Moving into a house, best speaker placement option...?

[steveklein]

First of all let me just say that I've enjoyed my Ascend Acoustics speakers (Sierra's across the front; 200s across the back) for nearly 3 years. They are to date the best speakers I have ever heard in a residential environment.

However, I am moving my up in the world and have bought my first home. Understandably, speaker placement wasn't a major factor when purchasing.

So here is the living room and what I am working with:

http://images1.zillow.com/is/image/i0/i2/i4025/ISr746zqppi46b.jpg?op_sharpen=1&qlt=90&size=330,225

Here is my plan...

40" LCD in the TV niche, mounted to the "ground" or floor of the TV niche and tilted downward towards the seating area.

I plan on adding a shelf near the top of the TV niche and putting the center Sierra 1 on the shelf above the display. If I am to use the center channel speaker, this seems to really be the only option. For me, it is more important that the viewing angle of the TV is spot on even if the center channel is a bit (okay, way too) high. The other option would just be run a 4.1 setup.

My main issue concerns the front left/right speakers. I've got 30" tall speaker stands that I could put on the floor flanking either side of the fireplace, but I wonder if that would be ideal or if I should go with a wall mount option.

I don't think having them right next to the TV would look all that great. However, what if I got mounts that I could place to where the speakers were flush with the display?

A mount would connect where the "x" in this picture (and on the other side) and the speakers would be angled downward just slightly towards the listening area.

http://lh5.ggpht.com/__4Z0p27ylVU/S8zIvNdEYeI/AAAAAAAABi8/IleKDyS_1Eo/ISr746zqppi46b.jpg

Also, this would give rear clearance which could only help the sound quality.

Is this probably my best route? Or should I just keep the floor stands? If I were to go with these "side-ish" mounts, what are some good sturdy (black) ones that would hold the Sierra 1's?

Thanks folks for your time and suggestion,
Steve

[curtis]

Is the TV above the fireplace the only option?

[steveklein]

pretty much...

[Galwin]

I would recommend an e-mail or call to Dave on this one. I'm not much of an expert on speaker placement, but I suspect that the combination of having the speakers located so high and close to the ceiling, and the wood floor, must have some acoustic consequences.

[steveklein]

The speakers wouldn't really be all that high. They could be at ear level actually, I could just mount them further down the wall. The only speaker that would be high would be the center channel.

As for the hardwoods, I know it's not good for acoustics, but it is what it is.

[curtis]

The speakers would be at earl level when you are seated?

[steveklein]

they could be, i could mount them a couple feet below where that x is to where the bottom of the speaker could be about even with where the tile on the fireplace hits the mantle.

[curtis]

Audiowise...that would be good.

I am more concerned with the height of the TV. How far back is the seating area? Looking up to the TV can cause some neck problems.

http://www.audioholics.com/tweaks/home-wiring-construction/installing-television-over-fireplace

[steveklein]

The center of the display would be about 6.5 feet off the ground. When sitting on the couch, I figure my eyes are about 4 feet off the ground. And the TV is about 11 feet from the couch.

So, that's only about a 12 degree angle looking up. Doesn't really seem all that bad.

Even if my numbers are a little off, I don't think it would even approach something uncomfortable, say, 30 degrees or worse.

I just don't know of any wall mounts for speakers that will securely hold the sierra 1's (in the arm-like fashion that I discussed). I also don't know of any TV mounts that would allow the LCD to be attached to the "floor" of the TV niche.

[chas]

I think the B-Tech BT77's are often recommended for speaker mounts. Ascend may even carry them.

[steveklein]

Would the BT77 be able to be mounted on the wall such that it was facing that table in the picture and then have the speaker facing out into the room?

[chas]

Would the BT77 be able to be mounted on the wall such that it was facing that table in the picture and then have the speaker facing out into the room?

Not sure...maybe you can find something in the specs:

http://www.btech-usa.com/bt77.html

[curtis]

The center of the display would be about 6.5 feet off the ground. When sitting on the couch, I figure my eyes are about 4 feet off the ground. And the TV is about 11 feet from the couch.

So, that's only about a 12 degree angle looking up. Doesn't really seem all that bad.

Even if my numbers are a little off, I don't think it would even approach something uncomfortable, say, 30 degrees or worse.

My understanding is that the recommendation is that the bottom third of the TV should be within eye level.

I know from working in IT, and having to deal with ergonomics when setting up workstations, that guidelines state that the most comfortable viewing angle is 12 degrees below the horizon, and as you move up, fatigue and eye dryness increase.

12 degrees above the horizon may not seem that bad...but remember, that is the bottom of the TV. Try sitting for an hour or so looking at the middle of the TV.

[indulger]

I had asked the exact same question to Dave last year. Mounting them in the exact same place. Here's his reply.

http://forum.ascendacoustics.com/showthread.php?t=3879&highlight=mount

[debo]

I would really recommend looking for another location for the tv. I have plenty of customers who have moved their tv's form above a fireplace for the the same reason Curtis has pointed out. Also if you are buying a LCD you better at least use a angle mount because your downward axis will degrade the video quality quiet a bit with a washed out image.

[steveklein]

Hey guys. I know this topic is a bit on the old side, but I figured I’d share with you my solution.

Once I moved in, I put the TV in the niche and as expected, it bothered me. It just felt too high. And to boot, there was nowhere to really put any of my equipment.

http://lh6.ggpht.com/__4Z0p27ylVU/TAZZ0HzH20I/AAAAAAAABm8/U1ZTjY0ZTrs/s912/IMG_0106.JPG

But a little hard work and engineering yielded me a result that I am very pleased with.

I built 2 brackets out of steel. One consists of 2 pieces sticking out from the top of the mantle/bottom of the TV niche connected by a crossmember. The other connects to the 8” tall piece of wood between the tile of the fireplace and the top of the mantle.

http://lh3.ggpht.com/__4Z0p27ylVU/TAZcIvoOfFI/AAAAAAAABnI/XMsmNOnXOiE/s912/IMG_0127.jpg

Once I got the steel plate built and mounted, I added a $70 tilting wall mount which I got off of Amazon.com and hung the TV. The stability is phenomenal. This setup could easily hold a much heavier TV. After running speaker wire through the walls and Ethernet cable from here back to my desk for a wired internet connection in the living room, the setup was complete.

http://lh3.ggpht.com/__4Z0p27ylVU/TAZVzntGxBI/AAAAAAAABk8/EDXoHFbfo6M/s912/IMG_0135.JPG

Aside from the cable box, center channel speaker, and receiver which are visible, I also have a Slingbox and HTPC behind the TV. I also left an HDMI cable down there so I can easily hook up my Xbox 360 (or PS3) which permanently reside in another room in my house (yes, I have a mancave in addition to this  )

The seating area:
http://lh3.ggpht.com/__4Z0p27ylVU/TAZVyquCLJI/AAAAAAAABkw/UY98deGpOU0/s912/IMG_0132.JPG

The next step? Add a quality subwoofer to match with my beautiful Ascend Acoustics Sierra-1 speakers (HTM-200s in the rear).
After that? A 55” LED sure would be a nice upgrade over my 2007 model 40” LCD 

Thoughts? Suggestions?


An enthused first time homeowner,
Steve

[buddhadas]

Looks beautiful!

I would suggest moving the center channel speaker down to where your receiver is, and centering it.

[steveklein]

Yeah, I'd like to move the center channel down.

I haven't quite figured out exactly where all my components should be placed.

The PC on the bottom right works well. I can easily access USB ports, it is very large and is hidden, and it doesn't need line of sight to the couch to operate because I use a Dinovo Edge RF Keyboard/Mouse.

A videogame system on the bottom also makes the most sense to me because I move them from room to room a decent bit and just changing the games could be a hassle if it were any higher.

The cable box and receiver are on the next shelf. This is where putting the center channel speaker would make the most sense.

However, there isn't really room to put anything else on the shelf if the speaker is centered. It could work, but it would be unbalanced and not very aesthetically pleasing I don't think.

So if I were to put the center channel speaker on that shelf by itself, it would push the cable box and receiver up awfully high. I'd really like to figure out a solution where I could control all my components from my remote control without having to have a line of sight to all of them, but I don't really know the best way to go about this. As it stands now, I kind of have to point the remote control kind of high to get the channel on the cable box to change.