Esch30

Would anyone be able to tell me the actual width and depth of the speaker towers themselves (not the base) for the RP-280F and RP-260F floorstanding speakers? The Klipsch spec sheet says the depth of the RP-280F is 16.375"... over an inch less than the RP-260F at 17.65". Is it true that the depth of the 280F is actually less than the "smaller" 260F? Thanks for any information on this.

That's an idea I've considered, but I will likely be getting a row of 3 theater seats w/ arms at some point. I suppose I could also fit a row of 4... Hmm. 🤔 Regarding the placement and distance between the 500SA speakers, I did some additional research and came across a suggestion that top middle speakers should be placed 1/6 in from the side walls, assuming the seating is centered in the room (which mine is obviously not). I took the 9.5 ft. width of my front sound stage and applied this rule to the side of the room that my seating is shifted towards. The green tape is 1/6 in from the side walls and the yellow tape is 1/3 as I was originally planning on doing. After seeing the tape on the wall, the green seems like it may be a better placement. The speakers may be too close together at the yellow tape position. Does anyone have any recommendations regarding the width of the atmos speakers? I know Dolby recommends they be in line with the front L/R speakers, but with the lack of symmetry in my room, that would place them even farther apart than the green tape locations. Thanks.

I plan on mounting a pair of Klipsch RP-500SA speakers on the rear wall just beneath the HVAC soffit as Top Middle Atmos speakers. The width of the rear wall is 12 ft. However, due to a storage space at the front of the room, my soundstage is only 9.5 ft. wide and shifts my seating to the right side of the room. In the attached picture, the center sofa seat is in line with the center of the TV. The back of the sofa is 26" from the rear wall. I realize that having Top Middle Atmos speakers mounted in this position isn't ideal, but I will not be installing speakers in the ceiling and I don't want to use speakers that reflect off the ceiling. My question is where (how far apart) should the RP-500SA speakers be placed on the rear wall? I originally thought of spacing them equidistant within the 9.5 ft. width (from the front soundstage) behind the sofa. In other words, the TMR speaker would be about 3 ft. from the corner with the curtain and the TML speaker would be another ~3 ft. over from that. I know Dolby recommends top middle speakers be in line with the front L/R speakers, but I'm afraid the TMR speaker would then be too much in the corner, nearly firing into the curtain. The TMR/TML speakers would also not be inside the width of the surrounds as is recommended by Dolby. At the same time, I don't want to have the overhead speakers too close together and lose any effect created by having them separated. I have the Klipsch RP-402S surrounds off to the side instead of behind and to the side since the latter would likely place them too close to the "overhead" Atmos speakers on the back wall. Also, with them being so close to the sofa, I figured a wide dispersion speaker would be best. Would moving the L surround speaker farther from the sofa and placing it against the side wall be ill-advised? I can't say I'm a fan of seeing the rear of that speaker when entering the room, but if each speaker being equidistant from the MLP is best, I'll leave the surrounds as they are. Thanks in advance for any advice.

After moving my sofa forward two feet, I've decided to replace the RP-150M with either the RP-402S or RP-502S (might as well match the new RP-500SA back there). As surround speakers that will be pretty close to the MLP (especially the end seats), is there any reason to go with the larger 502S? I'm all but convinced the 402S will be fine in my situation, but I can still accommodate the larger 502S on my stands. Not that it really matters, but all other speakers in my setup also have 5.25" woofers, so the 502S may "fit in" to the rest of the system better. Thanks again for all the feedback so far.

Yeah, space between the back of the sofa and the wall will still be somewhat limited even after bringing the sofa forward, so just having the 500SA mounted up high back there should be sufficient... any true rear surrounds would likely be too close to the listening positions. I will experiment with the positioning of the stands with the bookshelf speakers and consider getting the 250S if the 150M provide too much of a localized sound. I will see how much space I have between the sofa and the curtain once I slide it forward since I would likely want the 250S off to the sides.

Good to know. Are they in line with your ears, or are they slightly behind the MLP? I appreciate the compliment. I already have the Denon X3400H which is limited to 7 channels total, and I also already have the RP-500SA speakers which I plan on using as atmos speakers. I suppose I could always try assigning the RP-500SAs as the rear surrounds instead of top middle atmos speakers as they'll be mounted at the top of the rear wall.

I've decided to get the love seat out of the room and bring my sofa forward 1.5 ft. Assuming the speaker stands remain the same distance behind the sofa (surround left will be brought closer to the sofa to match the distance away of surround right), would there be any benefit to replacing the 150M speakers with the 250S, aiming them the same direction? I might be able to bring the stands forward a bit as well and then turn the 250S towards the MLP as opposed to having them at an angle in rear corners. Does anyone have any experience using a bipole speaker like the 250s in a position slightly behind and to the side, similar to the surround locations in the picture below?

Thanks for that suggestion. I've included some better pics of the current setup. I'm also kicking around the idea of ditching the love seat (I have another room that accommodates seating for 5) and bringing the sofa forward by another 1.5 ft. My ears are currently about 1.5 ft. from the back wall as it sits now, so hopefully being about 3 ft. away would help. If I do that, my speaker stands would definitely be behind and to either side of the sofa (probably the recommended 110-120 deg.), and I'm not sure if that changes things in respect to bookshelf vs. bipole speakers.

I'm slowly making progress on my "theater" room, and as I usually do, I begin to second guess and overthink decisions I've already made. The latest: would a bipole speaker like the RP-250S be better as the surround speakers in my 5.1.2 setup? I currently have the RP-150M speakers in the rear corners of the room at a 45 degree angle to the corner. Would the 250S be better in this particular location? I know I had read that bipole speakers are not recommended for rear corners. However, I have a far from ideal setup. I realize the sofa a few inches from the back wall is a big no-no, but I don't want to restrict seating in that room to just 3. That canvas will be moved and replaced by acoustic panels... 20 sq. ft. worth on that back wall. If I place the center of the 250S at the same angle in the corner, each side of the sofa would have a tweeter/woofer firing towards the MLP (assuming those speakers are angled at 45 degrees), and the love seat would also have a direct firing speaker. I'm wondering if this would be preferred over the less diffuse RP-150M firing at the 45 degree angle from the corner. I suppose I could also aim the center of the 250S at the sides of the sofa, but then I'd be firing one speaker into the rear wall (maybe those reflections are good ones?) and the love seat would get less direct sound, though probably the same amount as the current setup. I'd appreciate any advice. The more I read, the more I think that maybe a more enveloping surround speaker would be better for my not so great seating positions. Or maybe what I have is good enough considering the conditions. On a somewhat unrelated note, I plan on mounting RP-500SAs on the back wall right under the soffit as my Atmos speakers (assigned as top middle)... roughly above the first and last panels of the canvas. Due to unforeseen events, I wound up with the 500SAs instead of the 140SAs. For the sake of this discussion, I mentioned the 250S surround speaker, but I'd actually consider the 502S to match aesthetically.

Thanks for that information and for providing those pictures. Since the RP-140SA will work for my situation, I'll likely go with those, unless there is some kind of sale on the 500SA in the coming weeks/months. The rest of my speakers will be from the RP line that matches the RP-140SA. I've already got the RP-450C and RP-150M for rear surrounds... just waiting to grab a pair of the RP-250F at a good price. I'd prefer all speakers to match, but the new RP-500SA could be the exception... they look really nice. The RP-500SA also would complete the 5.25" woofer in every speaker. Thanks again.

I'm ready to pull the trigger on a pair of 140SAs to hang on the wall behind my MLP (where the wall meets the ceiling) to use as top middle speakers in a 5.1.2 setup. My sofa is pretty close to the back wall, so they wouldn't truly be "rear" speakers. The angle of the speaker should project sound downward slightly in front of the MLP. Anyway, would the 140SAs be OK for this? I don't believe they have the switch that is on the new 500SAs, so does that mean they should only be used as upward-firing speakers that bounce sound off the ceiling? I thought the 140SA specs state they can be used as surround sound speakers... so does the lack of a switch mean anything? Would the new 500SAs be a better choice for my situation? Given the cost difference and the short distance the speakers will be from the MLP (the larger woofer is not crucial in my case), I'd like to go with the 140SAs as long as they are OK for directly firing towards the MLP as opposed to bouncing sound off the ceiling. Thanks in advance for any input.

It is indeed mesh. I wasn't sure if that would still act as a wall when it comes to breathing space for the rear port on the 450C. Thanks!

Thanks for the suggestion. Even though I'd like to leave the mesh in tact for purposes of structural integrity, I'm sure cutting out a port-sized section wouldn't hurt. However, I measured and the distance between the L/R speakers (at their centers) will be just about 8 ft. I'm starting to lean towards the 250C as the 450C may be overkill given the width of the sound stage and I wouldn't have to worry so much about the space behind the speaker on the shelf. Decisions...

Hello, I'm happy to join the madness. I have a question regarding the recommended space needed behind the RP-450C center channel speaker in a TV stand. The TV sits on top of the stand. The center channel speaker will sit below the TV on the center shelf. The shelf is 17" deep, leaving just 2.5" between the back of the speaker and the back panel of the TV stand. The back panel is metal, though it's a mesh design. I've included a stock photo of the stand. Would this be OK with the rear port on the 450C? I'd say the 440C would be an option, but that's only 1" less in depth... I can't see that would make much of a difference. My other option would then be the 250C. Some additional information... the room is 21' x 12' with 8'. ceilings. However, the end of the room where I have the TV stand and front speakers is closer to 10' wide due to a storage room. Therefore, I plan on going with RP-250F speakers since I have very limited room to put a sub between the floor standing speaker and the TV stand. With the MLP being about 14' away from the center channel, would the 450C even be a good match with the 250F speakers? Thanks in advance for any advice.