Quote:
Originally Posted by Bazzy /forum/post/16984722
................I have always wondered why the front speakers are so close to the sides of a TV - I can understand the centre one being there as that is where the main dialogue comes from but will not having the L&R speakers so close to each other ruin/close in the main front L&R stereo/surround effects?
No, not really. If your speakers are like those in your diagram, then it would be pretty reasonable to arrange them flanking the TV closely. Compared to mounting them as pictured in your diagram, mounting them flanking the TV is a much better option. Just as the center channel being near the TV can anchor the image properly, so too can mounting the L/R speakers at least in the same plane as the TV and/or center channel speaker. If a truck moves from left to right across your screen do you really want the sound to pan from way up in the upper left corner of your room, down to the screen and then back up to the far right corner of the room? It would sound much better if the speakers were flanking the screen. Sure, if you could mount them a little bit further out to the sides, it might cast a wider soundstage than were they mounted immediately flanking the TV but even if you did that, you wouldn't want to mount them too far out. Some people find a soundstage that is much wider than their screen to be unrealistic and distracting. You'd be surprised at how wide a soundstage the speakers would still cast even if mounted next to the screen.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bazzy /forum/post/16984722
If I remember correctly, back in the day when we used to listen to things in stereo, no one ever would have had the two main speakers so very close together?
Back in the day, too, people often DID spread their speakers further apart than they should have been spread. But, yes, for stereo music, having the speakers so close together relative to the width of the room (assuming your diagram is close to scale) may not be ideal. How much will you be using this system for 2-channel music listening? If a lot then that is definitely a consideration. But mounting the speakers as pictured in your diagram is not going to provide a very satisfying stereo experience, either.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bazzy /forum/post/16984722
If I had to have them at the top, how much of a compromise would that be and how badly would things be affected?
As pictured in your diagram it would be quite a compromise. Not only because of the abnormal height but because of how close you have pictured them to the room boundaries. And, again, if you MUST mount them that high then I would go ahead and mount the center that high, too. Then all the sound would at least be in the same plane. As pictured in your diagram the soundstage is going to sound very skewed.
