Plasma above the fireplace - what to do about speakers

[admin_exported]

Evening everyone

My new Panasonic 42" plasma has arrived and I love it - it has been a concern of mine for ages whether a plasma would give as good picture quality as my old 32" Hitachi CRT, but I needn't have worried - sharp, good colours, and great blacks.

At the moment I have the TV sitting on a Soundstyle AV rack but am considering mounting it above the fireplace (possibly with the top layer of bricks taken away so that it isn't too high.

I am about to purchase a ProAc response centre speaker to match my Response 1.5's which I'd love to get either side of the fire, but I'm just wondering how to integrate a centre speaker if I mount the TV about the fire.

I don't want massive speakers sitting out from the wall and so I'm wondering what solutions are out there.

2 ideas that I've had are:

1. Purchase a pair of in wall speakers and mount either side of TV

2. Buy a pair of low profile speakers, (like the Dali Ikon rears) and use them to provide the centre output - would this sort of approach work.

SQ is very important, but I realise that I may need to compromise a tad if I want to find a discreet solution. The speakers will be driven by an Audiolab 8000X7 power amplifier and Outlaw Audio 950 processor.

Has anyone faced a similar problem, and what did you decide to do?

Ideas please

Best wishes

Steve

 

[Anonymous]

I would consider mounting a ceiling centre speaker. Discreet and finished in white you wouldn't see it unless you really looked for it. As you are removing some of the top bricks from your chimney the wires can be hidden through the wall.

 

[Anonymous]

Will a ceiling centre speaker provide the correct orientation of sound coming from the screen - I thought that it might be better to have a speaker either side of the screen to provide the centre channel?

Cheers

Steve