Speaker on its side as a center?


I am curerntly using a B&W 804 as a center with 2x 804's as mains. 2x 805's as rear. The center 804 was one of a pair, but I lost one courtesy of the shipper. I would like to lay the center 804 on its side under the plasma TV. Idea is to have this on some kind of a shelf structure under the TV platform. Any thoughts on performance of a speaker on its side? thanks.
dnallob10001
Not a good idea. You'll be relying on the speaker's "vertical" dispersion, which is usually much worse than its horizontal dispersion. Of course, most people use horizontal center speakers, which suffer from the same problem. The best center speaker is another of the front speakers, mounted vertically just like the others.
In my view, all center speakers are compromized by their position above or below the TV. However, most of the material played by the center is dialogue with some special effects. The best position is to get it as close as possible to the height of the mains with the tweeters at the same level. Being on its side is less important than any other factor. Good luck!
I use 6 identical speakers for my 6.1 system. I was laying the center on its side for esthetic purposes, but tried standing it up to hear the difference. There definitely was one. Tweeter dispersion patterns and all, I believe.

Only way to know is to try it out and see what works for you, your room and your speakers. I would certainly give it time in any position to see what you think. It's not really an A-B in 5 minutes type of test IMHO.

Enjoy,
Bob
"Jaybo: its geerally for dialogue.....no big deal"

Really? Try some of those 3channel Living Stereo or Living Presence SACDs and see if you are still singing this tune.

Kal