If you view my system thread you will notice there's a brick fireplace between my speakers. That image was made during the short period of time my rug was not hanging in front of that brick.
I hung a silk rug with a 2X2 piece of lumber cut 1/4 inch shorter than the width of the rug, then attached tack strip to the face of the 2X2 and mashed the rug onto the tack strip.
In case you're not familiar with tack strip, it's a thin sliver of wood with dozens of sharp tacks (tiny nails) imbedded in it. This is designed to secure wall to wall carpeting around at the perimeter and doorway of a room.
This stuff is nasty, very sharp and easy to prick your finger, but if installed correctly it has a death grip on the rug. Better still, with the 2X2 behind it allows the sides and bottom of the rug to hang freely, some inches in front of your hard surface, providing a tiny trap for sound.
In my room it increased the sound stage, reduced the false bright presentation off the brick and even tightened up the bass a bit.
To secure to my brick, I drilled two tiny holes and used brick anchors, screwing the 2X2 at each end. I then hung the 2X2 at the top of the fireplace using a level to insure it looked good to the eye.
If your room does not allow for the wall attachment method, I have also had success attaching eye hooks into the top side of the 2X2 and matching width eye hooks in the decorative beams (or sheet rock) in the ceiling. At any normal distance the wires are not intrusive, almost invisible.
Braided wire for hanging art work is very strong and pulling a length through the two eye hook at each end is all that's needed. The rug is able to (very slightly) swing on the wires, an inch or two in front of the hard surface.
The good news about the wire method, fastening one cable establishes distance, making leveling easy. Pull the remaining wire through the eye hook at the other end of the 2X2 until the bubble is square. Secure in place by twisting around and around or clamping with the supplied metal clip, depending the which type hanging kit you purchased.
