Wall mounting JBL305P's

[swarfrat]

I started looking for a wall mount solution for my JBL 305P's. (Currently sitting on a cluttered desk and sorta blocked.) I found some rockville stuff on ebay that 1) only angled 10 degrees down and seems to rely on gravity to hold it in place, and 2) one that claimed to be for the 305P but is screw mounted and the 305P back is pretty much all plate for the amp.

Has anyone ever mounted theirs to the wall? I see the home theater guys seem to love these things but I didn't find any closeups of the mount.

 

[RetiredUnit1]

I just picked up some 308's and was brainstorming the same thing. So far I've decided to make my own shelves from some baltic birch, insulate the bottoms with some 1/8" silicone sheet, and use tie downs to hold them onto the shelf (I live in earthquake country).


Like these

 

[swarfrat]

Since my own question is now showing up as one of the top answers on search, I'll add some of my findings.

1) It's rear ported, so you need some space behind it. Answers vary from 2-3" to the audiophile "it must be in the exact center of the universe to maximize the distance to the earliest reflection". From reading, it looks like 3" is about the minimum, with up to 12" being ideal but the difficulties of mounting means you're going to be stuck with 3"

2) Ceiling mount is actually looking like an option - though I'd be drilling holes int he bottom and flipping them upside down. Not ready to do that. They're cheap and not collectible, not sure the hangup, but I've not had good luck drilling holes in consumer particle board things. It gets distance from the wall much easier, but to use them seated at a desk, I'd need a lot of drop.

3) There are a lot of products on ebay that stick JBL305P in the title that absolutely WILL NOT WORK because of aforementioned screws into the (as it turns out) plastic plate in the back where all the controls and port are.

 

[Twang-ineer]

As a person who may have mounted a speaker or two...... In your application, pretty is not the important thing. You need a big, deep shelf that you can place the speakers on, with enough room for an ISO pad and the ability to move the speaker out from the wall and angle it to your seating position. Melamine Wood Shelf @ home Depot, there is 14" should do. From Amazon - Studio Monitor Isolation Pads 5 Inch. Use twice the number of wall anchors that you think you need if mounting to Drywall. Do not penetrate the speaker and expect it to hold the weight or sound good. Speakers intended to be hung are designed for it and have rated hardware. Screwing into the cabinet is a terrible idea.

 

[swarfrat]

Yeah, I was really not keen on that idea. But if you don't already have such internal issues with it, you might not pick up on it from the products being offered for it.

 

[memorex]

 

[swarfrat]

So I found a pair of these over at Bezoworld. The subtle but important difference between this set and others of this side gripper design is the strap slots. I can pick my mounting height, and that helps control the maximum tilt needed, but I don't like the idea of tilt without some sort of anchor. The 305P is 9.5" deep, so I'm pretty sure I can get the 3" or so I need - especially if they're tilted.

 

[swarfrat]

So that mount worked. With the thin foam padding and the screw pressure available, I think they'll be fine with the small angle. A few minor nits - the plastic cover takes up space - which I neglected to account for when I hung the right one. A quick slice on the table saw fixed it. Also no matter how big the box of cables, the most minute configuration change seems to require purchase of new cables.

 

[swarfrat]

And added bonus - getting them off the cluttered desk cleaned up the response a bit. Red is the equalized output from REW (Room EQ Wizard). Brown is the raw measured curve before EQ.

 

[chulaivet1966]

So that mount worked.

Ahhh....much better....looks good.
I think that was a necessary mod.

Did you give them a slight tilt?
I'd guess, by the pic, about 10-12 degrees would be enough to keep your aural receptors in the mixing sweet spot.

If your 6'6" no tilt would be needed.

Well done....

 

[swarfrat]

Yeah they're tilted down. I measured ear height seated, then aimed them at my eyeballs. Eyeballs can't hear, but ears can't see and they're pretty close to the same level.

The camera is held really low to frame the shot though, so it kinda looks like they're way up there

 

[chulaivet1966]

Yeah they're tilted down. I measured ear height seated, then aimed them at my eyeballs. Eyeballs can't hear, but ears can't see and they're pretty close to the same level.

The camera is held really low to frame the shot though, so it kinda looks like they're way up there

Ha....yes....the ears & eyes are on the same longitude so all is good.

 

[swarfrat]

Hijacking my own thread. Had this lumber left over from a treadmill desk years ago. Needed a way to hold the keyboard and wasn't quite ready to dump the old executive desk and start a build. But I realized I had space and thought I could reach the keyboard here so I cut the shelf down to barely fit the keyboard. I think I just kicked that can way down the road. This is exciting. Keyboard has always been a royal pitb here. Now I can leave it set up 24/7

 

[Dukex]

It all looks tidy and tasty. Good job!

 

[swarfrat]

Thanks. The keyboard goes into a midi patch bay and drives a Roland jv-880. With the Roland's "performance patches" I have it set up
1) acoustic piano
2) bass
3) Rhodes
4) trombone
5) bari sax
6) B3

So I can cycle through my major patches with just the channel buttons.

 

[Chud]

Great project, came out awesome. You may have already done this, but particularly with the tilt I'd personally err on the side of adding some blue loctite on the bolts holding the tilt adjust.