I'm looking for various opinions regarding placement of my center channel speaker ( KEF 200C, measures approx 30 inches wide by 7.5 high and 8 deep ). Currently, it isn't an issue since it is residing on top of my 36 inch Sony HDTV CRT. However, in next couple months, I'm planning on going to a 60 inch set ( LCD RP, or DLP, etc ) but desire both high quality sound as well as good cosmetics. Furniture wise, I am planning on custom building a wooden rack very similar to the Salamander Synergy Triple 20 series. I like the idea of ventilated doors while at same time hiding all the HT gear ( sorry Outlaws lol, but it's just better heard and not seen ). So, my question is this.. is it better to go above the TV with the center channel or below? I have reservations about placing the center chanel inside the cabinet due to the sound aspects, but it is an option. Another option may be to place the center channel in front of the set, assuming the set sits up high enough to accomodate. Other option is to build a shelf that will go above the set.

My other goal is for the audio rack below the set to be no more than 18 inches tall to keep the height of the 60 inch set reasonable. Thanks for any input!

After what seems like a hundred different trials of back and forth, I have settled on a 12" speaker stand for my Dynaudio 122 Center speaker angled upward on large rubber "door stops" sitting in front of the TV. I have a 60" Panasonic RPTV that is set back into an unfinished part of the basement. About 12" sticks into the room. I used to have the speaker sitting on top of the TV, projecting downward. I finally placed it on the stand and am sitting 11 feet back on a couch. This also places the tweeters closer to the same horizontal plane and the distance from each of the front left/right and center is now the same. Now, the voices actually seem to come from the screen and the vibration from the speaker doesn't shake the TV. Just my 2 cents. Good luck and let us know what you decide.

I must agree with musiciseverything
I find that I get much better sound with the center channel below the screen tilted up just a little bit. I used to have it above my 55" RPTV angled downward and it really was a noticeable difference moving it down. Good Luck.

i have 65in rptv, with enormous center on top and it sounds fine. if i could rig the tv to be above the center i would, however the tv weighs a ton and is too big to be any higher. if i got lcd proj. or smaller tv id have center below (i.e. at ear level when seated).

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Thx for the replies. I"m giving thought to designing my own furniture ( even giving thought to considering a small production sideline if my "prototype" pans out! ). Anyway, based upon your feedback thus far, my own gut instincts and from viewing several systems, I prefer the center channel below the set, if possible. it without question adds to the complexity of the furniture design as wel as adding limitations on the set one purchases.. small things like blocking the IR port of the TV, making sure the cneter channel doesn't interfere with the screen, etc. I also prefer to NOT place the center channel inside the furniture ( mine is very large anyway ) due to what happens to the acoustic qualities of the speaker.. but all of this is "doable". It's time ot start sketching out the furniture, wood selection, finding all the components and getting started on the prototype! Thx for the responses thus far and keep em coming.. I'm still open minded to how placing the center channel above a 60 inch set work sin terms of sounds going from left to right, etc!

if you have the front of the center flush or slightly past the edge of its cabinet it wont do anything. i.e. the center sticking out just a tad past the cabinet eventhough the rest of it is concealed. well you should leave the back open, but other than that nothing will happen except it will look better ;-).

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This post has been brought to you by curegeorg, thanks for reading.

I find that I have the best results using two speakers.One on eather side of the screen tight to the edges of the screen.The sound images right out of the screens center.I use the center speakers for two channel stereo.The center channel from the 990 is fed to an old Krell krc preamp.The krc is used for all two channel sources.The 990 for all multi channel sources