Advice on best height for a centre speaker and TV

[beaker_07]

I was looking at getting a new TVS42 A/V TV rack from Richer Sounds which is 20" high and have been advised to set my Monitor Audio Bronze Centre speaker on the top glass shelf - is this a good height or should I think about either a higher cabinet or a wall bracket for the centre speaker.

I have my front stereo Monitor Audio Bronze 2's on Pixel T80 stands which are 800mm or 31 1/2" high.

I am planning on getting a 50 or 55" 4k TV which will be fixed to the wall - with the bottom of the TV roughly level with the front speakers.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[Benedict_Arnold]

Your TV centre should be at or just below about eye level when sat / slouched on your couch.
Centre speakers go best when sat directly behind the TV, but that's usually not possible (and the sound would be rubbish anyway) so just below the TV works best. Your brain and ears will work their magic to make your conscience think the sound is coming directly from the middle of the TV screen.

 

[beaker_07]

Thanks Benedict_Arnold thats what I thought about the height of the TV - I wasn't so sure about the height of the centre speaker I thought it might be a bit low on the cabinet but seemingly not - happy days!

 

[spiny norman]

If you're concerned about the centre speaker being too low, use some rubber pads or something under the front edge of it to angle it upwards slightly. It probably won't make a huge amount of difference, but it might be worth a try.

 

[Frank Harvey]

As far as audio is concerned, the centre speaker should sit on the same plane between the left and right speakers. As far as video is concerned, the centre speaker should be as close to the screen as possible.

If you can combine both, great!

 

[Leeps]

Bear in mind that treble is directional. As it's rarely possible to place the centre speaker high enough, angling it up, as I've found through experience with a few different set-ups, makes an enormous difference. Ideally the tweeters should be angled towards your head height in your listening position.

I use Auralex mopads which come in triangular wedges than can be used in combination to increase the angle if needed. They also usefully isolate the speaker from the cabinet helping to reduce resonances.

 

[beaker_07]

Thanks everyone for their advice - I had not thought of angling the speaker to point upwards as a solution.

 

[Leeps]

My own centre speaker has an angled front baffle, giving a nod to this common issue.

 

[beaker_07]

Thanks leeps looks like angling my speaker would be the best as the monitor audio bronze centre is the traditional spaker shape

 

[beaker_07]

Has anyone used wall brackets to mount their centre speaker on. I saw the following on Amazon and thought that it would free up the top shelf on the TVS42 A/V TV rack from Richer Sounds or similar type of rack/stand:-

https://www.amazon.co.uk/B-Tech-Black-Adjustable-Centre-Speaker/dp/B000IGSKZ8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1487714932&sr=8-1&keywords=centre+speaker+wall+mount

 

[Benedict_Arnold]

My center speaker IS mounted on wall brackets. Well, since it's an in-wall Yamaha NS-IW960 MTM (midrange-tweeter-midrange)unit, it's actually inside a shallow cabinet I made myself, screwed to the wall. I've done this because a wall stud is located Murphy's Law slap-bang in the middle of the wall area I wanted to fit the speaker into, and until I have the money to buy a 138-inch screen and a 4K PJ to go with it (and can mount two in-walls symmetrically either side of the offending stud behind the screen), this was the best option for me.

The centre speaker will still sound best if it's located below, not above, the TV, so unless your TV is wall-mounted high above the cabinet or stand or whatever below, I fail to see what you'll gain, however.

 

[beaker_07]

I was hoping to be able to use the top shelf of the av unit to set my cd and blu ray players on and mount the centre speaker just below my tv which will by then be fitted to the wall by an adjustable bracket. I'm trying to fit all my av equipment either in or on top of the av unit as without the top shelf being free it doesn't work out - I don't want to have to mount the tv too high on the wall if I use a taller hi-fi type stand, I was looking for a lower wider unit rather than a one item wide higher unit. hope this makes sense!

 

[FunkyMonkey]

I have my set up almost exactly like yours. The centre sits on a side table height platform and the TV starts about 80-90cm not inches off the floor. It works splendidly.
I chose these heights as a screen comes.down over the TV and i did not want the screen any higher as the top would have been neck achingly high. And I wanted it to cover TV completely when it came down. I had same concerns. I don't even have to angle the centre up. As Benedict said, your senses pull it all together.

 

[beaker_07]

Good to know something similar works for someone else - just need to get the tv mounted on the wall now and be able to get my centre speaker back into use - then its back to getting a sub woofer! I bought a Fisual Pro 3m sub cable from amazon as recommended by a number of people on the forum.