Mount Rear Speakers in media room

[hjames]

I'm stuck with a conundrum ...
Up 'til now I have had an old pair of JBL G100 speakers hanging in the rear of out media room. Because there a pair of plant hooks already in the ceiling
(hooks with molly expansion bolts in the ceiling) I came up with the idea of drilling the side of those cheap old speakers and just hanging them on the hooks. Worked well, was way too high for anyone's head to bump into, and the rear sound was pretty good for DVDs and TV shows.
But now I want to upgrade.
I recently got a pair of very nice L20T speakers, and the veneer is as close to perfect as I could imagine, so I'm not going to drill into the side of them and put a big hook there. That solution is out this time around.

There are 5 small holes on the back of the L20T speakers - perhaps from some sort of mounting brackets?
I pasted red arrows in photoshop to point them out ... do those look familiar to anyone?

So - how to mount them in the back of the room?

[pmakres1]

Hi hjames,

Here's what I did to mount my 4401 monitors in my office. These brackets have worked quite well. They were made by MG Electronics, but apparently MG no longer makes them. They do have a website, but all the mounts I see on there currently are for TV monitors. However, there are quite a few speaker mounts available on eBay. I did a quick seach for you, these are very, very similar to the mounts I have, and can support 25 pounds. If you are going into drywall, be sure to use sturdy, expandable anchors. (I could post a picture of the type of anchor I used if you like). You would likely need to add additional holes on the back of your speakers for
self-tapping screws, but they wouldn't be visible once you hang them up....

Here is the ebay listing for the mount similar to mine: http://cgi.ebay.com/TILT-BOOKSHELF-S...QQcmdZViewItem

Good luck!

Peter

[Fred Sanford]

Heather- I've got a pretty large collection of older Omni Mount brackets, check out their products and see if you think something of theirs might work (think along the lines of modifying the bracket, not the speaker). Let me know if you want to check some of the brackets out- they're in an attic right now, so not exactly sure of the model #s.

je

[Fred Sanford]

By the way, with any approach, you can fab a thin-but-strong plate of metal that matches the bolt pattern for the speaker and can bolt up (or weld, I guess) to the bracket of choice.

je

[hjames]

By the way, with any approach, you can fab a thin-but-strong plate of metal that matches the bolt pattern for the speaker and can bolt up (or weld, I guess) to the bracket of choice.

je

Right - thats the direction I was headed - use the existing holes to tie to something else ...

[pmakres1]

By the way, with any approach, you can fab a thin-but-strong plate of metal that matches the bolt pattern for the speaker and can bolt up (or weld, I guess) to the bracket of choice.

je

Now there's a thought-an adaptor plate!

That would allow you to use the existing holes. In fact, now that we mention it, I did make spacer plates for mine, to get the speaker corners
out a bit more from the wall to clear the map frames in my office. (see photo). I wanted to aim the speakers downward, and I was going to smack into the frames without the spacers. I only made them something like 5/16" thick.

Hope you have success!

Peter

[Fred Sanford]

Oh look, here's some that didn't make it to the attic yet. These are for popping through hung ceiling tiles, I think, and have raw plumber's pipe fittings above the tiles and out of sight. I think I sprayed the raw pipes & flanges black. Some of the ones I have extend on an arm like this, some don't.

[Zilch]

Omni-Mount is the correct solution. Snag some from Fred. They come in three basic load capacities, as I recall.

What bolts to the wall is vertical-in-line holes, so you find the center of a stud and install with 1/4" lags in pilot holes. See MTC-51 pic, next post. That's JBL-branded Omni-Mount.

I'm sorry, but I just don't trust screws into particle board for mounting to the speaker. I through-bolt to the inside, with fender washers in there. The clamp goes on the speaker, the arm with ball on the wall.

I don't recognize the hole patten on yours. I'd just fill and ignore them.

NICE speakers, BTW....

[JBL 4645]

You should try what I did, that’s if you’re crazy enough to try.

[pmakres1]

Omni-Mount is the correct solution. Snag some from Fred. They come in three basic load capacities, as I recall.

What bolts to the wall is vertical-in-line holes, so you find the center of a stud and install with 1/4" lags in pilot holes.

I'm sorry, but I just don't trust screws into particle board for mounting to the speaker. I through-bolt to the inside, with fender washers in there. The clamp goes on the speaker, the arm with ball on the wall.

I don't recognize the hole patten on yours. I'd just fill and ignore them.

NICE speakers, BTW....

Very understandable concern. Obviously you'd want to be sure you're okay to drill all the way through without damaging anything inside. As I recall, that was going to be an issue with my 4401's. So, I used self-tapping screws of sufficient diameter into the particle board, and they tightened down very securely. I was lucky enough to find wall studs for some of my screws, and I used expansion anchors for the rest. I've had the speakers mounted this way about 4 years now with no problems whatsoever.

Peter

[pmakres1]

You should try what I did, that’s if you’re crazy enough to try.

Interesting!

[hjames]

Interesting!

Well - I'm not sure but I think the L20T speaker weighs a bit more than those JBL Control speakers ... and even if we go 7.1 with the new receiver instead of the current 5.1 configuration, I don't think we'll be going with that many boxes around the room.

But - it IS interesting ... and I suspect we now know where all the JBL Control speakers in the UK went!

I'm sorry, but I just don't trust screws into particle board for mounting to the speaker.
I through-bolt to the inside, with fender washers in there.

NICE speakers, BTW....

Yes, the hooks on the G100s used a through bolt with fender washers and doublenuts. I'd planned on a smaller version of that idea with an adapter plate - but - maybe Omnis.

The Omnis come in 5, 10 and 20lb models - I'm guessing my safest bet would be to use the 20lb model. I like overkill, just in case!

The L20Ts were an inspiration. After getting that B-380 in the nice walnut grain, and upgrading the front speakers to nice walnut cabinets, the ugly black G100s just looked - yuck! I'd read about the L20T model in the forums over the last year, and the price didn't look too bad - I just wanted good cabinets.
So, once Mark in DC got a pair of all the TI models he wanted, (just kidding, Mark) I found this pair in CA in real good shape.

Cost $150 to get them, including coast-to-coast shipping.

Thus - the rear speaker mounting project!

[JBL 4645]

Then again Heather, get a bundle of JBL control 5 for the surrounds in that large room! JBL MTC-51 brackets will hold up and there adjustable.



Not to mention they come in white, just like the cat.

[Fred Sanford]

Well, wouldja look at that- one of em's got a funny little logo on it. Just one, though, the mate paired with it has an OmniMount logo:

[Fred Sanford]

Then again Heather, get a bundle of JBL control 5 for the surrounds in that large room! JBL MTC-51 brackets will hold up and there adjustable.



Not to mention they come in white, just like the cat.

Yeah, that looks Omni Mount to me. I ain't got those, just bigger 'n' beefier models. I also found some other brand that might work into the sides, too, with no extension pipes.

(Pivotelli? http://www.pivotelli.com.au/onlinestore/)

Another concern is the overall weight vs. construction of the cabs- is the back or side you mount to going to safely hold up the weight of the entire cab? Don't know what L20Ts are made of, or how they're joined together. I've seen wall-mounted Cerwin Vegas (not my idea) come crashing down, leaving just the back board up on the bracket.

je