Polk CS2 to large for Mantle? Help Pic Shown

[snarf1033]

So I just got my Polk CS2 and it is rather large as suspected. What do you guys suggest I do with this speaker? Will it be ok on the mantle like this? I will need to pull it out to attach the speakers even more and am afraid it will tip over. I am thinking of getting sticky tape for the bottom so it won't move. Do you think it will look tacky sticking out this much? How much farther should I pull it out so it breaths correctly?

[solarrdadd]

i looked at your photos and i would recommend one of two things.
1)get a shelf cut the exact size as the speaker, paint it the color of your mantle or stain it to match the speaker and screw it down with two screws to the mantle. this will prevent your speaker from falling over when playing loud and/or strong bass is being played. If your ol lady would kill you or if you don't like that as an idea and mind you that would be the best thing then try this.
2)get some velcro with adhesive backing and place it on the bottom of the speaker if you can make two rows of it then that is best if not then put it as close to the back of the bottom as possible. Place the other section of velcro onto the mantle and set your speaker in place. this really won't hold it up as much as it will keep it from moving due to vibration.
you should be fine with either my other question to you would be as you have it setting right now, is the speaker stable or if you touch the top from with your finger, pushing gently, will it fall off? if it is stable then go with item #2, if it will fall then go with item #1. remember, almost 75% + sound will come out of that speaker. as you can see from my setup I have your speakers Daddy! it is huge and heavy but the sound that comes from it is incredible. you also asked about placement for breathing. I couldn't find any info from polk or online about how far that needed to be from the wall but i'd tell you if you can spare 1/2 to 1" that would probably be enough but mind the speaker tipping over. good luck to you with your CS2

[snarf1033]

Originally Posted by solarrdadd

i looked at your photos and i would recommend one of two things.
1)get a shelf cut the exact size as the speaker, paint it the color of your mantle or stain it to match the speaker and screw it down with two screws to the mantle. this will prevent your speaker from falling over when playing loud and/or strong bass is being played. If your ol lady would kill you or if you don't like that as an idea and mind you that would be the best thing then try this.
2)get some velcro with adhesive backing and place it on the bottom of the speaker if you can make two rows of it then that is best if not then put it as close to the back of the bottom as possible. Place the other section of velcro onto the mantle and set your speaker in place. this really won't hold it up as much as it will keep it from moving due to vibration.
you should be fine with either my other question to you would be as you have it setting right now, is the speaker stable or if you touch the top from with your finger, pushing gently, will it fall off? if it is stable then go with item #2, if it will fall then go with item #1. remember, almost 75% + sound will come out of that speaker. as you can see from my setup I have your speakers Daddy! it is huge and heavy but the sound that comes from it is incredible. you also asked about placement for breathing. I couldn't find any info from polk or online about how far that needed to be from the wall but i'd tell you if you can spare 1/2 to 1" that would probably be enough but mind the speaker tipping over. good luck to you with your CS2

Thanks I will keep that in mind and probably go with option 2. They make a sticky tape that is very strong at the hardware store. So strong you have to literally pull it off with all your weight. I most likely will go with that although my wife is about to kill me b/c it's so big. I wonder if I should return it and get a smaller center speaker? Hmmmm.

[solarrdadd]

dig your feet in and stand your ground and JUST SAY NO! trust me, you will regret getting a smaller center channel. while i have a lot more room for my center channel, i am so happy I got the one i have! lord knows it's a beast but let me tell you, when I crank the sound up and am watching a really good movie in 7.1 DTS HD MA, I don't regret it one bit. when mine was delivered to me at first i thought i made a mistake because it was sooooo big. but after hooking it and my front L & R up and kicking the tires and lighting the fires i knew i made the right choice. all your friends will have center channel envy too! don't let me down, don't give in or up, we as men have been watered down! ask yourself, what would john wayne or clint eastwood do! screw them how about ike turner!

[snarf1033]

Originally Posted by solarrdadd

dig your feet in and stand your ground and JUST SAY NO! trust me, you will regret getting a smaller center channel. while i have a lot more room for my center channel, i am so happy I got the one i have! lord knows it's a beast but let me tell you, when I crank the sound up and am watching a really good movie in 7.1 DTS HD MA, I don't regret it one bit. when mine was delivered to me at first i thought i made a mistake because it was sooooo big. but after hooking it and my front L & R up and kicking the tires and lighting the fires i knew i made the right choice. all your friends will have center channel envy too! don't let me down, don't give in or up, we as men have been watered down! ask yourself, what would john wayne or clint eastwood do! screw them how about ike turner!

Ha Ha Ha you're funny! Newegg.com has a Polk CS10 that is $20 more that what I paid for the CS2 and is 2" smaller. There also is the Polk CS1 that is 2" smaller. Wouldn't I be in better shape if I went with one of those instead? I mean 2" would probably save me a lot of hassle.

[solarrdadd]

is the issue that you are getting grief from the little woman? or do you yourself not like the way it currently looks? I can't tell you how many people who bought a 42" wished like hell that they had gotten that 50" I guess on the other hand we could all use a little more peace in the household so if your not going to compromise your sound quality than make an informed decision and do what you have to do that will keep you both happy. and as a man i'm either shocked or jealous as hell that you would suggest that with
2" less you might be better. We might have to pull your union card for that son! I'm about to go Sammuel L. Jackson onya baby!

[plowmanjoe]

question: does it matter that it's up against the wall, therefore blocking the rear port? or does it not matter?

[solarrdadd]

i have searched high and low and have found no information on either polks site or online about the distance of the rear of the speaker relative to the wall. if you look at the construction of it there is a flat piece with four feet that sit over an opening. there is a funnel type piece of plastic that does not connect to anything inside the speaker opening. i would suspect that sound will also disperse from all around the openings between the feet. the point of the cone is to have some of the sound ported directionally straight back. from the pictures shown, the speakers are already back against the wall so the question is what does it sound like being flush against the wall relative to an inch or a couple of inches? only snarf1033 can tell us that. given my setup i don't have the space/wall issue so i don't know. i'd recommend powering the system up and crank the sound up and put on "live free or die hard" or "master and commander" and listen to the differences flush and an inch or two away.

[snarf1033]

I never did hook up the CS2 b/c my speaker wire from monoprice doesn't arrive until Wednesday. Due to concern of the size (not wife related) and the size of my mantle I am going to return this speaker and purchase the CS10. I know I will be sacrificing some sound, but at least it won't look out of place due to the size.

When I do get the CS10 in I will most likely pull it off the wall 1" because I'm hesitant to have it against the wall. Plus the speaker wire will require an inch most likely coming out of the back of the speaker.

[solarrdadd]

you know, now that i took a second look at your pictures, take a look a the middle of the three photos. your speaker is flush against the wall. that means that the construction of your speaker back is different than mine. my speaker has the ports protruding almost 2" from the flush back of the speaker. like i said the polk center i have is much larger than yours. you should do the test and let us know how it sounds. I think it can be placed flush. if there are keyholes for wall mounting the speaker then you can be sure it's flush/wall mountable. i can't find a picture of the rear of your speaker so i don't know what it looks like. hope this helps. let us know what your sound results are.

[snarf1033]

Here is what the back looks like.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16882290023

[plowmanjoe]

no key hole on the back of my cs1. banana plugs protrude about an inch out the back. other than that, it's just flat with a port in the center.

[JJ]

Actually, for rear-ported speakers, it's best to give them a bit of space to breathe, I damaged severely a rear-ported subwoofer (a while back though, before I knew anything) by placing it right on the wall, the resulting vibrations from the changes in air pressure tore up the insides of the sub.

But then again, that was a subwoofer, yours is a center channel, probably lot less low frequency - but nevertheless, I'd say a few inches is ideal.

But then again, this does nothing for your issue.

Resolving this one is a toughy.

Sidebar! With the 40" or less that it looks like your speakers are separated, there's no need for the toe-in you gave them - toe in is best for distances of 84"+ between L and Rs.

[solarrdadd]

i took a look at your speakers, from the link you provided, it is much different than mine. i think if your installation manual doesn't say not to (and i've read it) then experiment and see what it sounds like. i wouldn't say jam it flush against the wall but i also thing an inch is more than enough. i think if it would put your speaker in danger then polk would warn you from doing it; they're smart like that. so if you play it loud and it sounds funny, move it forward and see if it sounds different/better and take it from there.

[kingofgrills]

Originally Posted by solarrdadd

i have searched high and low and have found no information on either polks site or online about the distance of the rear of the speaker relative to the wall. if you look at the construction of it there is a flat piece with four feet that sit over an opening. there is a funnel type piece of plastic that does not connect to anything inside the speaker opening. i would suspect that sound will also disperse from all around the openings between the feet. the point of the cone is to have some of the sound ported directionally straight back. from the pictures shown, the speakers are already back against the wall so the question is what does it sound like being flush against the wall relative to an inch or a couple of inches? only snarf1033 can tell us that. given my setup i don't have the space/wall issue so i don't know. i'd recommend powering the system up and crank the sound up and put on "live free or die hard" or "master and commander" and listen to the differences flush and an inch or two away.

Generally, it's recommended that speakers with rear ports sit a minimum of 1 foot from the back wall. Having a rear ported speaker directly against a wall might induce boominess in the bass, or a nasaly sound in the midrange. The nasaly factor can be especially problematic in a center channel.

I would also recommend separating your left and right mains more, because you could have a constricted soundstage with them hugging the edge of the fireplace. It doesn't look like you have much lateral space to work with, but you might look for ways to separate them a bit more.

[snarf1033]

Originally Posted by kingofgrills

Generally, it's recommended that speakers with rear ports sit a minimum of 1 foot from the back wall. Having a rear ported speaker directly against a wall might induce boominess in the bass, or a nasaly sound in the midrange. The nasaly factor can be especially problematic in a center channel.

I would also recommend separating your left and right mains more, because you could have a constricted soundstage with them hugging the edge of the fireplace. It doesn't look like you have much lateral space to work with, but you might look for ways to separate them a bit more.

Took your advice and seperated them some more. I moved them off the fireplace marble and on to the carpet. I returned the CS2 due to size and ordered the Polk CS10 which is 2" smaller. There is no way I can come off the wall more that 1" due to the mantle size so I'm just going to have to see how it sounds when I get it hooked up. Hopefully it will be ok : ( sigh.

[b15nut]

Go to home depot and get a circle cut piece of wood with the diameter of the speaker. Cut in half and that to the leading edge of shelf.