Lifestyle 650 Speaker Placement

[Wick]

Hello, considering the Lifestyle 650 home theater system and was wondering about the best rear speaker placement for the omnijewel speaker.  I want to place the speaker on the back wall approximately 3 feet behind the listener and about 4 feet above the listener (near the ceiling).  I see the wall mounts do not allow tilting, so would the sound be affected in a negative way having them this high?  Thanks!

[Emmet_H · Accepted solution]

Hello Wick,

While not ideal the AdaptIQ should be able to adapt to this speaker placement. Ideally you will have all speakers at listening level while seated. Alternatively we do have ceiling brackets available which do allow for angling. 

[slowikFTW]

Regarding Soundtouch 520 - in scenario below, should the rear speakers be straight (A) or angeled (B) at a listener?

A:

B:

[Duduledur]

Hi,

Nobody has the answer for the good question from @slowikFTW ?

Thanks in advance !

[Squadie]

Hi slowikFTW
For directional speakers, it's recommend that not only the rear but the front speakers are aimed at the listener for optimal surround sound, but, this is not law 🙂 try out different positions until you are happy with one.

[Duduledur]

I have tried the « B » position from @slowikFTW and it sounds really great on my LS650.

regards.

[ksigpaul]

Can you give me the part number of the omni-jewel ceiling mounts that allow for adjustable angling for this situation?

I've called multiple Bose retail locations and spoken with sales a few times on the phone; they were never aware of adjustable ceiling mounts. I was sold two pairs (despite needing one) of stationary ceiling mounts. I was always told that the omni jewels and AdaptIQ were so multi-directional that articulating mounts were no longer required. I have a dramatic slant on my roof and didn't want the jewels at REALLY crazy angles so I ended up crafting custom mounts myself using the base of the official mounts because I didn't want speakers sticking out from the ceiling at really odd angles on my very slanted roof. (For those not aware, the omni-jewels are designed such that you have to use a Bose base to adapt to normal speaker wiring.)

FWIW, I turned off AdaptIQ b/c it sounds better without it despite multiple passes at teaching it the locations.

[Squadie]

Hi Ksigpaul
As for as I'm aware, there is no adjustable angling for the ceiling mounts, the angle is fixed with the ability to rotate the Base so the angled bar faces in which direction you require it. I have both front and rear situated in the four corners of a flat, rectangular ceiling, with all four drivers aimed at the centre listening location.
Depending on the angle of your slanted ceiling, I would be tempted to install the wall brackets on the slant so, the drivers are aimed at your listening position.
Hope this helps.

[ksigpaul]

I guess I mis-interpretted Emmet_H's answer above then, "Alternatively we do have ceiling brackets available which do allow for angling."

I have the wall and ceiling mounts and neither works well for an A ceiling. I'm really dispointed in the fact that Bose uses such proprietary connections then offers such poorly flexible adapters. This among a few other things probably means I won't replace my 650 with Bose in the future.

FWIW, the structured wiring adapter is equally terrible. The amount of extra cabling I have sitting around because I needed to use the structured wiring adapter for just the two back surrounds is unfortunate. I had the same problem with the acoutimass before, I'm just really surprised Bose doesn't support pre-wired structures... It's sort of ironic because these custom adapters are so poorly supported and configurable and it's nearly impossible to get the asthetic that Bose advertises. Combine that with the fact that I haven't spoken to a custom install place that carries Bose or will install it (for these reasons).

I'll mention again, I had an Acoutimass 15 before, and now I have the Lifestyle 650 and I installed the Acoutimass in 3 different homes. It had the same issues e

[Brian_M]

Hi Ksigpaul,

I apologize for the confusion. As @Squadie mentioned, the OmniJewel ceiling brackets use a fixed angle. We do have a wall/ceiling bracket that allows for adjustable angling, but this particular bracket will not fit your LifeStyle 650 speakers. The OmniJewel speakers are unique in that they utilize 360° sound-dispersion. Currently, this is the only Bose home-theater system to provide this technology from the satellite speakers. For this reason, the OmniJewel speakers don't necessarily need to be angled (horizontally). As far as vertical tilt, it is best to have the speakers aimed directly at the listening area, as best as possible. I understand your situation is a bit unique with the slanted ceilings. Depending on the angle of the slanted ceiling, I would agree with @Squadie; you may want to consider trying the wall-brackets if it seems like they would provide a better angle for you. 

I hope this information helps!

Best regards,

Brian