Question 1

are these active speakers or passive?

Accepted Answer

passive. very worth it however. my first intro into passive speakers and the sound quality is amazing!

Question 2

Do I have to have a reciever thing? Sorry, not really knowledgable on speakers. Im looking for something like a sound bar buy in a book shelf speaker form. Can these just be hooked straight up to the back of the TV?

Accepted Answer

Taylor,

Look at the back of the TV.  Does it show connections for hooking up speakers as opposed to a "line out" port or jack (as we old guys would call it)?  If it shows a connection for external speakers, these speakers will work. If all you have is a "line out" connection, these will not work.  They're reasonably efficient and can probably be driven satisfactorily by your TV, but don't expect to shake the walls with such an arrangement.  Usually, speakers of this kind are best connected to a an audio receiver (~ 50 to 100 watts) that would have a more powerful amp than that generally found built into TVs (~5 to 10 watts).

Good luck.

Question 3

Hello,  Can these speakers be wall mounted?! Thank you Joe D

Accepted Answer

Yes. They come delivered with keyhole hanging brackets installed near the top and rubber bumpers near the bottom to keep them enough away from the wall to allow for the speaker wire and clearance for the rear-facing port.

Question 4

Does anyone have any recommended speaker stands for these? They're on the heavier side and have the slightly awkward mounting plate on the back.

Accepted Answer

Hey Travis,

I used the VideoSecu side mounting brackets (verbatim merchant description below) and they work great. I mounted them in my plaster and lath walls WITHOUT mounting directly to a stud, but instead I used big molly (toggle) bolts (I think they were 1/2" bolts)  in all three mounting points on each bracket. Easily enough to carry these guys. In addition to the tight clamp, I used a bit of that tacky mounting putty people use to secure tchotchkes on shelves, sticking the bottom of the speakers, per some recommendations in the reviews.

VideoSecu One Pair of Side Clamping Speaker Mounting Bracket with Tilt and Swivel for Large Surrounding Sound Speakers MS56B 3LH

Hope that helps! 
Josh

Questions & Answers