when seated" but also advises that, "The configurations noted in this guide are illustrative." http://www.dolby.com/us/en/guide/surround-sound-speaker-setup/index.html.

Additionally, there is NO statement appearing on THX, Dolby, and/or StewartFilmscreen's websites that "tweeters of L-C-R should be as in-line as possible." In fact, one could make the argument, based on the images of installations all of those manufacturer use on their sites, that the opposite is true; that is, that tweeters of L-C-R should NOT be as in-line as possible.

My installation involves use in a dedicated theater with three levels of stadium seating where I project onto a 128" screen. A Klipsch RC-64 II is installed above-screen in a 7.1 set up. A Yamaha RX-A3010 combined with a single channel power amp rated at 250 watts to that center speaker has worked as well as I or anyone else could expect. I don't need to go into the details of the rest of the set up, but as in ALL cases, as most of you already know, one's mileage on center channel (and others) preferred placement will vary and depends on so many other factors outside of just asking the OP's question.
 
#15 ·
+1, but ideal isn't always attainable.
We have ours mounted above, tilted down. Works just fine, never notice voices sounding like they're coming from above
The position would be noticeable if you closed your eyes. But with them open your audio directional cues are over-ridden by your visual directional cues, and the sound will seem to come from where your eyes are telling you that it's coming from. That's how our brains are wired. This being the case, not being able to realize 'ideal' placement isn't a major concern.
 
#13 ·
The correct answer is neither above, nor below. The correct answer is *behind* the [acoustically transparent] screen.

Craig
 
#18 ·
IIRC, Dennis Erskin said the best center channel speaker location is in this order:

1) Behind a perf screen.
2) Above the screen.
3) Below the screen.

Me, I have mine below but behind a false panel. I have it tilted up on an adjustable frame to ear level on my first row. I really can't say I hear any dialog distractions from this less than optimal center speaker position.
 
#27 ·
My brother and I wall mounted out TV's enabling us to place our Paradigm CC-470 centers on the top shelve of our stands. We both agree there was there was an improvement in sound quality compared to when they were lower.
 
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#31 ·
Frequency response depends on dialog speaker elevation

If locating the center channel vertically places it close to the floor or ceiling its reflected image may strongly affect the early frequency response which the ear is quite sensitive to. How serious that is depends on the directivity of the dialog speaker as well as the reflectivity of the floor or ceiling. If it is a typical "omnidirectional" speaker and the floor is typically quite reflective, that is certainly not a good situation. "Aiming" this kind of speaker at the listener is like aiming a light bulb, minimal change. So I don't think it is possible to determine a "best" location except for a specific room geometry, speaker, and room surface treatments. Locating the speaker behind a perforated projection screen will normally minimize these effects on frequency response as well as provide optimum localization. However, the ear is amazingly adaptive at filtering out these inaccuracies. E.g., how often have you attended a live amplified concert in a reverberant room which sounded awful at first but quite good after 10 or 15 minutes of listening? Sure, the sound system operator may have corrected EQ after initial listening but the bigger effect is probably that the room reflections are being filtered out by the ear after its "programming".
 
#32 ·
I have tried both above and below and I most definitely prefer above. When my center was below it was extremely localizable and distracting. With my center above and angled down, I rarely notice sound not coming from screen. I would highly recommend trying both before you decide. For me it was totally worth all the trouble mounting the speaker above was, and it was a LOT of trouble.
 
#34 ·
Considering the technology of Dolby Atmos enabled speakers that reflect the sound from ceilimng, I would think it should not be as hard to design the center that is mounted on ceiling facing tilted towards the non-AT screen and reflects the sound from the screen to give a feeling as if the sound it coming in line with L & R.
 
#36 ·
I have mine above my TV. I put a floating shelf and tilted the speaker down towards the listening position. I also tried under the TV and prefer on top. I did however hate it when it was not pointed down at an angle. It is all personal preference so I would suggest trying both and it is also dependant on the room and obstacles. Good luck sir
 
#39 ·
Using a "left or right" speaker as a center might not be a good idea in most cases. Most users place a center on their stand, enabling mounting the TV lower, more toward eye level. Laying a "L & R" speaker on its side may interfere with its dispersion pattern. Centers are designed to be Centers.
 
#41 · (Edited)
You would use the 3rd IDENTICAL speaker vertically. And cheecheung said he realized it was not ideal for most users. Still, when it can be accommodated, whether above, below, or behind the screen, a center speaker that perfectly matches the left and right speakers IS the best option.

Almost all horizontal center channel speakers are a compromise. They are designed for the many people who cannot accommodate a 3rd matched speaker in the center spot. It may be marketed as such, but there is nothing inherent in a center channel speaker's design that makes it better at reproducing the center channel info. And, in fact, most horizontal center channel speaker designs present poorer performance due to the horizontal orientation and design than the vertically-oriented partners they were made to complement.
 
#45 ·
This is a thread "awakening", but I'm considering all this. I decided to not go AT with my future projection screen, have barely enough room underneath the screen for my moderately large center, and think I'm going to angle mount it above...

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk
 
#47 · (Edited)
My experience in my room with monitor audio silver c350 is.
At 4 meter distance and the center under tv 0.7m height vs on top with 1.45 m with little downangle. I chose to use the cc over @ 1.45m As some wrote the sound is less directional when its coming from higher height, that is in my room with my ears. It was far more realistic and it made the tv position more pleasant.
 
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