Here is my situation...
First you can see that my entertainment system is raised up on the brick hearth. The whole system is going to be too high to have perfect acoustics, but thats the only setup I can do, and I probably would not be able to tell the difference. Oh, it will be moved to the left to open up space on the right for a speaker. I have curtains/art as wall treatments on the opposite wall from the TV. BTW - I am only looking to do a 3.1 system here.
1. There is only 20.5" of depth on top of the brick hearth and I need to know what kind of foot print in a speaker I should be working with once it is wired, etc. I saw some that were like 16" deep and then I saw some that were like 9-12" deep. I would like to go with tower speakers.
2. Where would I put a center channel speaker in this setup? I do not want to raise the TV any higher as its high enough to not be "way too high". Can I put a center channel in the top right/left cubby? will being off centered be an issue? will heat be an issue?
Things to remember: I live in a NY apartment with a lady upstairs. I want a significant upgrade over the standard TV speakers. My listening habits are 10% music, 25% gaming, 25% Movies, 40% Cable HDTV. Also, I am not going to be in this apartment forever, so nothing that is hard to install or remove. My wife prefers the wood veneers and they have to be aesthetically pleasing so she's happy. It will be extremely difficult to audition speakers locally because I work crazy hours, so a 30-day in home test policy would be a plus as I will probably be buying these sight-unseen (or heard-unlistened? heh) My budget is supposed to be around $1k for speakers/receiver. I could probably get it to $1,500 while not sleeping on the couch.
Thank you for your help, it is greatly appreciated.
First you can see that my entertainment system is raised up on the brick hearth. The whole system is going to be too high to have perfect acoustics, but thats the only setup I can do, and I probably would not be able to tell the difference. Oh, it will be moved to the left to open up space on the right for a speaker. I have curtains/art as wall treatments on the opposite wall from the TV. BTW - I am only looking to do a 3.1 system here.
1. There is only 20.5" of depth on top of the brick hearth and I need to know what kind of foot print in a speaker I should be working with once it is wired, etc. I saw some that were like 16" deep and then I saw some that were like 9-12" deep. I would like to go with tower speakers.
2. Where would I put a center channel speaker in this setup? I do not want to raise the TV any higher as its high enough to not be "way too high". Can I put a center channel in the top right/left cubby? will being off centered be an issue? will heat be an issue?
Things to remember: I live in a NY apartment with a lady upstairs. I want a significant upgrade over the standard TV speakers. My listening habits are 10% music, 25% gaming, 25% Movies, 40% Cable HDTV. Also, I am not going to be in this apartment forever, so nothing that is hard to install or remove. My wife prefers the wood veneers and they have to be aesthetically pleasing so she's happy. It will be extremely difficult to audition speakers locally because I work crazy hours, so a 30-day in home test policy would be a plus as I will probably be buying these sight-unseen (or heard-unlistened? heh) My budget is supposed to be around $1k for speakers/receiver. I could probably get it to $1,500 while not sleeping on the couch.
Thank you for your help, it is greatly appreciated.
I would look at Totem Arro's, Staff's and possibly the Hawk (where you won't need a sub). These speakers have furniture grade finishes on them . Their signature mahagony actually matches quite well with your existing shelves. I own the Arro's and they are the slimmest good sounding towers I could find. I also use some Yamaha slim towers that aren't too bad but they don't look good unless you like black.
