Questions Regarding "False Wall" for Home Theater

[thoff]

So I am considering building a false wall to provide a cleaner look for my home theater setup. You can see my current setup in the pictures below (left). Also, you can see some pics of the style I am going for, especially in the 3rd pic with the B&W speakers. I want the TV to be flush with the front of the false wall, I want to have a shelf/cubby for my center channel underneath the TV, and my main speakers will be on either side of the wall, as seen in the one pic.

Does anyone have experience doing this?

I have two questions regarding speaker sound.
1. What considerations should I take into account with the center channel? Will the shelf/cubby and the distance from the back of the speaker to the back of the cubby impact its sound?
2. How far should my main speakers be away from the wall? I'm ok if they come a bit forward of the false wall, but I want to keep that to a minimum, and I also want the false wall to come out as little as possible.

Thoughts appreciated.

[novisnick]

Well my friend, not knowing any particulars about your speakers, gear or room, specifically what they sound like together.

Ill say this,

I dont care for the sound of most speakers that are in close proximity to a wall,,,,,any wall. Rear or side, no reflective wall to muddy my sound.

Next, the speakers must have an open face to them, meaning the front of the speaker is in front of any wall or obstical.

The room in the for right of your post, 3 rd, looks cold to me but very clean and neat,,,,,,,,,,,,,,and absalutly terrible for sound. Hard reflective surfaces everywhere,,,,,,,,arg!!!   

If two channel means anything to you, thats not the room you want.

Im not trying to be hard, its only my opinion,,,,,,which means you get what you pays for!! 

Ps, as for center channel in a whole, same applies IMHO.  

[novisnick]

Center channel in a cubbyhole is another speaker, especially mine,,,,its rear ported.

My mains are not rear ported but still have superior sound when pulled 32" from the wall behind them.

Left speaker is 4' from side wall and my right main is 28" off the side wall. Thats as far as I could go and still use the cave for great sound.  


   
                                                   

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[yves]

1. Tampering with the room always impacts the audible performance of all loudspeakers.

2. Some speaker manufacturers (e.g. Genelec) have stated that monopole speakers, if they are front ported or sealed, can be placed directly against the wall behind the speakers leaving zero or close to no distance in between. The minimum recommended distance between freestanding monopole (box) speakers and the front wall of the room is typically several feet, however. Usually it is something like 3 - 4 ft. minimum, 5 - 6 ft. recommended distance, maybe more. To be able to get anywhere close to the best sound quality possible with speakers in a room, experimenting with placement of the speakers and the listening position is compulsory. A decent room acoustic treatment strategy is compulsory. Room acoustics are almost equally important, some say equally important, to the quality of the loudspeakers themselves. A poorly treated room can very easily make a $1,000 loudspeaker sound worse than a $100 loudspeaker. For starters, the bass region of the frequency response in an untreated room has peaks and nulls the size of which can, and usually does measure in excess of 30 dB.

Strangely IMO, a lot of HT "enthusiasts" seem to be quite oblivious to room acoustics basic knowledge. You can measure frequency response and decay times in REW (Room EQ Wizard), yet, despite this, many people don't even seem to realize or care that the decay times are just as important as the frequency response, for example.

[vneal]

I have never had a false wall in the front but as for looks it looks great to me. My suggestions are:

1) the center channel should be as close to the center of the listening area and as close to ear level as humanly possible. And ideally the front of this speaker should be  flush with the TV/screen. This is not always possible
2) generally most front speakers sound best away from the corners and out from the front walls at least 2-3 feet.
3) experiment with amount if any on the toe in of these speakers
4) purchase the SAME BRAND front, center and rear/top speakers. Many here disagree but speaker brands have a particular sound/tone and those from the same brand will integrate more easily
5) if using a sub woofer use two if possible. I personally prefer non ported and I usually prefer front and rear speakers non ported. Those that are experiment with foam plugs to see if you hear any differences. In my system it tightens up the bass to plug em.
6) Room treatments are complicated. If you have wood or tile floors start there with a rug in front of the listening area. From there any windows can be treated with curtains. Bass traps in the corners are usually helpful in controlling standing waves.