Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater QS4 mounting questions

I am *this* close to getting an Axiom setup (5.1), and have some questions regarding mounting the QS4 surrounds.

My current satellite setup is ceiling mounted with the rear speakers directly to the side of the listening area, pointed straight in and down towards the couch just a little bit (maybe 5-10 degrees).

With the QS4's, it appears that I can use the T-bracket to mount directly on the walls. If I do this, they would need to be almost at the ceiling (8ft), as one has to go over a door. I don't think I can angle the speakers at all with the t-brackets, though. Correct?

The second option is to purchase the FMBs (seem a bit pricey to me, though), and ceiling mount them, pointed a bit down into the room as well. The mounting instructions online show screwing the brackets directly into the speakers, but I see some posts here that say the speakers are now pre-fitted with a bolt for the FMB. If the QS4 hasa bolt, is it posistioned so that they can be ceiling mounted, and still be angeled a bit?

Answers or advice?

My right surround is mounted above the door, giving 6" clearance for the top woofer to bounce off the ceiling. Everything works just fine. I don't know the precise effect of less clearance, but I seem to recall other posters here saying that you don't need much because the QS4 is very forgiving of placement.

the T-bracket that comes with the QS4, will ONLY allow for flat of flush mounting on wall. as far as i know, the QS4's do have a pre-fitted bolt for mounting with the FMB.. the FMB gives you complete versatility in positioning. you can angle them in any and every direction.

if you QS4 does have to go directly above a door, measure what your clearance will be.. the QS4 is 6.5 inches tall, so just measure up 6.5 inches from the top of the door frame, and that will let you know how much clearance you will have from the top of the speaker to the ceiling. here is a pic of my wall mounted QS8's above a doorway, and my clearance from the top of the speaker to the ceiling is about 8 inches, and its no problem at all..



bigjohn

Hey bigjohn, do most people use light switch plates to run the speaker wire through? I have been trying to figure out how I'm going to run my speakers out of my ceiling mounted qs8's and was wondering if there was a special plate for speaker wire? Also what about the sub cable coming out of the wall?

Randy

no, i dont think using light switch plates is normal at all, but it was all i had at the time. to be honest, i had plans of replacing them with the plates that go over cable lines coming out from the wall, but i have never got around to it. i just think it would look cleaner with the circular hole, instead of a rectangular hole. either way, i think it looks better than just a wire dangling out of the ceiling.

some hardware stores sell just solid plates, then you could use a drill, or a roto-zip tool, and make an opening the size that you need it. just an idea.. BTW- my roto-zip came in real handy when having to cut circle holes in the back of the entertainment center to run wires and cables and such.

bigjohn

thanks bigjohn for the info...I'll have to shop around to see what I can find. Like yourself, I want to have as clean as look as I can come up with...actually I was thinking about doing it the way you did also...

randy

SirQuack -

For ceiling plates - two options are either a blank plate - drill your own hole and put a rubber grommet in or a plate for a wall mount F-type coax connector (usually have a hex shape molded into the back to hold the Female-Female connector and a 3/4" diameter hole)

Bren R.

My situation is almost exactly what BigJohn posted. I guess I would have about 6 inches from speaker top to ceiling... is this enough?

i have 8 inches of clearance with the QS8's and its not a problem, so i reckon 6 inches would be just fine to..

if we had any women on this thread, i am sure they would disagree with me

bigjohn

I've got far less than that with my QS4s, and they sound fine to me... I think I've got between 3 and 4 inches.

there are special plates that provide speaker connectors that look ok, but not sure it's worth the extra money. When buying your bare plates, the gauge wire will determine the drill bit size. (that probably was kind of obvious, sorry if cam accross condesending). One more trick I learned... not all plates are "drill friendly" and some crack. I'm not sure, but the HOme Depot guy know which ones work best.
I forget the ones I bought... plastic or poly urethane etc...

thanks a lot BB, you didn't come across in any way, much appreciated...I'm a regular at Menards, Home Depot, Lowes...etc. I'll have to check out the inventory for plastic bits

Except, gauge doesn't play into it so much as total wire diameter (including insulation). For example, I've got some home depot 14 gauge that's easily 3/16" in diameter. For each wire. Apparently thicker insulation looks cooler or something. It's certainly harder to cut. What was I talking about?

First rule of drilling plastic - run the drill in reverse, not forward... bits are made to dig in, running it in reverse abrades the material away instead.

Bren R.

Good tip, Bren. The other thing that helps with not chipping fragile materials is to put a piece of masking tape tightly onto the surface to be drilled.

good point. I think I heard it works when drilling tile too, do you know?

Hmm... tile I'd assume it would work, the main thing is to break the glaze at the point of drilling, I always just borrowed my grandfathers ceramic bits when I needed them. (After retiring he used to work as a handyman at the local Yumcah Hotel (YMCA)) Since his passing this summer, they're now my bits.

Bren R.

someone mentioned to me they use a "tap" to break the glaze. Anyway, it's off topic -- it's just another thing on my punch list. I'll just practice on some pieces of old tile first...
Now that my theater room is 95% done -- I got to get back the "the list"