Placement with 120 inch screen?

MLO,

I have a question about placement of ML Ethos when used in HT with a 120"

I hear the optimal width is around 8' apart for front mains. A 120" screen I believe is ~12' wide.

The MLs will be 2 feet into the picture on each side and the screen can't be high enough to clear the 5' tall Ethos.

Some screens like the DNP Supernova I think are preferated for speaker placement behind them, but then the screen would have to hang from the ceiling 2-5' from the front wall pluss I think this would look lame as you would partially see the Ethos like the shoes of a man from a public toilet stall.

Any suggestions?

The ideal width between speakers is dependent on several factors, one is overall room size, but the most important I believe is the distance the main listening position is from the speakers.

You can have speakers spread out much wider than 8' if you sit sufficiently far away from them.

Now, for a home theater setup, the ideal is indeed to have an acoustically transparent screen and park all three front speakers behind it.

The 'man in the stall' visual problem can be addressed by hanging an acoustically transparent black cloth below the screen. Looks cleaner that way.

In my setup, I use an acoustically transparent screen so my center channel is directly behind the screen, which really makes a big difference in dialog and overall soundstage cohesion.
My current screen is small, so my L/R sit right next to it. But in a year or so, I'll be creating a 'Screen Wall' across the entire width of the room using a 14" wide 2.35 scope screen with AT material. All three fronts will be behind that.

Jon,

Ah gotcha, great idea, on the flip side, accoustic blankets would be a little hard to integrate into the living room while still retaining the living room look but I'll look on the net for ideas.

Does preferated projector screens affect sound?

And don't you want to see your speakers sometimes during casual music listening or when guests come over? I thought nice looking speakers should be part of a homes decor.

I think thier is a sticky on ML placement so I'll check that out as well.

Actually, 120/12 = 10 ft. Also, don't forget that screen size is measured diagonally, so the actual width of the screen is smaller than that. A 120" screen I think should end up at about 104" wide, which is a little over 8.5 feet. Placing your speakers just a little outside that width shouldn't hurt the sound too much. You will just need to adjust toe-in and listening position accordingly.

Rich,

GREAT! bad math on my part.

Thanks

I use a 150" (diagonal) screen with some ML Vantages. I find that the speakers sound best about 5 ft off the front wall, so I have them in front. I sit about 15 ft from projector screen (and probably around 13 ft from the speakers). As mentioned above, the speaker to speaker distance can be as wide as you like, you just have to move your seat back. It's going to come down to room size as the distances between the speaker and you should be "about" equal. So,... what is the size of the room?

my son uses an acoustically transparent screen so one can place speakers at the proper width with relation to seating distance

I would just like to say that although "acoustically transparent screens" have minimal effect on sound, they are not truly acoustically "transparent". There is some distortion and absorption of the sound waves. This may not be noticeable with loud movies but may be an issue for the very astute audiophile. There is also light loss with these screens as they are perforated. Once again, whether you will appreciate a decrease in sound quality or light loss, I can not say for certain, but you should be aware of these potential issues with the acoustic transparent screens. If aesthetics and speaker position are not issues, it would be preferred to have NON-acoustic transparent screen with the speakers in front.

invenio said:

I would just like to say that although "acoustically transparent screens" have minimal effect on sound, they are not truly acoustically "transparent".

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understood, but we are talking 'movies' here

There is some distortion and absorption of the sound waves. This may not be noticeable with loud movies but may be an issue for the very astute audiophile.

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astute 'audiophiles' do not let video prefrences take precedent over optimal audio set up. 'Videophiles' on the other hand can make comprimises ! Besides a retractable screen is a better option when one wants to preserve his 'audifool' standards ! .......:rocker:

regardless.....there are many ways to skin a cat !

twich54 said:

astute 'audiophiles' do not let video prefrences take precedent over optimal audio set up.

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Astute audiophiles don't allow video *anything* in their listening room! The LCD on my Squeezebox is as much video as I will allow, and I'm sure there are many that wouldn't even allow that!