Expert: Steven L Smith - 2/1/2008

Question
Hello.. My name is aaron. I have purchased 4 in wall speakers. for surround sound.. i have the 2 rear mounted.. and unfortuantely im unable to mount the fronts on the same wall as the tv..anywhere.. My only option is one on each perpindualr side walls. I feel the mounting location is a good distance for them to be mounted.. my only concern is them not facing me.. And my rear speakers overwhelming them..Would i be better off on getting 2 boxed speakers to mount on bracket on the wall so i can angle them to my couch?? I would like to stick to the in wall speakers ..but i dont want to sacrifice too awfully much sound quality? Scale of 1-10..what should i do?  thanks ahead of time

Answer
Hi Aaron-

You would definitely get the best quality if the speakers were mounted on brackets, facing towards you. Mounting them in the walls perpendicular to you would work, as long as they are directly facing each ear. As you move around the room, or when you move your couch, they won't sound as good. The other problem is that speakers facing each other can put the sound out of phase and it will not sound good at all.

I'd recommend mounting them on a bracket. You can get brackets and speakers that match the colors of your walls, so it won't look too bad.

-Steve