Where do you put your center channel?

Center under my Plasma....I have 3 Klipsch RF7IIs for a "Seamless" front stage. Used a ceiling mount for Plasma. Have a AT screen when watching the Projector.

I built a shelf above my 60" Sammy, and it looks and sounds great. I put some rubber nubs on the bottom back of the speaker to aim it down a little.

Try some proper ht furniture ( sanus, salamander or bdi) or get a cabinet maker!

I did an install for a friend and ended up using a small TV wall mount that gave the tilt we needed and supported the weight. We lucked out and had a stud centered to ensure a solid connection with the wall

Nice job...what brand speakers are those? That center is interesting looking.

That's not recommended. As someone walks across the screen in a movie, the sound will go up and back down as well as left to right. That's very distracting! Better to get a small table for the center speaker. I got a small table cheap at a discount store and cut the legs a few inches to fit exactly under my screen. This photo isn't super clear, but you can see the basic setup with all three front speakers the same height:



--Ethan

I have mine on a small table (similar to the setup above--in terms of location; my room doesn't look like that one) so that my front L/C/R are in the same plane (I have a horizontal centre so the tweeter is a bit lower than those of my mains--by about 4 inches or so).

in keeping with ethan's and ovation's post, i built a simple "stand" with a 1x12 pine board and cut up a 2x3 for the legs...

real easy and cheap....

+1

However, if all three are together, in a horizontal plane directly above the display then that can be made to work if care is taken wrt axial aiming, SBIR taming, VER damping etc.

Coming from a pro sound back ground, I prefer covering a room from somewhat above, thereby it's easier hitting variable depths of listeners. Kinda like studio soffit height LCR's.

BTW, it's nice seeing posts from you again Ethan, your contributions were missed during your self imposed book sabbatical. Any updated release date info?


Thanks

I think it just looks like that because it has something around it holding it in place. It's an illusion making the back look larger than the front. I'm pretty sure it's a standard "box" like the L/R.

What's weird is the floor between the L/R speakers and the TV. Are those IB sub manifolds?

Well, this sort of depends upon the height of the fronts as well as the relative and overall screen height. And where the center speaker actually ends up relative to the screen. There are several things to consider, here. But, with the screen at eye level, considering ONLY the center speaker (or the hypothetical situation where the front's are single point sources centered at the exact same height as the center of the screen), above the screen is supposed to be better. Purportedly, we are less able to localize the speaker when it is above the plane of our ears than when below, and this lesser localization enhances the illusion that the center's sound is emanating from the actual screen, itself. This makes sense to me and I have seen it oft-repeated (and have oft-repeated it, myself ). And I think there is some scientific evidence to back this up. Our ears evolved to be able to localize sounds below us, where out offspring and prey usually reside, better than those sounds emanating above us. Blah, blah, blah. I'm sure you've heard it.

But, as I said, there are a lot of variables, here. It is not so cut and dry. Obviously, you can't consider ONLY the center speaker. Yes, the front 3 speakers identical and at the same height, as in your photo, is a primary goal. But many setups are not so perfect. In many setups, the fronts are higher than pictured in your photo and the screen is lower. A horizontal center speaker might be necessary. And the center cannot always be placed directly below or directly above the screen. If, generally, above the screen IS better, is it better to have the center speaker above the screen and further from being aligned with the fronts or below the screen and more aligned with, but below, the fronts? This is the more common situation it seems most people encounter. And how high above the screen or the front speakers is too high? Etc.. So, there are several inter-related things to consider.

- screen's height, in general
- need for a horizontal center speaker
- relative tweeter heights of the front 3 speakers to one another as well as to the screen
- above or below the screen for the center speaker
- what else?


So, for example, in the photo kgveteran posted, we'd probably all agree that they got the center channel speaker's placement correct, even with the speaker higher than it probably needed to be.

Ahh, you're so right. Looks like a strap or something around the circumference of the speaker. Weird...at first it looked like it was telescopic or something lol.

Yeah, it did that to me, too, initially.

Check out the floor, the two rectangle holes......below the TV

As I suspected.

Whoa, good call...those are beautiful!!

Guess they don't have any small kids or pets.

lol!

"Honey, Max fell in the IB again."

"OK, I'll put in War of the Worlds."

i have mine on the shelf too . i had to raise my tv . plus 2 in walls and the outlaw sub hidden in the corner left.

haha! That would make for a great promo for those considering becoming infinitely baffled...dog comes flying out of the hole and into their arms...too funny.

dog?

Dog..kid...whatever

Wow Ethan...those GIK traps look great!

(j/k )

A poor mouse met his demise.... I made some spiffy covers for them

Thanks. The copy editing for my book is all done, and hopefully they changed little if anything. It's being typeset now, and they'll start sending me page proofs to review this Friday. I'll have everything back to them by March 1. Then they'll create files formatted for the printer, who promised to have them delivered and ready for sale by the end of April. I already have one glowing review that will appear in the April issue of Electronic Musician. The editor of that magazine knows me and asked to see it early, and we were glad to comply!

--Ethan

That's great Ethan, I wish you all the luck in the world with it.

Fwiw; I check out your acoustics forum daily, for tidbits etc.

Thanks

Better yet an AT screen