# using tower speakers for surrounds?



## pddufrene

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?


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## Tonto

There are no down sides other than taking up floor space & that they are generaly more expensive than bookshelves. It is actually recommended to use identical speakers all the way around the room. They will match perfectly, so go for it.


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## sdurani

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).


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## pddufrene

Thanks for the advice  and that is one of the issues with the bookshelf speakers is the lack of a way to mount them on the wall.


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## sdurani

There's always a way to mount speakers on a wall.


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## tonyvdb

sdurani said:


> There's always a way to mount speakers on a wall.


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.


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## sdurani

tonyvdb said:


> I have a set similar to these and used them for a few years.


Yup, those are a favourite recommendation of mine (especially these days, with friends wanting to try height speakers). 

I ended up going to the local Home Depot and got some sturdy shelf brackets and simple shelves that were the same colour as my walls.


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## koyaan

I use towers for my rear surrounds and find they work fine. I do have them elevated a bit though so that they aren't blocked out by the backs of our listening chairs.


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## Norcuron

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.


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## pddufrene

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?


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## koyaan

Depends on the towers. I raised mine about 10". You want to at least get the tweeters above the level of the chairbacks.
Good luck with your setup!


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## pddufrene

koyaan said:


> Depends on the towers. I raised mine about 10". You want to at least get the tweeters above the level of the chairbacks.
> Good luck with your setup!


I gotcha, thanks for the input


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## cubiclecrusher

pddufrene said:


> 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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## pddufrene

cubiclecrusher said:


> 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.


Thanks ill check out the THX site. I never thought of looking there  you think I would have maybe considered that. Lol


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