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Plasma TVs and center channel speakers

I have been toying with the idea of getting a 42 inch plasma for my dedicated HT room. It will sit directly in front of a window on an outside wall based on the best layout for the speakers in the room so hanging on the wall is not really an option.

I have a Martin Logan Cinema center channel speaker which fits nicely on the 32 inch CRT TV that is in the room now, but it won't even come close to balancing on a plasma. Because of the window, I can't mount it on the wall either...

All the HT components sit in a 27 inch high 62 inch wide six compartment custom piece of cabinetry, so a fully new rack designed for plasma is out of the question.

Anybody out there have any ideas on how to keep the center channel speaker above a plasma. Somebody must make a stand for placement behind the TV that will hold the center channel speaker above it, but I can't find any such thing.

Have even toyed with suspending the speaker on steel cables from the ceiling, but don't really want to go to that much trouble, and have 20 - 30 pounds dangling above a $5k TV...

Thanks

Mitch
128x128vermonter
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
Just an idea, but a plasma display is a big flat sheet of glass that would reflect sound very well. Someone should make a compact audio driver designed to sit just below the screen and aimed back at the glass, not out at the audience. ("Boseian"). This would certainly cause the dialog to be where it belongs, on the screen.
sjorgensen
34 posts
 
I think it was last Sunday's PARADE magazine that had the
question "How do ventriloguists 'throw' their voices?" The
answer was something along the lines of: they don't really, but humans see the lips of the dummy moving and naturally place the voice in the mouth.

Morale: I wouldn't worry about the "exact" placement of the center. Try it in a number of places and see what you think. My M&K Center is at least 12" off to the left of the scene, and my brain doesn't know the difference.
rrroberts
21 posts
 
Mitch, I built a stand that clamps to the stand I mounted the plasma on..comes up behind the TV and is about 1/2" above the TV allowing it to still swing back and forth...the speaker is aimed down at about a 3 degree angle right at the seating in front of the TV...works awesome but you need to be able to cut wood...
lej1447
117 posts
 
I agree with Slappy. I have seen such set up at two high-end audio stores. The center ML was on a small speaker stand, which sits on the floor. The speaker was pointed slightly up toward the viewer. Below my plasma (hang on the wall) is my center speaker, which rests on the top rack of my 36-inch-high audio stand, which is at the level of my listening ears.
lowrider
32 posts
 
I will have the same problem when I get a plasma, hopefully soon...

But as I found out the center sounds much better bellow the screen, sound comes from it, instead of from the ceiling, I will get a floor stand for the plasma, place it behind the rack, and the center speaker on the rack, where the TV is now...
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