Mitchua,

> I have a tricky spot underneath a staircase where I've mounted an LCD TV <

With such an assymetrical setup there's not much you can do. Is there any chance you can move the TV to a different part of the room? Ideally the listening (watching) position will be centered left and right in the room, which is needed for good imaging.

--Ethan

Quote:
Mitchua,

> I have a tricky spot underneath a staircase where I've mounted an LCD TV <

With such an assymetrical setup there's not much you can do. Is there any chance you can move the TV to a different part of the room? Ideally the listening (watching) position will be centered left and right in the room, which is needed for good imaging.

--Ethan

Hey Ethan,

Thanks for the reply. I live in a 2-story loft so the "living room", which adjoins the kitchen, only has two walls: the one on which the TV is mounted, and a 16" high wall perpendicular to that one. Mounting the TV on the large wall would have meant putting a couch in the middle of the space, without a great viewing distance. I may try that eventually, but for now I think I'm stuck with the TV where it is

What do you think about mounting the speakers high on the wall with brackets? They'd be *very* noticeble, but I could create a symmetrical 3D sound area.

Thanks again,
Mitchua

In your situation, I would probably invest in the best headphones my budget would allow and simply place the speakers where they had to go to be out of the traffic flow. You appear to have too many obstacles precluding you from achieving really good sound and the headphones would likely sound way superior than any compromises you could come up with in your situation.

I can think of two solutions involving Thiel PowerPoint loudspeakers. 1) Install the PowerPoints on the floor (they're less obtrusive than you'd think and work just fine like that), 2) Install a soffit over the screen and attach the Thiels to that, as with a conventional ceiling mount.

Another option is Magnepan MMG Ws, which require on-wall placement, but swivel, allowing you to aim them a bit.

Quote:
I can think of two solutions involving Thiel PowerPoint loudspeakers. 1) Install the PowerPoints on the floor (they're less obtrusive than you'd think and work just fine like that), 2) Install a soffit over the screen and attach the Thiels to that, as with a conventional ceiling mount.

Thanks, I hadn't seen those type of speakers before. They might be an option in the future; even on a wall or something.

Mitchua,

> What do you think about mounting the speakers high on the wall with brackets? <

Ideally the speakers will be at whatever height puts their tweeters at ear level. Really, all I can suggest is to experiment and pick the least "evil" you can find. You can save some extra holes in the walls if you have a few tall friends who will come over and hold the speakers in different places while you listen.

--Ethan

You can by mounting brackets that enable you to tilt/aim bookshelf speakers quite well. I'de do my best to get the center channel off the stairway and mount it above and as centered over the LCD as possible (it may require two brackets). I'd place the left speaker on the wall perpendicular to the plane of the LCD at the same distance as the wall the system is against. You may want to get some plastic wire condiut cover to neatly run your wire up that wall. You could run the wire under the carpet at the junction of the last step. You may have to mount the bracket for the left speaker onto it's side in order to get the right angle to aim the speaker, thus comprimising that side of the cabinet. I'de finally mount the right speaker on the wall to the right of the LCD at the same height of the left speaker. A lot of information comes from the center channel, get that done properly. Before you commit to holes in your walls and speakers, have three friends hold the speakers up in those locations while you listen to see if that set up sounds acceptable. I believe Parts Express carries speaker brackets of many types.
www.partsexpress.com
There's even speaker wire that is a flat ribbon with adhesive that you can paint to match your wall.
Good luck!
Good sound in a small apartment is always a matter of compromise.
Mike

An inexpensive way to wall mount speakers is to buy stamped metal "keyway" brackets that they sell in the screw/hardware dept at Home Depot. There are 4-6 in a plastic bag for about a buck. You can set them off the back of the speaker with the larger eyelets that will give the screw head room to enter the keyway and clear the back of the speaker. You can buy the matching flathead screws and the white drywall anchors to go with them for mounting the screws to hold the speakers to the wall.

If this is old work (an exisiting wall) then you can put a slightly oversized hole behind where the speaker goes and then another one as low to the baseboard as you can to conceal the speaker wire. You can use a long length of beaded chain (the ceiling fan pull chain) and drop it into the top opening and use a paper clip (opened into the shape of a fish hook) to pull it through the bottom hole. Make sure you have the holes vertically centered or you will have a heck of a time trying to find and fish the chain out of the bottom hole in the wall.

Then attach your speaker wire to the chain end with a small bit of electrical tape and gently pull it up and out of the top opening. Pull gently or you will be starting over.

Depending upon how finicky your significant other is, you could buy some plastic Wiremold to "dress" the speaker wire rather than it just laying on the floor behind your equip cabinet. It has an adhesive back to attach horizontally along your baseboard to make the install cleaner. This is optional.

The center channel will take two of the keyway brackets and make sure you accurately measure their center distance as you must get the matching wall anchor positions exactly the same. There is very little room for error here. Use a level on the wall to keep the speaker's horizontal position true when you punch the holes for the center channel wall anchors.

This is not as complicated as it sounds. As my Grandfather told me from the beginning: Measure twice...drill once!

It is also advantageous NOT to use rear-ported bookshelf speakers against the wall. You already knew that.

That's a really tough space. It's hard to make a suggestion without seeing where you're sitting, and what's behind you. Are you open to moving the LCD? Are you willing to modify the cabinet?

I would say mount them above and below the LCD. Like diagonal from each other, that would make the most sense with the space given.