Speaker placement the ultimate tweak!

[Alberto]

Forget cables, cones, A/C conditioners, etc. The most audibly effective tweak is speaker positioning - and all it's going to cost you is time and - possibly - a back injury or a trip to the audio psychiatrist.

Sooo ... by popular demand, I am starting a thread on the science and art of speaker placement. Personally, I find this subject and activity both fascinating and frustrating. I am fascinated by the science of acoustics and the huge impact of small positional changes, but frustrated by the fact that:

1) In a "real-world" room, the best I can do is minimize the impact of the room. The room will turn the frequency response of even ruler-flat electronics and speakers into a rollercoaster.

2) Different recordings sound best with different positioning. E.g. thin sounding recordings can benefit from a bit of a bass boost by moving the speakers closer to the backwall, boomy recordings sound better with the speakers farther into the room.

I have spent many hours on my hands and knees with tape measure, laser and masking tape trying to make my system sound as good as it deserves to. I have learned some lessons and achieved good results, but I know I have a whole lot left to learn and I know there is room for improvement. Fortunately we have some world-class experts on this forum who might be kind enough to share their views, advice and methodology/"tricks".

I'll start with one of my "tricks":

If you have a small room, select suitable speakers and position them for near-field listening. In my 11x14x9 room, the speakers are about 5' apart and my listening position is about 6' from the speakers. This greatly reduces the impact of room acoustics. Of course, you cannot do this if you have big speakers where the drivers are not close together - because they need some distance for the sound from the multiple drivers to integrate.

My 2-way Guarneri Homage required at least 7-8' to achieve that integration. But with the concentric Tannoy drivers I can sit as close as 5-6' - they are like a big pair of headphones.

And now for something we've been discussing recently and I have no real answer: U-shaped soundstage.

As BillK described it. This is the problem where on some recordings the soundstage is just wonderful: wide, deep, high. But on some other recordings, there are some sounds (usually mid to high-frequencies) that seem to come straight from the speaker. I've traced this problem to hard-panned sounds (i.e. ~100% left or right.) I know this because I experienced it in some recordings I have made where - at some point - I decided to add, say, a closed-mic'd cymbal hit and panned it hard right or left.

Frankly, I don't think that there is a solution for this. Mid to high-frequency sounds are very directional and if they are mixed to come from just one speaker they will do just that - adios illusion of sound stage. This might not be the case with planar speakers or other poly-directional designs, but I can't imagine not happening with most "regular" dynamic "box" speakers. I'd love to be wrong, and if I am please explain what I should do positioning wise to avoid this issue.

I look forward to hearing from many of you - especially the speaker whisperer(s) .

Alberto

[metaphacts]

INCOMING!!!

Beautifully launched Alberto.

[chessman]

[Vintage Pete]

Pete

[jwhite613]

My 1st Lurk

[akai]

Interesting read, on DPoLS.

GoodSoundClub - Romy the Cat's Audio Site - The

MP

[Masterlu]

This thread's already worthy of a "sticky"

[Dj_AmTraX]

Like you, I spent A LOT of time measuring, taping, and laser alining. I now have the soundstage I was seeking. I used a 7 beat drum track that pans across the soundstage from IASCA competition test CD. Took a long time to dial it in. I agree that is the BEST tweak and kinda fun too. I haven't move my speakers in years because I don't want to do it all over again.

[metaphacts]

Originally Posted by akai

Interesting read, on DPoLS.

GoodSoundClub - Romy the Cat's Audio Site - The

MP

Overabundant use of acronyms is usually an indicator of obfuscation.

YMMV

[metaphacts]

Originally Posted by Dj_AmTraX

Like you, I spent A LOT of time measuring, taping, and laser alining. I now have the soundstage I was seeking. I used a 7 beat drum track that pans across the soundstage from IASCA competition test CD. Took a long time to dial it in. I agree that is the BEST tweak and kinda fun too. I haven't move my speakers in years because I don't want to do it all over again.

Tape measures? Lasers? Really?