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Speakers near fireplace

I’m moving and in the new house it seems the best speaker position would be to have them on each side of the fireplace. They’re Vandersteen 2CE Signatures. I want to put them about a foot or so to the right/left of the fireplace and about 1-1/2 feet in front of the wall with the fireplace.

There are glass doors on the fireplace but I’m thinking of replacing that with a screen.

I would plan on putting the amp, etc. further to one side of the left speaker. The only real problem I see is that there will be a cable running across the floor (in front of the fireplace) to the right speaker. That and I will have one speaker close to the amp. In the past my rig was basically in the middle of both speakers, what’s the best way to handle 12’ of cable with only 2-3 feet needed on the one side?
jetson
jetson OP
128 posts
 
@tochsii I agree as far as the radiant heat goes. I could make some thin steel sheet panels as reflectors, that would likely mess with the sound too.

FWIW, I did some more layout using a solid modelling program and they’ll be closer to 28" out, and 38" off center. I used Richard’s room length (or width) divided by an odd integer for approximate placement.
mickeyb
173 posts
 
Fires radiant lots of heat outward that’s why you have a fireplace. The shallower the box, the more outward heat. I have my speakers on both sides of my fireplace but there about 4’ from the firebox on each side. I’ve had no problems. I can’t tell if it effects the sound because I’m a 30yr carpenter and my ears are s^*t, especially my high frequency hearing. I’d worry about the heat. I’m sure they’ll sound great. 
stereo5's avatar
stereo5
2,766 posts
 
@2tuby...…………………………………..

Bi-wiring Vandersteen speakers should be considered mandatory. Richard Vandersteen is very insistant on that.
jetson OP
128 posts
 
I realized I could post some images in the virtual system area. If you go there you can see a model and a drawing of the plan, one thing I forgot to mention is the room has built-ins. I'm allowed to remove them - would they likely help or hurt?  It's not like I can listen, take them down, and decide to put them up again. LOL
Thanks again for your help.
https://systems.audiogon.com/users/jetson
mamboni
55 posts
 
The dry infrared heating is going to accelerate aging of the plastic and foam parts. More concerning, fire places emit enormous amounts of microparticulates, largely carbon and silica, and these will accumulate in the moving parts, especially around magnetic fields, paricularly voice coils. Low level exposure to acid gases especially sulfur dioxide will deteriorate polymers, especially surrounds and spiders. Personally, I wouldn't place my prized loudspeakers or components near a fireplace. 
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