Another speaker placement question. HELP


I have my system in a 10foot by 10 foot room which could sound horrible but the front and back walls are half walls so the room is actually a lot larger than 10'x10'. I had the speakers about 2 feet from the front wall and 1 foot from the side walls which was OK but we had our floors all redone so when I put back the system I put the speakers about 4 feet from the front wall and a foot and a half from the side walls. This worked but I found I had a lack of focus in the middle. I towed in the speakers which seems to have solved the hole in the middle effect but I thought I would ask advice on what others would do with this type of room. I am 6 feet from the speakers which are 7 1/2 feet apart but are towed so the tweeter frequencies would join somewhere behind my head. I think it sounds good but any advice would be appreciated. I'm running Hales T5's with Pass amp and pre .I have the front corners treated with foam as well as the foam on the side walls to absorb reflections. I have a good soundstage and it works but what would you do with a room like mine? Please do not say you would move the system to another room. My music space is my only option. Thanks.
128x128mitchb
Moving back the speakers 5 inches has helped. What seems to be happening is the back wall is open on my right side in order to enter this space and I think the left side is a bit fuller. I will try foam to compensate for the open area by putting it on the left corner behind me(I currently have my cd's piled up for absorbtion but I will put foam). There is no corner on my right which seems to affect the sound at first but once the system plays for a bit it balances out. I do not know if it is me adjusting, the room filling with sound or a bit of both but the sound does seem to balance when music is played for 15 or 20 minutes.
Square rooms are difficult but since your room is not "really" square, who knows? Speakers wider apart than you are from them is a bit unusual. I would try moving them a little closer together and playing w toe-in.
Judging from the pictures you have an unusual room for sure and learning the room is sometimes the most difficult part of getting our systems to work the way we want.

The rule of thumb for many speaker manufacturers is for the listening position to be equal to the distance between the speakers. In that respect you would be sitting too close.

A speaker should be selected to work best in the environment where it will be used and the Hales T5 is a huge speaker for your room. It is also a huge speaker for how you are using it. With it's angled baffle the designer had a listening distance in mind and I am sure it wasn't 6 feet, so, you may want to play with the tilt angle and the listening distance to dial in the sound.

Your speakers are very close to the side walls and I understand you have a wall on one side and not the other. I think you are on the right track by treating the wall, but I don't know if foam is the right material. As I have mentioned in other postings, I have used Tube Trap products for years with excellent results.

You might try toeing the speakers to cross in front of you along with adjusting the tilt angle. This might work with your unusual room configuration. It never hurts to try.

I doubt that your system is balancing itself out after playing for a while. You are most likely getting used to the sound.

It is easier to get good sound out of small speakers especially in a small listening area. If you continue to struggle with the sound you may want to consider a high quality monitor with a subwoofer. You can select a monitor for near field listening and place the woofer where it will give you the best bass. You will have the best of both worlds.
Have you read the book? Floyd Toole's 'Sound Reproduction', this is. If not, don't make any changes until you have done so. It may take a few readings, but your understanding of what you hear will give you keen insights into to do, and not do. The 'room' is everything!
The room isn't everything, but it's a lot. Every room introduces it's own character to the sound.

Trial and error is the best method to achieve the sound YOU like.
I have moved the speakers back about 5 inches and towed them in slightly so the tweeters would meet behind my head. I prefer this as it gives me a wider soundstage. My head is exactly 6 feet from either speaker's midline keeping me and the speakers equadistant. I am the point of a triangle which is equal from midline of the speakers to each other and to my head. The speakers are 6 feet apart from each other and I am 6 feet from midline speaker equally on both sides. Iam getting better focus and better bass but I know it could be better. I'm just not sure where to place them. I could move them back another full foot and still be OK but I fear I would lose distancce in my soundstage. I think my Hales like to breath. I had my speakers 2 feet from the front wall but I find the sound better the way I have them now.
I should mention the front and back walls are half walls but both side walls are full. I have an opening on the right side where one enters but the left side of me makes a corner. It is this corner which makes the left side a bit heavier sounding. I definately do notice a difference when playing music for the first 15 to 20 minutes as the sound is better. Whether it be me or another influence is not known but the difference is there for sure. Even rooms need to warm up. I have my cd's in the left back corner to absorb the sound to make it more even but I will repklace my cd rack with foamin that corner. I think that might solve this problem.
Now I have moved the speakers back another foot so they are actually a foot and a half farther back and they are at least a foot closer to each other. I am now in a perfect equilateral triangle with the distance of the midline of each speaker to each other. At first the sound was horrible but then I moved my couch where I listen more even so my listening position is right in the middle of the couch. This did the trick but I am not convinced it sounds better. I am getting better central focus but the bass is less tight and detailed. The new positioning softened the bass a bit but I'll know for sure when I have an hour or two alone in the house to be able to play. I positioned the speakers exactly the same using the side and front wall to measure from. The speakers may now be 3 feet into the room instead of 5 feet and they are 6 1/2 feet apart as opposed to 7 1/2 feet apart. It sounds equal but I don't know if it's me or if it sounded better with the speakers further out in the room. I will listen tomorrow but I have a feeling I may move the out again 6 inches to see if that tightens the bass. Of course there may be other things at play but I'll live with it a bit and then experiment some more. I have a hunch I'll move them again but I'm not sure what exactly to try next. Further back more to the front wall or further away from the front wall. Any further suggestuions would be appreciated. My sound is different but not necessarily better.I hope with further placement I'll find the best but the Hales are a pain to move let alone measure exactly the same. As always I was able to get them equal but it took me 2 hours to do it. After all that I'm not sure.
Go to your hardware store and get some 'furniture movers', for lack of a better term, which are plastic faced rubber discs which you place under the corners of the speakers base. Then you can just slide them around to your hearts content. Mark or chart the locations which can work as you go. Mark the final location, remove the discs and you are ready to go.

Go to Radio Shack or the Internet and buy a SPL (sound pressure level) meter. Get a test disc, such as sold by Stereophile, which has test tones so you can measure the FR as heard at your listening position. This will really speed up finding the best location for bass response. BTW, don't forget that the location of the listening position is important for the bass (and rest) of the FR.

It takes a long time to find the best location for speakers - so don't think you are going to pin it down the first few times. I've usually set mine up to give the best bass response by moving the speakers and listening seat and then fine tuned the mid/upper frequencies by just moving the speakers. BTW inches count. It doesn't have to be feet.

Setting up speakers ain't magic, it's just hard work, done methodically and documented, to get it right! :-)
Yep-speakers are way to big. You may be able to "cheat" the room by putting the speakers on the half wall. The gear between the speakers doesn't help, either. How about investing in a Behringer Digital EQ (if you're on Long Island, NY, I will lend you mine) and spray the room with some noise and see what the curve looks like and compensate with the EQ? If it works, I will probably donate it to you.
I am in Canada but thanks for the offer. My system is way to big for that space but it does sound quite nice. To sell my Hales would be a huge loss but the sound is good regardless. I had a friend come by who gave me some advice and I basically pushed the speakers back 3 feet from the front wall and 2 feet from the side wall. I measure from
the front wall to the mid of the woofer and I measure the side walls to the midline of the speakers. I am getting better centre focus but the bass is less tight. It's a compramise I suppose.