Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Center Channel Placement

Hey All,

I just joined the forum this week and am excited to see so many Axiom users out there. I am in the process of completing my theater room and will have pics soon. I would like some advice from some of you guys. I have a new Sharp 42" lcd which will be on a stand that is 22" tall. My problem is I dont have a place to put my center channel speaker. My theater room has a 4" stage where my tv and speakers stand so that raises everything up 4". That puts my head height at the tv's center. I was wondering if having my center channel higher then my M60's is going to cause a probem with the sound. I was going to have a bracket built so that my center channel could still be above my lcd. The difference in height from my m60's is about 13". Would it be better to raise the lcd up 7-1/2" higher and put the center channel under the lcd? I know that I should do some testing first before having the bracket built, but I was just wondering if anyone has run into this before.

Thanks in advance,

shalgato

I had my VP-150 for a while above the TV and about 2 feet higher than my M80's tweeter. The sound was very good, as long as I jacked up the back of the VP-150 so it pointed downward (VHS tapes still have their use!). The only problem I had was that I had a receiver that did not allow me to adjust delay for central channel that was BEHIND the main speakers, so I had to move the TV forward and the couch almost in the living room!!! So, after a while, I tried underneath (and in front of) the TV (pointing upwards) and it was good too and I could move the TV back to its original place.

I think you will be alright with the central channel (which one do you have?) above. I am actually contemplating (once I finally receive my HT unit) to add a second center channel.

I have the VP100. I am going to have a piece of 1/8" stainless plate bent like a tall "z". It will be bolted down behind the tv and then extend even with the front of the lcd. I would really prefer having it there because I dont want to raise the screen height 7 more inches. I have a Denon 1804 receiver. I think it has the adjustment for delay. I will have to check.

I think you will quite alright like that. If the channel is flush with the TV, the delay adjustment will be very "natural". My problem was that the VP-150 was a good foot behind the TV and my the M80 a good 9-10 inches from the wall, it looked downright silly!

I really appreciate the input. I will give it try and see what happens. I will be posting my pics later this week.

shalgoto

My VP100 is near 8ft and aimed downwards, the M60s are on the floor and the TV's bottom is at head height while sitting. The only problem I have noticed is that for certain scenes in movies when dialogue is called for from the LF or RF, it is now coming from below the TV, a minor quirk that doesn't happen very often.

Your 1804 does in fact have time delay in the form of speaker distances. Just go into the speaker setup and scroll through till you find the screen to adjust the distance. I have the 1804 as well.

If you check for some of posts lately I have the M60s currently paired with the VP150 and twin M22s for a center. These pics will show you my arrangment.

I recommend you raise your TV as you suggest and place your center below your TV provided that you don't have to look up at too much of an angle. That could result in neck discomfort.

Todd, welcome. The steel bracket above the TV that you're considering certainly sounds feasible, but I'll suggest trying something else first. You haven't mentioned if the 22" stand has some room in it to hold a speaker, but I'd try the VP100 set vertically either in it or just in front of it(and possibly raised about 5" on something). This should give you wider and smoother horizontal dispersion.

Thanks for the input Jason. I will check out the 1804 distance setup. Mojo, John, thanks also for the input. John, no there is no room inside the cabinet. There is a verticle divider that runs right in the middle of the stand that separates the shelves. I did not realize that the distance from the bottom of the stand that comes with tv and where the bottom of the screen actually starts is about 5-3/4" up from the tv stand. That means I would only need to raise the tv up about 2". Then I could set the center channel on top of the 22" stand in front of the tv. How would that affect the sound now that the center channel is not flush with the face of the tv? Again, thanks guys for welcoming me and for the suggestions.


Todd

I don't believe it will negatively impact the sound. I heard that arrangement at Jason's house and it sounded great.

If you take a look at the pics on my site you will see that my center sits on top of my TV. It sounds great. I don't think you will have any problem putting it up on the Z mount you are considering.

I found out the "z" mount that I was going to have made from 10 gauge stainless is going to cost me about $150 bucks. Ouch!!!
I think I may try the other option first. Hopefully I will have everything in place by this weekend so I can post some pics. I still have some staining and varnishing to do on my tv stand and my inwall dvd shelves. Oh, how do I use the "enter an image" feature? The image does not show when I preview, just the link. Is there another way to add photos? Thanks again guys.

Todd

Your pictures need to be hosted some where on the internet first then when you use the "enter an image" the link has somewhere to go to get them. I use photobucket.

The center channel in front of the TV is no big deal. The audio still appears to come from the TV. Here is a pic of my 3 speaker center channel and one of the M22s in front of the TV.





All speaker configurations worked quite well. The vertical M22s allow mw to slightly toe them out for better off axis sound.

Great!! That is what I will try first. Nice setup Jason!
Oh, Hey guys, I almost forgot. Can someone explain to me or direct me in the right direction on the proper way to use an SPL meter? I have never used one before.

Thanks,

Todd

AN INTRODUCTION TO TEST & CALIBRATION DVDS aka "Why the hell do I need one of these things?" (To learn about DVE and AVIA, scroll down far enough to read "THE DIFFERENT DISCS AND THEIR ATTRIBUTES")

Essential Accessories: The Radio Shack Sound Pressure Level Meter

A Quick Overview of Home Theater Calibration

Calibrating Your Home Theater System (this link is to page 4 of a 7 page article. Be sure to check all the pages for more info)

How To Set Up a Subwoofer (or Subwoofers) for Home Theater

Subwoofer Setup Guide by Bossobass

Common Subwoofer Set-Up Errors by Edward J M

You'll find some good information in all the articles, but start with the second and third. Just remember to set your meter to "C" weighting and to "SLOW" response.

One of the most common questions is "which way do I point the meter. Universally, it seems to be accepted that you point the meter in the direction of TV screen and leave it there (as opposed to pointing it at each individual speaker), but the correct vertical angle seems to be in doubt.

I've seen well respected, knowledgeable people answer everything from "straight up," to "at a 45 degree angle," to "parallel to the ground." Personally, I tried it both straight up and at a 45 degree angle and got results so similar that I don't think it makes a heck of a lot of difference. YMMV.

Thanks Ajax, This should get me goin!

Todd, the center speaker doesn't necessarily have to be flush with the front of the TV. My suggestion of placing your VP100 vertically directly in front of the stand would have involved a similar offset to the front as your present thought of placing it at the front of the stand just below screen level(which should work very well). You might still experiment with setting it vertically and raised about 10" on a temporary stand(stack of magazines, etc.)to the bottom of the screen to see if you prefer the sound.