Good price for surround sound speaker stands

A Casual Fitz

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I just bought a 5.1 setup for my PC and I want to get a couple stands for the back speakers as I have no where to mount them. I'm basically looking to spend as little as possible to elevate the speakers behind me. Anyone know of any good deals?
 

jpeyton

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Walmart has cheap stands; $20-$30 per pair. Wall-mounts are even cheaper if your speakers are light enough.
 

A Casual Fitz

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The walls are too far back to make it worth it I think. Shouldn't the speakers be equal distance apart?
 

YOyoYOhowsDAjello

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Originally posted by: A Casual Fitz
The walls are too far back to make it worth it I think. Shouldn't the speakers be equal distance apart?

Yeah, ideally you'd try to get all your speakers the same distance away from your listening position, but something you've got to do what you've got to do.
 

WoodButcher

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If your sitting against a wall put rears on the floor- fronts at the ceiling, separate r- l as far as feasable.....Maybe?
 

A Casual Fitz

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I'm not sitting against a wall..the walls are decently far back which is why I thought getting the stands would be necessary so they wouldn't be so far away compared to the front speakers that will just be on my desk.
 

0roo0roo

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if the walls aren'ttoo far back you just have to compensate by increasing surround volume, thats what its for after all
 

WoodButcher

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Originally posted by: A Casual Fitz
I'm not sitting against a wall..the walls are decently far back which is why I thought getting the stands would be necessary so they wouldn't be so far away compared to the front speakers that will just be on my desk.

Your desk in the center of the room?:confused: If your desk is against a wall front speakers go high back speakers low, In other words turn your surround vertical rather than horizontal.
 

PurdueRy

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Originally posted by: WoodButcher
Originally posted by: A Casual Fitz
I'm not sitting against a wall..the walls are decently far back which is why I thought getting the stands would be necessary so they wouldn't be so far away compared to the front speakers that will just be on my desk.

Your desk in the center of the room?:confused: If your desk is against a wall front speakers go high back speakers low, In other words turn your surround vertical rather than horizontal.

:confused:
 

YOyoYOhowsDAjello

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Originally posted by: PurdueRy
Originally posted by: WoodButcher
Originally posted by: A Casual Fitz
I'm not sitting against a wall..the walls are decently far back which is why I thought getting the stands would be necessary so they wouldn't be so far away compared to the front speakers that will just be on my desk.

Your desk in the center of the room?:confused: If your desk is against a wall front speakers go high back speakers low, In other words turn your surround vertical rather than horizontal.

:confused:

I'm kind of wondering where this is coming from too.
 

WoodButcher

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Mar 10, 2001
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Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Originally posted by: PurdueRy
Originally posted by: WoodButcher
Originally posted by: A Casual Fitz
I'm not sitting against a wall..the walls are decently far back which is why I thought getting the stands would be necessary so they wouldn't be so far away compared to the front speakers that will just be on my desk.

Your desk in the center of the room?:confused: If your desk is against a wall front speakers go high back speakers low, In other words turn your surround vertical rather than horizontal.

:confused:

I'm kind of wondering where this is coming from too.

Simple,

Originally posted by: A Casual Fitz
The walls are too far back to make it worth it I think. Shouldn't the speakers be equal distance apart?
From this it would seem that your desk is against the wall, no?
Assuming that it is in order not to have wires running on the floor to trip on why not have the surround facing you instead. Put the front speakers high on the wall and the rear speakers on the floor. This should put your head somewhere in the middle.



 

mshan

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Nov 16, 2004
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Rule of Thumb for 5.1 surround speakers for home theater soundtracks:

"high and to the sides" , not low and to the rear.

(from Avia DVD)

EDIT: I think you should be able to correct for distance using dsp time delay in your sound card software, though symmetrical setup in ideally rectangular room would be best.
 

A Casual Fitz

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Heh, to clear things up...I meant I'm not sitting so my back is to the wall. Yes, my desk is up against the wall and I have a lot of space behind me.
 

WoodButcher

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From this it would seem that your desk is against the wall, no?
Assuming that it is in order not to have wires running on the floor to trip on why not have the surround facing you instead. Put the front speakers high on the wall and the rear speakers on the floor. This should put your head somewhere in the middle.
"high and to the sides" , not low and to the rear.
I meant to place the rear speakers on or near the floor in front ie: against the wall, under the front speakers.
Granted, this will not give a true surround but you also would not be tripping, ripping wires.
Are we confused yet?
I am.;)

Another thought, Inline with "high and to the sides" might be hanging the rears from the ceiling, better yet reccessed into the ceiling. How are your drywall skills?
 

mshan

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If they are pc multimedia speakers, rather than true home theater speakers, you might just want to put them on a bookshelf on sidewall and see what sounds best.

A lot of times you get a center speaker and four other speakers (vs. left and right front and rear surrounds), so dispersion pattern may not be like true surround speakers.
 

YOyoYOhowsDAjello

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Originally posted by: WoodButcher
Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Originally posted by: PurdueRy
Originally posted by: WoodButcher
Originally posted by: A Casual Fitz
I'm not sitting against a wall..the walls are decently far back which is why I thought getting the stands would be necessary so they wouldn't be so far away compared to the front speakers that will just be on my desk.

Your desk in the center of the room?:confused: If your desk is against a wall front speakers go high back speakers low, In other words turn your surround vertical rather than horizontal.

:confused:

I'm kind of wondering where this is coming from too.

Simple,

Originally posted by: A Casual Fitz
The walls are too far back to make it worth it I think. Shouldn't the speakers be equal distance apart?
From this it would seem that your desk is against the wall, no?
Assuming that it is in order not to have wires running on the floor to trip on why not have the surround facing you instead. Put the front speakers high on the wall and the rear speakers on the floor. This should put your head somewhere in the middle.

I didn't mean why you thought he was up against a wall, I'm wondering why you think your suggestion would be a good idea.
 

WoodButcher

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Mar 10, 2001
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Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
I didn't mean why you thought he was up against a wall, I'm wondering why you think your suggestion would be a good idea.

Oh, ok,
well, given the choice of being mauled by a bear or jumping off a ledge into raging river rapids, neither is really a good choice.
I simply offered an idea, the fact that the Casual Fitz
might save money by not spending on speaker stands or worse yet trip over and damage said stands are benefits of the idea. Is there something in this to make it a "bad' idea?, sure, you don't get surround sound like a studio but life is a trade-off.
good luck with your sound Fitz!
 

YOyoYOhowsDAjello

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Originally posted by: WoodButcher
Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
I didn't mean why you thought he was up against a wall, I'm wondering why you think your suggestion would be a good idea.

Oh, ok,
well, given the choice of being mauled by a bear or jumping off a ledge into raging river rapids, neither is really a good choice.
I simply offered an idea, the fact that the Casual Fitz
might save money by not spending on speaker stands or worse yet trip over and damage said stands are benefits of the idea. Is there something in this to make it a "bad' idea?, sure, you don't get surround sound like a studio but life is a trade-off.
good luck with your sound Fitz!

Computer speakers tend to be very directional and generally have poor off-axis response. Unless they're at ear level and pointed at you, they're generally going to sound worse.

Combine that with a speaker arraingment that I don't think makes sense (sounds above you = in front, sounds below you = in back), and I'm not too crazy about the idea.

I could see being creative with the surround speakers (like trying to aim them to have the sound bounce off walls or something, but I don't see why you'd mess with the more important front speaker placement unless you couldn't place them well.
 

A Casual Fitz

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Can wall mounts be just as good as stands? I read that all speakers should be a couple feet away from the walls. It'd be nice to save money on getting mounts instead to be honest.
 

YOyoYOhowsDAjello

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Aug 6, 2001
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Originally posted by: A Casual Fitz
Can wall mounts be just as good as stands? I read that all speakers should be a couple feet away from the walls. It'd be nice to save money on getting mounts instead to be honest.

Keeping speakers away from walls tends to be a good thing unless they're designed to be wall mounted, but I wouldn't worry about it too much with a computer speaker set.

If wall mounts will work for you, that should be fine.
 

A Casual Fitz

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May 16, 2005
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Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Originally posted by: A Casual Fitz
Can wall mounts be just as good as stands? I read that all speakers should be a couple feet away from the walls. It'd be nice to save money on getting mounts instead to be honest.

Keeping speakers away from walls tends to be a good thing unless they're designed to be wall mounted, but I wouldn't worry about it too much with a computer speaker set.

If wall mounts will work for you, that should be fine.

Well, I ended up going for stands because I like the ability to move them around more freely. But now the screws they put in the box to mount the base are too small and just go right through the intended holes (see my new thread)..BAH!!