Speaker placement question

[Instal]

I am about to recieve my Klipsch RB - 81 7.1 speakers and have a very challenging room to try to fit them in properly. I have virtually no floor space to work with so my only option is to ceiling mount them angled down and in toward the listening area. Has anyone else had to resort to this and if so what were your results? Am I breaking every rule of speaker placement? I currently have my RB - 81 mains mounted this way and it seems to work fine. Ceiling mounting allows me to get proper placement laterally and I thought that was the most important factor. All thoughts are appreciated. Thanks

[Sonnie]

Do you have some pics of your current setup?

I've seen speakers mounted on front walls, but I'm not sure I've ever seen any hangin' from a ceiling. What's on the floor beneath where the speakers are hanging from? Again, pics might help us better understand.

[Otto]

Hey Instal,

I used to have my speakers mounted very close to the ceiling, although they were actually attached to the walls. I had one in each corner for a total of four. At the time I was only using them for music, no movies.

In general, it worked, but I was mostly using it for background music. Unfortunately, a lot of the soundstaging was lost by having them so high up (I guess my ceilings were kind of tall, probably 9+ feet). Imaging was also lost, and I would have had a hard time enjoying them for serious music listening.

I usually find things a little more forgiving when watching movies as compared to music-only listening. You might be able to get away with it and still be happy. But I do believe that for best results, you want to get those speakers around ear level, else it's going to sound like everything's coming from "way up." I'd work to at least get the front three speakers to ear level as much as possible. I would be able to live with the rears mounted higher up than the fronts if necessary.

Good luck!

[thewire]

I think it is alright also for the rear channels. My rear speakers are placed about 2 feet higher than the rest and I cannot tell even in the rear row. I had to do so in order to get them firing unobstructed to the front row.

[Instal]

Thanks for the help guys, I found a pair of stands for my surrounds that are 42" high which allows them to clear a couch so I don't have to ceiling mount.

[thewire]

sweet! that will improve your quality allot.

[MatrixDweller]

Ideally you want them to be at the same level as the screen/TV. Above or below will make it sound like the movie is coming out of somewhere other than the screen/TV. The center is best behind the screen for the same reason, you want to dialog to be projected out of the screen. That being impossible with anything other than a perforated screen, slightly below or above, tilted up/down is the next best option. Tweeters should be about or pointed at ear level if possible.