Technics Speakers - wall mounting ?

[Eidolon]

Hi,
I have a technics stereo system from about 1989. The speakers are SB-F920 model. Currently they sit on my floor on ether side of the fireplace. I have a big plan for getting my front room sorted, including getting my V2000 machine and TV in a nice custom made stand and so on, and I need to wall mount the speakers as part of the rearrangement.

I dont want to use speaker arms, they're too gainly and take up too much space for what I have available. I'd need to mount the speakers directly onto the wall somehow. If there's a way of angling them dowlwards ever so slightly, that would be great too. As far as I can tell, I'd need to probably drill a hole in the back of them, and hang them over a screw head or something.

Has anybody done something like this before? Just trying to figure outhow to safely do this.
Thanks

[Nuvistor]

If you have a party wall, don’t hang them on that.

[Ambientnoise]

Not sure how big they are but I did this with a pair of speakers about 450mm high. I simply used those right angled hooks into the wall and screw eyes into the rear of the speakers. This gives a slight downward angle. Obviously use decently large fixings into a good wall ! Lasted many years with no problems.

Ken

[Edward Huggins]

These speakers look to have no rear port. Mounting them to a wall will increase the upper bass response and so may cause some "boom". Try to slightly angle these downwards so that you are more on-axis with the tweeters.

[julie_m]

I have successfully wall-mounted speakers using aluminium C-channel (meant for building custom shelving systems) from Wilko. One length screwed to the back of the speaker, another on the wall. Offer the speaker up until the lip of the "speaker" channel is just above the lip of the "wall" channel, then tilt it back to the wall and lower it down into place so the channels engage and the lips prevent it from falling out.

[Diabolical Artificer]

I've used a 6" nail banged into the wall and a suitable sized hole in the speakers in the past, the nail can be bent to get any mounting angle, this was on a boat though and isn't very proffessional. An L shaped picture hook and an eye is better.

There could be a problem with drilling holes into non ported speakers.

Andy.

[mickyfinn]

Best hammering the nail in the wall when the wifes out.
Mick

[Duke_Nukem]

Originally Posted by Eidolon

I dont want to use speaker arms, they're too gainly and take up too much space for what I have available. I'd need to mount the speakers directly onto the wall somehow. If there's a way of angling them downwards ever so slightly, that would be great too.

I have a mid-80s technics system and use what I assume are called speaker arms and they they take up pretty much no extra space, firmly fix the speaker (important, not just safety but sound too) and can be angled left/right or (via screw at back) up and down. There are no mods to the speaker cabinet.

If its still too ungainly - you are after a more minimal look - then I wonder if ones that clamp vertically are available which would effectively hide the support bar and the wall mounting behind the speaker ?

Regards,
Jon

[mhennessy]

How about these?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B001FX6D...X6DP256042400/

There are many variations on the theme, but these are very cheap so not much to lose if they don't work out. Pack of 4, as well!

There will be 60mm between the back of the cabinet and the wall with these. If that's too much, then get to B&Q and DIY a solution using aluminium angle and/or lengths of wood - perhaps mount a 21mm by 21mm baton on the wall, screw some 35mm aluminium angle to the rear of the cabinet, then screw the top of the angle to the top of the baton. Simples!

I'd include rubber feet at the bottom of the rear panel between the box and the wall. And possibly even rubber grommets inbetween the aluminium angle and the screws.

[Eidolon]

Thanks all. I will try to figure out what works best. I do need to wall mount them, as they're taking up needed space on the floor, on either side of the fire place. When I can finally get my trolley stand made for my TV, one of the speakers would block the TV for one, as it will be considerably lower down than it is now.
Hotizontal hanging might work better, but I guess that might probably mean putting two holes in the back. those brackets dont look too bad for my needs Duke, I'll try to find them online, thanks.
It's a terraced house, and the neighbours sitting room is on the other side. Maybe I can pack a small space between the speaker and wall with something absorbing? The man at the local tv repair place (which has had my v2000 machine for six years now ) suggested edging the back of the speakers with adhesive insulation, similiar to what I have around some of my doorframes.

[Edward Huggins]

If you do decide to mount the speakers horizontally, it might be best to ensure the tweeters are placed outermost so as to give you the widest possible sound-stage.

[simpsons]

I would be very wary of mounting speakers on a wall. What ever you had chosen as a focal point in the room will be lost and all eyes riveted on two black boxes stuck on the wall with wires trailing from them to the floor.

Why don't you make them part of your home entertainment system; placed either side of you television and the amplifier wired into the freeview or satellite receiver, they will present some realism to your visual experience especially films.

There are stands on eBay etc. which are slim and suitable for the size of such speakers. You can then upgrade the speakers at a later date if desired.

Chris

[boxdoctor]

Originally Posted by Eidolon

It's a terraced house, and the neighbours sitting room is on the other side. Maybe I can pack a small space between the speaker and wall with something absorbing?

Regardless of whatever you pack behind the speakers to dampen the sound, the vibrations will be conducted into the wall by the fixing bolts. The only way I can see around this is by having a "soft" fixing, e.g. via a substantial rubber grommet into which each bolt is anchored or similar, to accoustically decouple the bolts from the vibrations of the rear of the cabinet.
As others have said, there are some elegant floor stands on Ebay. Tony

[mhennessy]

See the last paragraph of post #9. But even so, it will only be effective at some frequencies. But then again, it does depend on the construction of the party wall. If it's solid, then structural-bound transmission might be fairly high - but it might be a cavity wall, with occasional wall ties joining the two leaves together. Assuming reasonably heavy brick or blockwork, these tend to be quite good at keeping sound levels down. As is original lime plaster, if still present and in good condition.

A pair of semi-detached houses near to us were built about 10 years back with a timber frame construction - the party wall in that case consisted of little more than a layer of plasterboard on each side of the frame. Amazed that met building regs, frankly - I only hope there was something else that I couldn't see - but it wouldn't have been more substantial than plywood. Each half was a separate frame. Perhaps they doubled up the plasterboard on the party wall...

[ms660]

Last time I did sound reduction on a party wall we used resilient channel and sound blocker plasterboard (the blue stuff) on the studs.

Lawrence.

[Eidolon]

Originally Posted by simpsons

Why don't you make them part of your home entertainment system; placed either side of you television and the amplifier wired into the freeview or satellite receiver, they will present some realism to your visual experience especially films.

The problem is to do with the space and layout of the room. Currently they're on either side of the fireplace. When I finally have my old TV on a suitable stand for it, the one speaker will be blocking the view to a small degree, and in front of the stand/screen. The only options are to put them mounted on the wall, as the ceilings are high.

[JCUKVINTAGERADI]

We have a small dining room where our main PC is so we spend a lot of time in there. The house is Victorian and we have 4m high ceilings.

We have our Kenwood M-85 setup in there and have wall mounted the LS-85 speakers. I was concerned that they wouldn't sound right BUT they are fine as the sound still seems to come from in front of us rather than above when we sit near them. We also have CEM-7 surrounds on the opposite wall too.

Hope you sort yours out

[Eidolon]

I can't see any major problem sound wise with mounting them high on the walls. GIven that they can be pointed down somewhat, they'll probably be aimed somewhat more toward ear level than being on the floor. If I have any concern, its to do with the wall's strength to support them. When drilling in the past in varous places, the plaster has often fallen out like dust. I'll probably have to overdo the screw length to play it safe. I dont tend to have it too loud anyway, so it's probably not going to cause my neighbours a problem. They've never complained about the noise from my surround sound in the other room, and that's the one thing I do sometimes have a bit loud(er).

The other simpler option is just to put them on top of shelves. But I was concerned about them moving around from vibrating, anf the potential noise of the vibrations.

[mhennessy]

I've just realised this thread is nearly 3 months old. I thought I was a slow worker

Re-reading it from the start, I think that just about every possibility has been suggested. But post #18 is the first mention of shelves!

Why should a pair of speakers move around on a shelf? Especially when they aren't played loud? And if they do, what's wrong with some self-adhesive rubber feet? Or even Blu Tack?

I built shelving into the alcoves of our lounge. We use a pair of BBC LS3/5As in there, just plonked on the lower shelves. The hi-fi purists would be horrified to learn that I'm not using dedicated stands to get them out away from the walls, but they do the job they need to do. They have never moved, despite being used for TV/DVD sound, where significant LF energy is sometimes present. The only occasional vibration issues happen at this time of the year, or around the time of birthdays, from - you've guessed it - cards placed in front of the speakers! Easily fixed...

I don't see any details of the construction of your house, but from the way you describe the plaster, I'm guessing it's an older property that uses lime plaster? If so, then you'll definitely need screws that are long enough to reach through the lime plaster and into the brick. Which is true of newer builds anyway, really. I use at least 2 inch screws - the lime plaster can be quite thick in some old houses (perhaps up to an inch). And if you have lime plaster, you'll almost certainly also have lime mortar between the bricks - meaning that should you "miss" a brick and drill into the mortar, you'll need to try again. Somewhere I've got a photo I took while putting up 4 shelves in the kitchen, where I had to keep changing the exact position of the shelves and brackets along the shelves because of this problem - taken before I filled the unused holes. It looked like someone had blasted the wall with a machine gun

Those shelves have a pair of Rogers dB101s on them, and there are no issues at all with movement or vibration. Those speakers were supplied with small rubber feet installed.

Regarding angling high speakers, it won't change the sense of how high or otherwise the speaker is in a room - a speaker mounted high in the room will always sound like it's high up in a room; but you might choose (consciously or subconsciously) to ignore that in practice. It will, however, change the frequency response. Whether this matters depends on how critical you're being, but typically you would expect a dip in the crossover region when you go above or below the tweeter axis. You'd also expect less top end, as the tweeter becomes direction at the higher frequencies. From what I can see on-line, the tweeters are "5.5cm cone-type" - if so, I'd expect it to start getting "beamy" at around 6.5kHz. There's a reason why small ~1" domes are commonly used for tweeters. But then, you could always just tweak the tone controls...

[dave walsh]

Hi Eidolon and seasons greetings. I suspect many of us here have juggled with similar room configurations in the past and continue to do so. In fact I've had a few locations with high Victorian walls but I've never been tempted to attach speakers to them-everything else yeso I was going to suggest that you start at the beginning with Is it a party wall?, how well do you know your neighbours? and how loud do you have your music? I see you've now [more or less] answered part of that although my first instinct has always been NOT to put speakers directly on to a party wall. [Nuvistor also implied that back in post 2*]. Sound insulation is a major league issue and I wouldn't even go there-especially with the advice you've had so far from the repair shop. Has your VCR been kidnapped?.

The fact that you haven't had a complaint doesn't mean you won't get one in the future, just when you've set everything up in a particular way perhaps It may be in your own best interest, anyway, to avoid direct contact [either with the wall or your neighbours]. Taking that approach, you might even benefit yourself in terms of higher volume if it's required. Even with floor mounted speakers, I always keep them off a party wall. I've popped next door in previous homes and sought their views/asked to do a volume test. That's always been greatly appreciated and unless you are very persistent with what others may perceive as noise, you get the benefit of the doubt-it's a win win.

Your thinking around blocking the TV with a speaker seems to be based around first making a stand [I don't mean against the neighbours] and then getting everything else to fit in with that. Can you not simply fit a sturdy shelf in the alcove for TV and VCR with the speaker underneath and forward of the wall a bit, Simpsons [p12*] was heading in that direction, or am I missing something obvious?

Everyone here is concerned with sound to some extent either with just a radio or something approaching HI-Fi. There is perhaps a bit of a cultural difference as a vintage 2-5 watts in a good enclosure can produce excellent results for an average room whereas a modern audio enthusiast may be biased towards stronger bass and higher volume. Personally, I've never been such a purist that I felt that stands were always essential or that mounting them relatively high up was acoustically or visually necessary. There is a lot more to Hi-Fi psychologically though than just scientific measurement.

Dave W