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using tower speakers for surrounds?

19K views 13 replies 7 participants last post by  pddufrene 
#1 ·
I was wondering if it would be a good idea to use tower speakers for surrounds? The current set of speakers I'm looking at, there bookshelf/surrounds don't have a way to mount them to the wall. So was wondering if I could just buy 2 more towers? What's the benefits of doing this or maybe disadvantages?
 
#3 ·
Benefit is that you'll have more flexibility when choosing the crossover point, since the towers will likely go lower in frequency than bookshelf versions of those speakers.

The downside is that it is difficult to get tower speakers significantly elevated off the floor, and there are audible benefits to having surrounds above ear level: e.g., goes from a 2D ring of sound around you (at ear level) to more of 3D bubble of sound (because some height is introduced in the set-up).

If the bookshelf speakers you're looking at aren't the wall mountable type, then consider placing them on shelves a couple feet above ear level (which is what I did).
 
#6 ·
I have a set similar to these and used them for a few years. The best part is you dont have to drill holes in the cabinet and they can hold even heavy bookshelves.
 
#9 ·
I also had tower speakers as surrounds for a while. The sound was crazy. I had Klipsch RF-7s in the front and Klipsch Chorus IIs in rear. It was only temporary until I sold the Choruses but man was it loud yet clean.
 
#10 ·
I wasn't quite sure how that would work out or not. I was thinking that they would probably have to be elevated in some type of way as mentioned so that u wouldn't have most of the sound blocked by the backs of your seating area. How high up would it be suggested to block them up to make this method efficient?
 
#13 ·
How high up would it be suggested to block them up to make this method efficient?
Typically surround speakers should be set up with the tweeter approx 2 feet above ear-level (according to THX standards). This becomes most important if you are sitting close to the surround speakers (and assuming they are direct-firing). If you can position the surround speakers as far away from the listening position as your main speakers, then (as far as I understand it), tweeters at ear-level are okay.

Hopefully your listening couch is not a high-back, and your head sticks up above the back of the couch. Bass is "omnidirectional" so you don't have to worry about that too much. You do need to get all your tweeters at-or-above ear level. However, compromises can still deliver a satisfying surround sound experience. These standards are for a "cinematic experience" and you can definitely cut corners in a general HT room.
 
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