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Center Channel Position & Mounting
#195691 02/10/08 03:05 PM
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myrison Offline OP
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Hi all,

I'm putting a 92" fixed screen in on a wall that is a pretty tight fit. Because the ceiling is sloped on this end of the room, the lower edge of the image will be ~20" off the ground. Adding in the frame of the screen, the actual lowest edge of the screen will be at 18".

Here's what it looks like:


I realize this is low for the screen and center, especially for second row viewing/listening, but other mounting options are (or at least seem) limited with the sloped ceiling. The two options I can see are:
  • Get a ~10" stand for the speaker to sit relatively flush with the bottom of the screen. (VPS 150 adds 7.5" according to documentation from Axiom)
  • Find some way to mount it to the sloped ceiling above the screen and tilt it downward. (it would sit at roughly 6')

I'm leaning towards a short stand because option 2 just seems too high (and possibly difficult to mount with the slope factor). I'd be curious to hear everyone else's thoughts on the lesser of two evils from your own experience.

Ideas on minimizing the limitations of either mounting position are appreciated... maybe I do a slight upward tilt of the center if mounted below the screen?

Thanks.

Jason


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Re: Center Channel Position & Mounting
myrison #195694 02/10/08 03:55 PM
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I'd say mount the screen on the slopped ceiling and just tilt your seats upwards. \:\)

Wow, you really have a tuff install, the screen is really going to be very low. Normally, when seated in the front row, your eyes should be 1/6th to 1/3rd up from the bottom of the screen. In your scenario you will be looking downward, very uncomfortable, and you won't be able to recline if you get reclining seats.

The back row will have to have a very very high riser. Mine is 10" off the floor to accomodate a screen that is about 40" off the floor, so the heads of the people in the front row won't interfere with the back people.

In regards to the center, yes it can be angled upward or downward to point to your ears. Normally, you want the center tweeters in line with the left/right speakers, but this is not always possible. I would vote for hanging it from the rafters and pointing downward, maybe you can also mount your bookshelfs as well on the ceiling pointing downward?

So you have no other walls in that room for the screen? I don't think you will like the screen that low, especially for the back row seats.


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Re: Center Channel Position & Mounting
SirQuack #195695 02/10/08 04:13 PM
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myrison Offline OP
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Thanks for the advice, definitely appreciated. Unfortunately, this is the best wall, the other side is worse. \:\( To your question about the other front speakers, they'll be Axiom towers, not bookshelves, so they'll be on the floor.

I'm a little confused on ideal screen height.

Here's the math I am doing to calculate:

Bottom of image = 20" from floor
Eye height when seated = 44"

1/3 up from bottom of image = 15" from bottom of screen (on a 92" diagonal screen with 45" height)

This means a viewer's eyes would have to be at 35" from floor in my scenario? (15" + the 20" shown above) If this is right, Hmm... maybe I cut the legs off my couch? ;\)

Figured differently, to match a 44" eye height when seated, the bottom of the image should be at 29", because 29" plus 1/3 of screen height (15") = 44"?

If that's the case, then I'm only 9" lower than ideal? Am I doing that correctly?

If I use 1/6 of screen height, then I think the bottom of the screen would need to be at 36.5", which means trying to bring it up 16.5" \:\(
(1/6 of 45 = 7.5" + 36.5" to get to 44")

Thanks for the tutorial in any case. If you can confirm I'm doing this right I'd appreciate it.

Jason


Last edited by myrison; 02/10/08 04:37 PM.

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Re: Center Channel Position & Mounting
myrison #195698 02/10/08 04:24 PM
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There is another option for mounting, it's just more involved and beyond my carpentry skills....

Here's the idea. Imagine inserting a triangular-shaped piece of wood against the sloped ceiling so that it creates a flat portion to which the top of a fixed frame could be hung. An ultra-simple drawing is included below.


I need to measure to be sure, but I'm guessing I'll probably get a trade off of 1/2 inch in height for every inch I bring it forward from the wall. So, I'd probably be pulling it forward close to 2' to get an extra 12" off the floor.

I'm not really worried how it will look because the screen will always be in front of it, but will this even be effective hanging a fixed screen this way? Is it worth the level of effort? Most importantly does anyone have better ideas? \:\)

Last edited by myrison; 02/10/08 04:27 PM.

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Re: Center Channel Position & Mounting
myrison #195708 02/10/08 06:35 PM
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There are so many opinions on how high to mount a screen, I don't think there is ONE correct way. It really depends on how you setup your room, and how you sit when watching movies.

I like to recline a little when enjoying movies, and don't want to sit upright. I originally measured my eye height when reclined slightly. So I put my screen at a height so 1/3rd up from the bottom of the image matched this measurement. It worked ok, but the people in the back row had issues looking around the heads of the first row viewers.

I currently have my screen raised so when reclined slightly in the front row, my eyes are at the bottom of the screen. This is the most comfortable position, so I don't have to look downward, and the people in the back have noone in the way.

I do like your idea of possibly hanging the screen from the ceiling. Most screens are pretty light, especially if you build it yourself like I did, it would easily hang from the ceiling trusses.

Depeding on how deep your room is, this may work well. You could move it up high enough that the front of the speakers would be below it or sit flush with the front of the screen possibly. If you don't have a deep room, you maybe able to move it up enough to be in a more comfortable viewing angle for the viewers.


M80s VP180 4xM22ow 4xM3ic EP600 2xEP350
AnthemAVM60 Outlaw7700 EmoA500 Epson5040UB FluanceRT85


Re: Center Channel Position & Mounting
SirQuack #195721 02/10/08 09:34 PM
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myrison Offline OP
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Thanks for the feedback (again).

If there's one conclusion I'm coming to after talking to you and others, it's that 92" may be too big for my room. The room is 19' deep which I suppose is easily big enough for 2 rows, but the sloped ceiling really limits my options.

If I drop down to an 84" diagonal (wide screen), I move the bottom of the screen another 4" up from the floor, which at least puts the bottom of the screen up to 24" and keeps me from having to do the carpentry work above.

Also, putting the VP150 on the standard 16" stand from Axiom puts the top of the speaker 1" from the bottom of my screen while sitting on the stand, which keeps me from having to mount it on the sloped ceiling.

If I get it put on the wall and it still seems to low, at least with the 84" screen I have less work to do to raise it to an acceptable level than if I start with the bigger screen.

I'm not 100% decided yet (by any means) so any more advice is totally appreciated.


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Re: Center Channel Position & Mounting
myrison #195725 02/10/08 09:58 PM
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I purchased my projector first and tried various sized images on the wall. That way you can decide what will work best before you purchase/build your screen.

A good rule of thumb is that you want to be sitting back 1.3 to 1.6 times the screen width. So if you screen is 8ft wide, for ex, you should be sitting back at least 10.5 ft from the screen.


M80s VP180 4xM22ow 4xM3ic EP600 2xEP350
AnthemAVM60 Outlaw7700 EmoA500 Epson5040UB FluanceRT85


Re: Center Channel Position & Mounting
SirQuack #195727 02/10/08 10:10 PM
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myrison Offline OP
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Good plan, I should probably do the same thing. I'd rather watch it on the wall for a week or two than have to send back an unusably large screen.


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Re: Center Channel Position & Mounting
myrison #195919 02/11/08 09:48 PM
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J
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If you go with the smaller screen you could keep the height from the floor the same and add a second center above the screen which would help with the back row seating.


Jason
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Re: Center Channel Position & Mounting
jakewash #195922 02/11/08 09:56 PM
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myrison Offline OP
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Also a good idea. How do you wire 2 centers to the receiver? I'll have 7.1 without the second center. Would I need a separate amp to run the 8th speaker in the setup?

Last edited by myrison; 02/11/08 09:56 PM.

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