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Speakers near fireplace

I’m moving and in the new house it seems the best speaker position would be to have them on each side of the fireplace. They’re Vandersteen 2CE Signatures. I want to put them about a foot or so to the right/left of the fireplace and about 1-1/2 feet in front of the wall with the fireplace.

There are glass doors on the fireplace but I’m thinking of replacing that with a screen.

I would plan on putting the amp, etc. further to one side of the left speaker. The only real problem I see is that there will be a cable running across the floor (in front of the fireplace) to the right speaker. That and I will have one speaker close to the amp. In the past my rig was basically in the middle of both speakers, what’s the best way to handle 12’ of cable with only 2-3 feet needed on the one side?
jetson
grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,646 posts
 
I have the same issue as you. First, I ran the cable under the floor/house so there would be no cable visible between the speakers. My wife did not want to see the wire. Used nice wall plates that the cable passed through both going down and coming back up. The long cable ended up being 20 feet long. My shorter cable is 7 feet long. No need for both cables to be the same exact lenght. I used a nice 10 gauge speaker cable that I manufacture and sell and my system sounds wonderful. No worries about uneven cable lenght. I cannot hear the difference between equal lengths and my current set up. I have done the listening tests. No difference at all.

Perhaps you could do something like this? It would be nice if the length differences were minimized as much as is possible.

You can view my system under virtual systems here.  
lak's avatar
lak
4,753 posts
 
1+ grannyring
I did something very sumular to the above post and it wored out very well.
stereo5's avatar
stereo5
6,571 posts
 
When I had Vandersteen 2CE Sig speakers, one of the 8 inch woofer surrounds (rubber) came unglued from the cone so I sent it back to Vandersteen for repair (out of warranty).  When I got the new woofer back, there was a note in the box from Richard Vandersteen stating that the surround separated because the speaker must have been too close to the baseboard heat.  I would think hard about putting them near the fireplace for this very reason. 
jetson OP
140 posts
 
Thanks Grannyring and lak. I'll have to check on whether the landlord will allow me to drill holes in the floor.

Thanks Stereo5 - that type of concern was why I posted.  It's probably a good idea to check with Richard Vandersteen on the maximum temp the rear of the speaker can see.
I don't have many other placement options - if needed, I can put them where I get best sq, and move if I light a fire.

I plan in the not too distant future to get some Quatro CTs, which I believe I can put further away. I don't think I want to put the 2s in the corner like I can with CTs. I'll experiment with them their first and see how it goes.  
   
I will probably see if I can get Johnny R to come over and set up the 2s in this new home and comment on the CTs and their placement.

Thanks again.
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