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Posted By: jbsengineer VP180 Height - 05/02/20 03:38 AM
Any recommendations of height of a VP180?

Thanks,
Josh
Posted By: rrlev Re: VP180 Height - 05/02/20 04:00 AM
If it blocks the screen ... it's the wrong height ... smile

The answer is "it's what works for your setup".

Many have been happy with it just above or just below the screen.
Some have sworn that for big screens that 2 centers are best: one above and one below.
Sometimes a virtual center is what works (In my family room in my old house a virtual center bested using the VP180 hands down). The 180 is a great speaker but just wasn't working for that configuation & room.

So ... it's what sounds best ... make sure you try all the seats.

P.S. play with the 180's tilt (you may need to aim it up or down depending).
Posted By: Mojo Re: VP180 Height - 05/02/20 04:35 AM
I had a 160. No longer needed it with the actives.

My 160 was mounted ear height relative to my seating position. It was butted up against the bottom of my too small 55" screen but better than my old 32" and much better than the 24" I grew up with. It sounded excellent.

I've grown to really like the lack of a centre with my actives. It sounds very natural.
Posted By: nickbuol Re: VP180 Height - 05/02/20 07:04 PM
And yet most of the critical dialog and "action" comes from a center channel. I totally get the idea of a phantom center and it would probably be the smoothest transition of sound, but most people do admit to a lot of clarity when doing it because an entire channel of audio now has to be "mixed" with other audio channels and you can start to get "muddled" sound (probably only noticed if doing critical A/B listening tests though).

Then again, my statements aren't answering the question asked, so let me get back to that...

OK Josh. As you know, the VP180 is a huge beast. I love mine. Replaced a VP150 center and never looked back. (VP160 wasn't even mentioned at the time, and I like its design better, but the VP180 is quite impressive in what it can do.)

I have a projector with an acoustically transparent screen, so mine is at ear height.

With the VP150, I was using it with a non-AT screen, so it had to be above or below.

With V2 of my theater I mounted it just below the ceiling and above my screen, with V3 it was about a foot off of the floor and below that screen. So I've tried both, like rrlev suggested...

The sound seemed better when it was below the screen, and the VP150 turned "upside down" so that the angle of the top of the speaker pointed it upwards to the ears. I would think that, depending on your display height, that under the screen would be better. Typically, but more-so the larger the screen/TV gets, you want your eyes at about 1/3 up from the bottom of the screen when sitting in your viewing position. That is why under the screen/TV tends to work best.

Or unplug your VP150 and give the phantom center a spin. I know that you don't have active LFRs, so your mileage may vary.
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