Setting up and Positioning

Although position and suitability will have been considered prior to purchasing the Apex speakers, this section will guide you through optimising their positioning and set up. An illustration is provided on page 7 to show optimum positions. For instructions on assembling the brackets and securing them to a wall or ceiling, please refer to pages 8-15.

Positioning - Front Speakers

The tweeter of the centre channel is best pointed towards the listener’s ears to help direct the sound and should be the first speaker you position in your home theatre room. The centre channel’s job is to anchor dialogue and other on-screen sounds to the screen. Typically, As much as 60% of a movie sound track comes through the centre channel .

The centre channel can be placed either above or below, and as close to your TV screen as possible. If positioned in/ on a cabinet or sitting on top of the TV itself ensure that the front edge of the speaker is aligned with the front edge of the TV or shelf. Where possible, the height of the centre channel’s tweeter from the floor, should be close to the height of your front speakers’ tweeter as possible — ideally, within about 600mm.

When placing the loudspeakers on the wall around a plasma/ LCD TV, the left and right speakers ideally need to be between 22 & 30° to the left and right of the listening position, with the tweeters at approximate ear level, or at least aimed towards the listening position.

The Apex 40 can be rotated left/ right (when mounted vertically) or up/ down when mounted horizontally. The Apex 10 can be adjusted in all directions regardless of mounting position. Refer to pages 13 & 15.

Positioning - Surround Speakers

Ideally, the primary pair of surround speakers should be placed to the left and right of the listening position — either in line with it, or just behind it (90 - 110°). If it is a 6.1 channel or 7.1 channel system with more than two surround speakers, or if side placement isn’t available in a 5.1 channel system, consider placement behind your listening position, facing the front of the room (135 - 150°).

Surround speakers should be placed high enough so that the drivers do not fire directly at the listening position — one rule of thumb is to place them at ear level while standing. If the surround speakers fire directly at the listening position, they can overpower your front speakers.

If the surrounds are mounted on the side walls on brackets, experiment with the direction they aim in. You may obtain good results from pointing them at the ceiling (Apex 10 only) or toward the rear corners of the room, for example.

Surround speaker placement ideal for home theatre may not necessarily be perfect for multichannel music listening, where a precisely focused rear soundstage is optimal. If both types of listening are important to you, then we recommend positioning your surround speakers as a compromise between the two.

6	monitoraudio.co.uk