Update for Early February:
Of course I couldn't leave it alone. This time it is just a minor evolution. I moved the SDS100 and SDS150 to the left side of the desk and added speakers for the scanners. I also have similar speakers for the ID-5100 and IC-7300 placed on top of the console at the edges of the monitor. I then added 8 external speakers for the scanners. With all the shacks I have had I rarely had ever used external speakers as the racks have enough gaps to allow audio to escape. I usually had no problem hearing the comms and the few times I did try external speakers I was not very impressed.
Then a bit back I bought an ID-5100 from a guy here on RR. He included an external speaker with it that I did not use at first. Later, the way I had mounted the shelf unit in my current shack caused me to try using the external speaker and I was pretty impressed. I then tried it out on a few of the scanners and I liked the performance. I also had one of those generic 2"x 4" speakers that are sold under various trade names like PowerWerx, Opek etc. I popped that onto one of the scanners and placed it on top of my monitor and it sounded great.
Now I was starting to think about how to mount a bunch of speakers. The monitor mount I have is the
SecretLab Wide Screen mount which comes with a pair of optional handles to make it easier to move it around. I had removed the top handle as it stuck out too far for my tastes but realized it would support mounting a batch of these speakers. It was easily removed, just a couple Allen screws to lock it down.
I stopped by the local HomeDepot and bought a package of 1/2 inch pipe clamps and a piece of 1.5 inch angle aluminum stock. I had decided that I wanted 8 speakers above the monitors, one for each of the 536's and one each for the 2 SDS200's, the 260 and 996P2.
I then measured everything out and decided that I needed 23" of stock aluminum so cut that off the 48" piece I had. I then drilled holes to mount the speakers as well as holes for the clamps.
This is the monitor arm I use. It shows the same type monitor I have except in white, while mine is black. (photo from the company's website).
This is how the angle stock attaches to the monitor arm handle:
Here is a side view of the speakers mounted to the angle stock:
A better view of the rear of the assembly. I had originally considered a set up with the speakers mounted so the cables came out above but changed my mind mid-stream. In the time I wrote this I probably could have removed and reapplied the number labels but I have selective dyslexia and can read them upside down just fine.
This is how the speaker assembly looks when seated at the desk. The brightness of the display caused some havoc with the aperture of the phone camera.
A view from the center of the office. I ended up spending more time on measuring and aligning the holes for the speakers than anything else. They are actually pretty well spaced out, I used my caliper to measure the spacing. The front-rear alignment was set to allow the center two speakers to fit in front of the handle.
I like the way this turned out. I can quickly unplug the speakers and loosen the Allen screws holding the handle to the monitor arm and remove the speaker assembly as a unit in under a minute. Unless you are standing you would never see the bracket, otherwise I would have painted it. I did go thru a couple iterations of the thing over the last 2 days so there are a couple extra holes here and there, but since it is well hidden by the monitor I have no issue with that.
