like so many others before me, i’ve got issues with placement and installation for ht rear speakers.

the setup:

• M40 from left/right speakers (yes, i know old school)
  
• VP100 center
  
• EP175 sub
  
• Q4 surrounds
  
• 46” LCD
  

the main problem

• where to place the surround speakers?
  
• maybe use something besides the Q4’s.
  
• maybe use the FMS QS stands – but they are expensive, bulky and not very attractive.
  

photos/images

1. floorplan


2. photos of the room - notice those big windows!






other comments
perhaps the M40’s are a bit small for this room (they were purchased for a different location). however, they work quite well. i’ve thought about moving the M40’s to the rear and getting something else for the fronts – particularly if i’m going to end up spending $300 for speaker stands!

as mentioned above, i’ve also considered using some other type of speaker/stand for the rears. tell me why i shouldn’t be thinking this (or tell me why it’s a good idea).

any help, comments, and suggestions appreciated!

I'm thinking a ceiling mount of some kind.

I agree. Use a ceiling bracket.

Nice room, btw.

I agree.

By rear surrounds I am assuming you mean side surrounds for a 5.1 system?

You could easily run cables up a corner by your receiver in something like this (cableorganizer.com):


Also could use that where the wall meets the ceiling, running your cords along the top corners and then have the wires come out for your ceiling mounted QS8's.

For the QS8 on the left, you can also get a track that is white and will attach to your ceiling so that you can get the QS8 out far enough from the back wall and the wires will be covered by a white track.

Any access above the room, attic? you could then fish wires to any point for ceiling mounts. Fishing isn't that hard. and it pays big dividends in the finished look.

Good call, never thought about the attic.

I hate people who have such lovely, neat homes. (it's just pure jealousy )

Just like everyone else, ceiling mounting is what occurred to me. I notice you have two spots in the "back" of the room marked "speaker connection" but I don't see anything in the photos. Can you elaborate? Are there some wall plates behind the curtains in those locations?

there are wires in the walls connecting the entertainment cluster to wall jacks. the wall jacks are behind the curtains about 6 inches off the ground.

this the the first floor of a two floor house - so there is no attic.

also - i spent a considerable amount of time and effort to remove the popcorn off the ceiling, so i am not entirely keen on messing with it. maybe i'll post a photo of what it looked like before (i took photos before buying the house which show what it was like).

Beautiful home. Nice drawing. Good pictures, too.

First, is that really your 46" LCD the VP100 is sitting on? If you are referring to a flat panel display, is there any possibility of mounting it over the fireplace and reorienting the room?

Failing that, my first instinct, like my esteemed colleagues, was to ceiling mount some QS8's. However, the lines in that room are so clean and so lovely, that I'm not sure that the sonic advantages would outweigh the aesthetic compromise.

I would be tempted to get a pair of M50 or M60's for the mains and move the M40's to the rear corners. It would be about the same price as QS8's and stands, it would probably be BETTER if you get interested in multichannel music, and I think it would look better in your room. Plus, your prime listening position is far enough away from those corners that you would probably still get excellent surround.

Thanks for sharing your delightful puzzle with us.

this is the same room before the work...

no! that isn't the 46" flat panel in the photos, it's a 32" hd tube. the new tv is a samsung 46" lcd -- much bigger and much nicer. it is mounted on the wall where the old tv was.

i actually have a pair of Q4's still packed. i never unpacked them because i could never figure out how to mount them on windows behind curtains! ;-)

Well, if you're unwilling to mess with the ceiling (don't blame you one bit), based on your reply, it's either move the 40s to the rear, put bookshelf speakers on stands for rears, or go with the QS surrounds on the Axiom stands. You gotta live with it, so it's your call.

Frankly, I'd take either one!

Not to say that it's not great looking now!

If you are still within the trial period send the QS4s back and pick up a set of M3s and a $100 set of stands.This would cost the same as the 4s did. This seems to be the easiest way if you don't want to ceiling mount the QS4s.

this sounds like an interesting idea. do you think the m3's would sound good (vs) the q4's on stands?

what $100 would be recommended?

i've had the q4's for over 3 years (bought them at the same time as the M40's).

Knowing Axiom, I bet if you give them a call or shoot Amie a PM and tell them your dilemma and that the 4’s are still in the box never used, they’d probably exchange them or at least give you some sort of credit.

Personally, I’d move the 40’s to the rear and get some 60’s. And if Axiom did give you some credit for the 4’s, well that eases the pain a little.

Nice space. I want to hire your housekeeper.

Snap, my thought is to not give up on the QS4s. The ceiling mount idea is a good one and would involve relatively little ceiling work if you used brackets such as Randy(sirquack)did in his setup, but ran the wires from where you show "speaker connection" up to the ceiling behind the drapes.

I'm with Mike. I think tower speakers look cooler than speakers on stands.

visiting the axiom forums and came across this old thread i started (r.e. how to position/mount Q4 speakers).

i am certain i posted the solution - but i can't find it anywhere. so, to share how the issue was solved:

built my own stands - it was actually pretty simple and came out great:





it didn't cost a fortune either. a critical part to making it look fantastic is piano black behr paint.

of course this was done 4-5 years ago - so maybe there are other solutions available now.

Those are REALLY nice! That is a very elegant solution. Nicely done!

Also, kudos for thread resurrection.

Excellent solution! Like Tom said, those are REALLY nice.

Fixed that for ya.

Awesome! When you first posted the other day, the photos weren't showing for me....

Those look great, are they 'kid/pet' tested? The looks to be of a good enough size to keep them stable.

these stands have been very stable - the bases are loaded with dumb bell plates. i think they have 15 lbs in each base - i needed something inexpensive that would work well. they are kept in place with velcro straps - so the weights can be removed easily if needed.