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Options for short center speaker

3090 Views 59 Replies 25 Participants Last post by  BruinsFan87, 
B
I'm considering upgrading my TV speakers in the upstairs open living room. There's a variety of speakers that would fit the Left/Right space, but I'm struggling to find anything that could act as a center.

Should I look at getting a sound bar as a center channel? Is a Virtual Center a better option?

There is also space above the TV, but ear-level is roughly where I drew the horizontal line below next to the 7.5"

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Mike Lang
It looks like you can raise the TV an inch or two to make finding a center easier.
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XEagleDriver
What about ditching the left, right, and top portions of the AV furniture. Then mount the TV high enough to accommodate the Center channel of your choice.
- Those numerous small cubbyholes are not very useful to begin with.

This would also open up more breathing room for your Left and Right front speakers.

Cheers,
XEagleDriver

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk
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D
What are the dimensions of the space above the tv?
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B
Thanks everyone for the responses so far. Given the current line of sight is at that horizontal 7.5" line, I'd be really hesitant to raise it another 1-2 inches, but I suppose it's on the table if there's no good alternatives.

Regarding removing the upper portion, we really like the way it looks in the room and wouldn't be open to removing it.

The dimensions above the TV are 29" wide x 7.5" tall.
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Zorba922
BruinsFan87 said:
I'm considering upgrading my TV speakers in the upstairs open living room. There's a variety of speakers that would fit the Left/Right space, but I'm struggling to find anything that could act as a center.

Should I look at getting a sound bar as a center channel? Is a Virtual Center a better option?

There is also space above the TV, but ear-level is roughly where I drew the horizontal line below next to the 7.5"
Click to expand...
You can always start with a pair of L/R towers and see whether you're in the lucky 20-30% who doesn't miss having a physical center. The JBL Studio 590, 580, or 570 would all be excellent choices given their current sale prices, or if you wanted a more conventional look their JBL Stage A190 or A170 are also on sale for even less, and all of them have free return shipping.

If you find that you DO miss having a center speaker then simply raise your TV --- you want to be able to fit a center speaker that's no less than 7" tall, otherwise you're going to be stuck with a bunch of useless dinky 3" woofers that will sound like crap.
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S
Zorba922 said:
You can always start with a pair of L/R towers and see whether you're in the lucky 20-30% who doesn't miss having a physical center. The JBL Studio 590, 580, or 570 would all be excellent choices given their current sale prices, or if you wanted a more conventional look their JBL Stage A190 or A170 are also on sale for even less, and all of them have free return shipping.

If you find that you DO miss having a center speaker then simply raise your TV --- you want to be able to fit a center speaker that's no less than 7" tall, otherwise you're going to be stuck with a bunch of useless dinky 3" woofers that will sound like crap.
Click to expand...
Apparently the 520C isn't as bad as we thought. Another user both owns and has installed a few of them, and they keep up well with the 530/570 and even the 580 at "normal" SPLs. This could be a good option for a short-ish centre with a pair of 570s...
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B
@Zorba922 I like the towers idea but my wife gave me a hard veto on that. 95% of the content in this space will be cable TV (news, SNL, Jeopardy, cartoons, etc.), so I'm looking for something just better than the TV speakers given the space constraints.
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R
I agree the tv is high enough as is. Givin all the restrictions imposed my vote is a soundbar and sub.
Rich
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Zorba922
BruinsFan87 said:
@Zorba922 I like the towers idea but my wife gave me a hard veto on that. 95% of the content in this space will be cable TV (news, SNL, Jeopardy, cartoons, etc.), so I'm looking for something just better than the TV speakers given the space constraints.
Click to expand...
In that case, I'd get 3 x Ascend 200SE ... these miraculously stuff TWO 4" woofers into a compact sealed (no rear ports) cabinet only a tad bigger than the size of a bookshelf speaker with ONE 4" woofer.
www.ascendacoustics.com

HTM-200SE HOME THEATER MONITOR PAIR

High Performance Compact Speaker "The new 200SE continues the Ascend tradition of offering unmatched component quality and performance at affordable pricing." With a linear frequency response and bass down to 70Hz, this compact versatile loudspeaker is the perfect solution for space limited...
www.ascendacoustics.com www.ascendacoustics.com
$476 shipped for all 3:
www.ascendacoustics.com

Ascend Acoustics

Ascend Acoustics- Award-winning audiophile loudspeakers and subwoofers for home theater and music, factory-direct. Rythmik subwoofers now available.
www.ascendacoustics.com www.ascendacoustics.com

As long as you have a subwoofer (and I'd dig in my heels and fight the wife tooth and nail if she objects even to that) these would offer the least sonic compromises despite their tiny size.
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B
@Zorba922 Would placing one of these above the TV be too far up? Otherwise I'd have to raise the TV by about 2 inches.

Also, I will be adding a sub to the setup as I can tuck it behind the couch.
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D
There should be virtually no difference in having a center mounted immediately above or below a TV. In my case I experimented with both and had a slight preference for above but that can vary with the total room setup.
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B
How far would I need to tilt down the above center?
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Zorba922
BruinsFan87 said:
@Zorba922 Would placing one of these above the TV be too far up? Otherwise I'd have to raise the TV by about 2 inches.

Also, I will be adding a sub to the setup as I can tuck it behind the couch.
Click to expand...
If you put them above the TV, you'd want to use rubber doorstop wedges (or an angled speaker pad) to tilt them downwards so that the tweeter points at ear level where you sit.

Under the TV, you'd do the same thing to angle them upwards.

Should be fine either way.
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Zorba922
Dave in Green said:
There should be virtually no difference in having a center mounted immediately above or below a TV. In my case I experimented with both and had a slight preference for above but that can vary with the total room setup.
Click to expand...
I also find that I prefer speakers high tilted down for some reason. Many years ago I heard a system where they had bookshelf speakers wall mounted just under the ceiling (this was long before Atmos) and thought it sounded great, blended perfectly with a sub.
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RayGuy
XEagleDriver said:
What about ditching the left, right, and top portions of the AV furniture. Then mount the TV high enough to accommodate the Center channel of your choice.
- Those numerous small cubbyholes are not very useful to begin with.

This would also open up more breathing room for your Left and Right front speakers.

Cheers,
XEagleDriver

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
The standard for placement is 1/3 to 1/2 of the screen BELOW eye level. You have plenty of room to move upward, while still remaining in the "optimum" viewing position.
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RayGuy said:
The standard for placement is 1/3 to 1/2 of the screen BELOW eye level.
Click to expand...
Right now about 1/4 of the screen is below eye level, it's the horizontal line next to the 7.5" on the left side that is eye level.
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1
I had that same problem fitting a center channel into furniture.

Build a 2.5 way center channel 6.6" tall and it worked OK but...one day, I had a blinding flash of common sense and realized I owned both power tools and opposable thumbs! I then partially took the furniture apart, lowered the shelf system, changed other shelves and drawers so it worked better and built a much more capable beastly center to blend in. Took me all day to modify and properly stain the furniture but it worked well.

In your case, I would cut those legs off the bottom of the furniture--you are in luck, it is painted white so no veneers or hardwoods that need to be sanded, stain matched and so on. Once those legs are trimmed down, you have many options of footers to be attached be they hard rubber, moldings or whatever.

It looks like the top part is removable so you can increase the height of it the same measure that you cut the legs down--or more if you want it closer to the ceiling.

Very simple to do since it is just paint--might even completely repaint the thing and change shelf configuration to suit whatever you and your wife prefer to do. In my case, the furniture I had to deal with was custom built by her grandpa with veneers, hardwoods, stain and so on so I had to step up my skillz (with a Z!) to not make a mess. My center channel jumped from 6.6" tall to 18" tall for a pure 54 pounds of center channel clarity and my wife likes the furniture reconfigured although she won't tell me that (her friend threw her under the bus)

If you really want to gain wife points, you can custom make grills to completely cover the shelf space so the speakers are hidden behind the grills. Grill cloth can be custom printed with photos, or patterns or just go with a matching white. A matching white acoustic cloth grill makes the speakers vanish to give the furniture a less "busy" look.

Yes, it is not a "point and click" solution and requires some effort, skill and design but the day you kill will pay off for many years. Very simple if you own a circular or table saw, a can of paint, sandpaper and a brush.

Along the lines of make the furniture fit your needs, not your needs compromised to fit the furniture. Make some sawdust! Good luck and keep the sharp side down.
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enricoclaudio
BruinsFan87 said:
@Zorba922 Would placing one of these above the TV be too far up? Otherwise I'd have to raise the TV by about 2 inches.

Also, I will be adding a sub to the setup as I can tuck it behind the couch.
Click to expand...
You can totally place the center speaker above the TV. It works for me:

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RayGuy
BruinsFan87 said:
Right now about 1/4 of the screen is below eye level, it's the horizontal line next to the 7.5" on the left side that is eye level.
Click to expand...
Well, if the screen is that high, your need for a 4" center is moot, as you have a ton of additional space to use on the TV itself. looks to me like you have about 5 additional inches, making a 9" center do-able. That gives you tons of quality choices. The only issue would be covering up the IR sensor, and if that becomes an issue, then you can just pick up an IR repeater. They can be had for pocket change.
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