I found a simple solution for mounting a center speaker above a TV

If you have a nice sound system, you probably have a center speaker. Mounting it in the right place can be tricky. Just above the TV is a perfect place to mount it, but some people (like me) can’t go making all kinds of holes in their apartment walls.

So, I set out to design a solution that would hold the speaker without touching the wall at all.

The key insight here is to try to use the VESA mounting holes as an anchor for the speaker.

Sketching

I wasn’t quite sure how to build it, so I made some sketches:

Then I went to Home Depot and wandered around until I found parts that worked.

The best find was this little bracket. The little slot lets you tweak the height and tilt of the speaker to get it perfectly adjusted. It’s called a “Simpson Strong Tie Roof Truss Clip”:

Parts list:

2 roof truss clips (angle brackets)

4 bolts in M6 x 16 size for the VESA mount and wide flat washers for them

2 bolts with wing nuts for easy adjustment

A furring strip for the vertical supports

A few short screws for attaching the brackets to the speaker

Building

The final design ended up very simple: two furring strips running vertically up through the VESA mount points, each with a mounting bracket attached, and the speaker mounted on top. With some careful leveling and adjusting you’re left with a very sturdy, simple result:

Add a little flat black spray paint, and the whole thing is almost invisible:

Finished Product

If you liked this post, share it on Twitter