Just ordered the epic 60 package last night. My dilemma: I have eight children (15 mos-13y) who can reduce anything of value to sawdust in the blink of an eye. I've got to protect this investment (the speakers, not the kids). I figure my options are 1) put the speakers behind lock and key (not practical), 2) electrified razor wire (in the running), and 3) mount the M60s on the wall (probably my best option). Does anyone have experience with wall mounting these giants? Axiom says use 2 brackets per speaker. Also any ideas on protecting the sub. Thanks! Awesome forum!
1) M60s are rear ported
2) Do you realize how big these things are?
I don't think you are going to want to wall mount the 60s.
I have 3 kids. (I do realize, you have almost triple that amount....WOW!!) Each one knows, you DO NOT EVER touch anything in the HT room. No food, no drink, no playing......(get the picture?!)
I can't leave the 60s on the floor. Might as well put a target on them. I don't have a dedicated HT room that I can lock up. Axiom says they've wall mounted them with two brackets, beat them with a hammer and they stayed mounted. How does the rear porting come into play?
I used some cheap fireplace screen to protect my subwoofer.
All I can say is, if you wall mount those babies GIVE US SOME PICS!!!!!!!!!!!
I can imagine them working -- you will lose some bass that comes from woofer-floor interaction, but otherwise, so long as you can angle the tweeters relatively near the listening axis vertically, I bet it'll work fine. Auditoriums mount PA speakers of similar dimension all the time, often at dizzying heights, so it can clearly be done, acoustically and physically. However, you will want them about one foot away from the wall, to assist the rear porting. (Maybe Axiom and/or experimentation can determine a distance closer to the wall, some ideal point where the tradeoff isn't too big. I've heard 4" minimum on the M22tis.) So once you settle on a distance, you'll just need a wall-mounting system, carpenter, and/or wall capable of bearing the load of these suckers at some distance (ie, increased leverage) from your internal bracing. Make sure the wall-mount set-up allows for tilting the speakers forward, or else your listening axis will be frustratingly off whenever you sit down. One would imagine an equipment supplier for theaters and music venues would be the place to start looking for mounts.
It's a cool idea if you can make it work. As a fringe benefit, you might even be able to remove the grilles .... On second thought, no way: those front ports would be the ideal height for cross-room tests of throwing accuracy.
Wow. You are braver than I am.
I specifically DIDN'T get towers because of the attraction of the ports and the desire of little ones to monkey with the woofers. You are going to attempt to wall mount them though. More power to you. Definately post pictures if it works!
Trying to picture those monstes mounted and how you are going to get them high enough to be completely out of reach. I can't picture it.
Okay, here's a company that sells small-tv wall mounts that can handle up to 60 lbs (M60s=47 lbs). The width looks perfect for M60s, but lord only knows how you'll affix them properly to the back. Figure that out and you've got no exuses!!!
Birdman
Scratch that - width looks adequate for M60s, but it'll be too wide. There must be some good stuff out there however.
Birdman
Scratch all those suggestions -- these guys got you covered:
But only Axiom can explain how to safely attach a mount to an M60 without torquing the cabinet.
Birdman
Sorry to go on and on about this, but anyone into this ought to check out the
"Speaker Selection Guide" at OmniMount. Axiom is not one of the brands in their pre-configured set of recommendations, but the M60s have dimensions somewhat similar to a Monitor Audio Silver 8i, which is in the system (and weighs 48 lbs, one more than an M60ti). Looks like they have special instructions on wall-mounting the floorstanders.
Birdman
If I KNEW that I HAD to wall mount the speakers, I might have settled on the M22's. Bygones.
Anyway, I'm as fascinated by this prospect as everyone else is, so please do keep us posted (with pics).
Does it make sense to mount them upside-down? Perhaps then you could consider minimizing the "tilt" you'd need to align your listening position with the tweeter axis. Whomever is just above your listening room would certainly enjoy the bass more.
I love my M60's. But man, they are pretty big to wall mount. Surprisingly deep. I'd definitely want them either hanging from the ceiling or attached to at least 2 points on the wall. And don't even consider wallboard anchors.
Good links, birdman.
Doctor(I think that I can guess how you came up with the board name, Gary), the suggested mount may work despite the weight(the rear ports should have at least 3" of "breathing" room). If you mount them high up you should definitely consider having them upside-down, as Tom proposed, so that the tweeters would be closer to ear level when seated.
Thanks for all the ideas! I called Omni and they don't have experience with M60s but they do have a rear mount bracket that supports up to 60#. I would be reluctant to bottom mount these for fear of putting too much torque on the bottom attachment with the speakers tilted forward. I want to hunt around for a bracket that attaches to the top and bottom, allows the speaker to tilt forward and toe in. Thanks, again, for all the ideas.
Forget mounting M60's to the wall, and simply remember the line from Crosby, Still's,Nash & Young and simply "Teach you children well"!
or perhaps a better phrase "spare not the rod"....
Kids can be taught -- I agree. But, there are times where they will experiment with stuff when you aren't there. They are KIDS. This is what they do.
Do whatever you can to avoid the war (at least this battle). Kids are more important than speakers and if they damage your precious speaker its hard to remember that.
So, either mount them and protect them (and the kids) or get something that can be mounted!
Thats my philosophy. Oh...and my wife told me to do that too. :P haha
After looking at several companies' offerings for mounting speakers, none of which seemed designed for towers, I'm bailing out on the idea. It was nice kicking it around. Thanks for the posts.
PapaG
With the experiences you are relating...make sure to super glue the grills on when you get your speakers...
You could always put them in a locked closet when you are away and take them out when you want to listen to music or watch a movie...
WhatFurrer
PapaG
If what you are concerned about is the M60 getting knocked over. One thing you can do is make a plate 3 “or 4” bigger then the footprint of the M60. Use the existing holes in the bottom of the M60 and the bolts from the feet to attach the plate to the M60.
Just a thought.
A good thought, on that plate -- you could even attach the plate to your floor, if that's a possibility. It's not in my house -- not because of the floor, which is expendable, but because my wife and I don't quite agree on the permanent position for the M60s, since I prefer width and she prefers convenience. (Somehow that doesn't sound right.)