Help-Speaker placement

[thekid]

Help!!!!

My wife is after me to "hide" my speakers in our new wall unit.Currently they sit on top of it about 6' off the ground. For some reason she has no problem with the surrounds... I have shown her material that shows that for HT set up this is a horible idea!!

The speakers would be behind doors with grills in a completely enclosed cabinet area of about 18"x18" and only be about 5" off the ground. These are Bose 201's speakers ( - Bose bashers need not respond). I know that this placement will add a lot of bass but what other draw backs can I use to prevent this. I don't want to even unhook them and listen to the difference because since she does not listen to the system she won't be objective and want them to stay in the new location.

If I lose this battle (after 20 years of marriage I choose my battles very carefully....) is there any suggestions out there to compensate for the anticipated problems????

[markw]

...and I'm being "politicaly correct" by using that term. I'd use a more descriptive term but , with the changing climate here lately, I am loathe to use it.

Most of the sound will never make out of the cabinet. That which does will have no dispersion whatsoever. Add to that the secondary grille which, in all probability, was not designed to pass audio frequencies like grille cloth on speakers.

There ain't a whole heckuva lot you can do to mitigate the negative effects.

Imaging will suffer. Overall FR will suffer. You will suffer. The things we have to put up with to keep a spouse happy, or at least quiet.

[thekid]

...and I'm being "politicaly correct" by using that term. I'd use a more descriptive term but , with the changing climate here lately, I am loathe to use it.

Most of the sound will never make out of the cabinet. That which does will have no dispersion whatsoever. Add to that the secondary grille which, in all probability, was not designed to pass audio frequencies like grille cloth on speakers.

There ain't a whole heckuva lot you can do to mitigate the negative effects.

Imaging will suffer. Overall FR will suffer. You will suffer. The things we have to put up with to keep a spouse happy, or at least quiet.

Thanks for the reply!!!
I am going to print it out and hopefully I can still win the day!!

I am hoping I can get enough similar posts and present overwhelming evidence!!
Her main point is that this is a "Entertainment Center" and the cabinet area is "designed" to hold the speakers. I keep telling her this is the furniture makers design not an audio person's design.

[MikeyBC]

I guess you didnt have a part in choosing the wall unit, I dont know for sure but maybe Bose makes's stands for the 201 so they could flank the wall unit and be the proper height, Putting them down where she wants them will make them unlistenable, I hope she cares enough about you to accomodate your wishes. Sit her down in front of the stereo with the speakers setup both ways and point out the differences in the sound that you care about .

Maybe a good future upgrade would be some inexpensive floorstanding towers such as the Paradigm Esprit or the PSB Alpha T....both would make a significant improvement and they both look very classy in their light wood veneers.

[thekid]

I guess you didnt have a part in choosing the wall unit, I dont know for sure but maybe Bose makes's stands for the 201 so they could flank the wall unit and be the proper height, Putting them down where she wants them will make them unlistenable, I hope she cares enough about you to accomodate your wishes. Sit her down in front of the stereo with the speakers setup both ways and point out the differences in the sound that you care about .

Maybe a good future upgrade would be some inexpensive floorstanding towers such as the Paradigm Esprit or the PSB Alpha T....both would make a significant improvement and they both look very classy in their light wood veneers.

Thanks for the reply.

You are right the wall unit was her choice the HDTV that it surrounds was mine!

I think a pair of floorstanders are in my future when I have the money. I am not unhappy with the Bose (especially when I consider their cost) but I think my current Bose set-up would be better for my bedroom. I think a good pair of floorstanders with the right wood finish would probably win her over. The Bose speakers are black and jst seem to draw her eyes to them even though I thought putting them up on top of the wall unit would have made her happy.

[thekid]

Hey just thought I'd update everyone on my situation.......

I won!! I won!!!

I did have to unhook one speaker and go through the whole process of setting it up at the bottom of the entertainment center.
WHAT A PAIN IN THE A**!

Any way I put Vivaldi's Four Seasons (Her favorite) on the CD and showed her the difference in sound which was as expected truly horrible! It sounded like some strangling a cat under water with pillows!!

Up top they are and will stay until I can afford/convince her a set of floorstanders will be the perfect "accent" to the room!

[MikeyBC]

Congratulations on your victory! Now all you need to do is the same thing with a decent set of floorstanders (a good stereo shop will let you try at home) and do another comparison with her favorite cd...would probably be another easy win for our side and maybe even give your wife the audio bug? and who know's, maybe she'll start wanting to upgrade the system herself. But when that starts happening you'll probably wake up.