Just purchased a new home that won't accommodate my Klipsch towers, which gives me the perfect opportunity to upgrade to Aperion speakers. My question is whether to go with bookshelf speakers wall mounted or in-wall speakers. I primarily use the speakers for movies and video games.

The family room/kitchen combo room where the speakers will live is 21' wide by 32' deep. The rear speakers (Bose), left by the previous owner, are in the ceiling 18' from the TV wall. The remaining 14' behind them is the kitchen. The front speaker location is prewired where the ceiling meets the wall for those little Bose cube speakers. I could mount 6Bs or 5Bs there (9' from the floor) and angle them down. My fear is that the 7-degree angle the Aperion brackets allow isn't enough for optimal listening at 10' to 12' back. The other option is to install 6-LCR speakers 5' from the floor. 

 So the basic question is... Bookshelf speakers 9' from the floor or in-wall speakers 5' from the floor — which will give me better results? 

Hello and welcome to the forum,

I'd definitely recommend the 6LCRs because of the height.  Nine feet is awfully high, so much so that if you try and angle the 6Bs down in mounts because they are a 26 lb. speaker there's a chance that they will slide out of the mount.  

The 6LCRs come pretty close to the 5Bs, but since they'll be four feet closer to ideal placement than the 5Bs, the LCRs will be the clear winner for you.  

Hope that helps but please let me know if you have any other questions! 

Nice screen name by the way, my mom owns a beagle and she is definitely "beserk" as well. 

Thanks for the response Jason. A few more questions...

Do you know the recommended height for the 6LCRs? 

Can bookshelf speakers be laid on their side? I have AV racks on either side of the TV that would put 6Bs/5Bs at the perfect height, but the space between the shelves isn't high enough for the speakers to stand upright.

Finally, how important is it to have your speakers match. Will I get better performance out of the system as a whole if my center channel and rear ceiling speakers are also Aperion?

At some point in my life I knew a Jason Hicks and it is driving me crazy as I am trying to place the name.  

BerserkBeagle:

Finally, how important is it to have your speakers match. Will I get better performance out of the system as a whole if my center channel and rear ceiling speakers are also Aperion?

Yes, you will get the best sound from your system by having all speakers in your system timbre matched (which applies to every product in Aperion's Intimus line).  Having said that, I think the front three are most critical to be matched for movie watching.  Unless you plan on doing a lot of multi-channel music listening, you'd probably be fine leaving your existing rear ceiling speakers in place (even if they are Bose j/k).  Let your ears be your guide though- you can always upgrade your rear surrounds later if they don't blend well with Aperions in the front sound stage.  My 2 cents.

-Nick

BerserkBeagle:

Thanks for the response Jason. A few more questions...

Do you know the recommended height for the 6LCRs? 

Can bookshelf speakers be laid on their side? I have AV racks on either side of the TV that would put 6Bs/5Bs at the perfect height, but the space between the shelves isn't high enough for the speakers to stand upright.

Finally, how important is it to have your speakers match. Will I get better performance out of the system as a whole if my center channel and rear ceiling speakers are also Aperion?

At some point in my life I knew a Jason Hicks and it is driving me crazy as I am trying to place the name.  

For the front channels ear level is recommended, so around 3-4 feet.  But 5 feet isn't too much above ideal and you can aim the tweeters down to your listening position. 

You can lay the speakers on their sides but it will mess a bit with their imaging, that is where you hear sounds coming from especially when things are panning back and forth between the two channels.  If it's an enclosed cabinet then I don't recommend the 6Bs as they are a pretty bassy speaker with a large back port so putting them in a cabinet is a recipe for them to sound fairly muddy.  The 5Bs can work in that scenario if there's 3-4 inches behind them, but it still won't be optimal so I think you'd still be better off with the 6LCRs.  If the racks are open then that presents less of a sacrifice though. 

As Nick said while it is ideal to have all of your speakers be from the same brand it is most critical to have your fronts and center matched.   

Heh, Jason Hicks is pretty much the same as John Smith, there are literally hundreds if not thousands of us.  One day when I have the spare time and energy I plan on hunting down each and every last one and forcing them to change their names.  Because like the great film Highlander says, "There can be only one! "