Why does the center channel Speaker Have to be Horizontal ?

Question

Why does the center channel speaker have to be horizonatal?

Answer 1

A center channel speaker does not have to be horizontal and I read an article that said they sometimes sound better vertically. Try it and see.

If your surround speakers match your fronts I'd suggest you switch the center for one of the surrounds so your front speakers are identical. I improved my sound at least 100% by having all 3 front speakers the same.

Answer 2

I don't think it HAS to be but it may be better and this is my thought: if it is a dual speaker center stat (if it's not it won't matter) and it is horizontal then you will get a better situational sound out of it, being that the sound gets to both or your ears better. This is in contrast to if it were vertical where your ears are probably picking up less sound in both ears so it may sound shallow, from a head on perspective.

Plus when you calibrate the speakers, you system "knows" that your speaker is horizontal (whether it is or not) so when you are calibrating it may have adverse effects.

Answer 3

A center speaker does not have to be horizontal.  If it is a wide speaker, there may not be enough room to stand it vertically under a TV.  Also, if the TV screen is large (larger than 52"), you may get the effect of sound localization from the center of the screen.  Center speakers are made wide to avoid the "point source" effect, and placing it vertically defeats that.

Answer 4

i tihnk it's meant to go ontop of the tv, and it looks better if it's horizontal ontop of the tv.

atleast that's the way mine is.