I have a project coming up that has a unique need. The layout in the basement includes a "TV area", with an exercise equipment area directly behind it. Near the exercise equipment are 2 wooden pillars. These pillars are a ways back from the seating area, but directly in front of the exercise machines. The wires for surround speakers are on the insides of these pillars, facing each other.

Client wants speakers mounted on the pillars so they will serve dual purpose as surround speakers, as well as to play music for exercising (multi ch. stereo on AVR I suppose).

I could be lazy and just put up a set of black outdoor speakers and call it good. But I am looking a more "elegant" solution. Def Tech has some decent looking bipolar surrounds (SR9080), but I am not sure they will provide decent enough surround performance with the distance between them and the sofa.

He is ok with something on a bracket he can turn and aim towards the sofa when watching movies and turn to aim towards the exercise bike or whatever he has when listening to music. My problem with that is finding something that can pivot a full 90 degrees to be in the best position for surround sound (as ideal as can be in the space at least...firing towards the sofa from directly behind it).

Any ideas maybe a bit outside the box here? Thanks!

A pair of Bose 901s aimed at each other....

Really, though, how about two pairs of speakers, one facing front, the other back? Surely you can work out mounting them back to back, or at 90 degrees to one another, with a couple of hardware store brackets. Paint the brackets black.

Everybody here might want to put the AVR in Party Mode for music, but most clients don't notice it, nor do they want to do any button pushing for the secondary use.

Don't underestimate the ease of hearing the delay- I have a customer with major hearing damage from an infection and she can hear it easily. Hardly what anyone would call "technically-inclined" and she asked for a button to make it go away. Her husband probably hasn't found it, yet.

What about something like Paradigms ADP series speakers? It's dipolar which, facing each other, would fire to the theater and the exercise room. Most decent receivers have a speaker delay which should allow you to delay the rears to the front stage and played in Party Mode should provide a fairly cohesive sound in the exercise room

The delay is godawful and a dead cat can hear it.

I'm not talking about that. You're talking about the delay between the main zone and zone 2. I'm talking about what signals go to the rear speakers when in the Party Mode, if necessary. I think leaving the system in surround and letting the rear speakers just play the rear channel signals might work. The LCRs will still be louder than the surrounds from back there. If not, Party Mode will channel plenty more audio to the rear speakers, making them an acceptable source from the exercise equipment.

2nd amp with auto A/B