speaker placement

[pwh03]

I have decided to buy another B&W 602 s2 for my center channel. I was just wondering because the speaker is designed for a verticly setup is there any problem laying it on its side like a normal center channel would be. If so anything I could do to fix this
thanks
PH

[Resident Loser]

...website, and it would seem as though the current incarnation is the S3 model. Unless you know of a place to get your particular vintage, you may be out of luck. It's anyone's guess as to the dif between the two...may just be cosmetic, may go deeper...But, on another level...

Are these units magnetically shielded? If not, that can cause problems with your teevee. I see no mention of this re: the current S3s, but in the detailed description of their dedicated center channel units they do...this may be the deciding factor.

Also, as I recall B&W seems concerned with time alignment/diffraction issues...if this philosophy "trickles-down" their product line, placing a speaker designed to be positioned vertically in a horizontal plane may upset that design consideration, should it exist. Speaker placement plays a great deal in the sound produced and even having the tweeter positioned from the center-line to the right or left of it can be noticeable and annoying to some...

jimHJJ(...just my observations, which are subject great whopping personal biases and errors in judgement...)

[skeptic]

I don't think it will make a hill of beans difference if you lay it sideways or place it vertically. I think a lot of the current audiophile dogma about time alignment is more advertising than science anyway.

I would be concerned about shielding though if you set it near your TV set. To find out if this will be a problem in advance, why not try one of the ones you already own where you will place the new one and see what happens.

[pwh03]

yeah I was going too try that just was wondering if there was anything I wasn't going to notice by testing it. I'll work the shielding thing out too, I don't have to lay it right on top of my tv necesarily, but I'll see if it will be a problem

thanks
ph

[Woochifer]

I generally don't like the sound of a main speaker laid on its side. If the layout is asymmetrical, the imaging just doesn't seem right. Go ahead and try it out. As an alternate approach, you could also try placing the speaker upside down. Ideally, you would mount the center speaker at the same height as the other mains, and actually going with three main speakers up front will give you the best timbre matching. But, the TV in the middle is really the main reason why horizontal center speakers exist. Has nothing to do with the sound quality or matching, because the center speaker will be a compromise.

But, I think your main concern should be the lack of video shielding on the DM602. If you put it right on top of your TV, there's a pretty good chance of it causing picture distortion. I remembered when I tried out the DM602 S2s at home, they started distorting the TV picture when they were about 6" from the TV.

[pwh03]

ok I'll keep that in mind I'll try mounting it slightly below the tv, but still close to the level of my mains. (MY TV is a little to high) I'll try both sideways and vertical to see if I notice a difference thanks for the help I'll let you know how it goes.

I want to do this beacuse I'm not all to crazy about b&W center channels offered for my system, but I do enjoy my 602's. and as you said this would make for the perfect match of the front three speakers

[RGA]

Try one of your B&W's in the center channel terminal to make sure it sounds good. Some amplifiers skimp on the surround channels and it may be underpowering the center channel - so it may have nothing to do with the center channels out there but the amp. Would not be the first time that a receiver had poor power supplies.