I am a longtime fan of low racks over higher stands if possible. Would like to someday get the rack away from between the speakers altogether and off to the side for both acoustic and aesthetic purposes.
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celtic66Get rid of it all together, and put you rack to your side. Then you’ll be totally amazed at the imagining and depth perception properties you gain. Only "glitz queens" want to sit and "try" to listen to music while staring endlessly at their shiny equipment chassis, racks and all the lights. Cheers George |
I'm a fan of draping curtains to cover hard items in the front, speakers and racks, and it does help, so I imagine that removing them altogether helps even more. Also, just in general, the floor behind and between the speakers is too often overlooked. First reflection points are important, but the space here can affect treble harshness and ability to play loudly without sounding congested. |
Pretty hard to have fancy pants cables that long. My rack is low and wide compared to my speakers .They are a few feet from the wall . Imaging is not an issue . Systems have to be livable . I cannot feature having a set up that is a wall with treatments arranged in a pattern on the wall to stare at . I would much rather look at the gear .on the other hand it does make a good excuse to put your arm around someone to use the remote though . |
After evaluating things, I decided on getting a low 2 shelf 18” high cabinet that is wide compared to putting a normal rack on the side. Since I wanted both right and left reflection point absorbers to be identical, I would have had to put the rack in a null position which would have required very long speaker cables or put the amp between the speakers and buy very long balanced cables. The cables I buy aren’t cheap. I have had this rack between the speakers in multiple dedicated rooms now without any SQ degradation |
Glitz Queens !Yep, the ones that stare endlessly at their shiny new chassis and blue led’s while "pretending to listen to music". Usually ones that buy their equipment on looks and high cost more than how it sounds. The cables I buy aren’t cheapBut "glitz queens spend even more on their shiny racks to stare at. Put it all to the side spend a bit more on cable and get far better depth and imagining than you ever had. Cheers George |
https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/7605 I am planning on adding some bigger speakers to the room shown in the above URL. I have a 1 foot deep and 72" long oak bookshelf, which is visible in one of the photos of the interior of my closet. I was wondering if the bookshelf were moved to in-between the speakers would I get some sonic benefit, such as less reflection of sound waves from the absorption of the books? If I do that I can then put a low audio rack in the closet. I know I can try this myself by moving the furniture but it would take me a long time to take down my desk and then move everything around. So I guess I am asking for a theoretical opinion on such an arrangement. |
My speakers are 6' from the front wall which is populated by tall equipment racks and CD storage. If you've got the space to move your speakers out into the room the racks will act as live end diffusers. As I experimented with speaker placement I found that it got better and better the further I moved the speakers into the room. Fortunately I've got a big room (35' x 22') so this is possible. |
I had a similar experience. My stands are 13 inches high. I was doing some housekeeping recently and had occasion to place a cardboard carton of LPs on the floor between my floor standers immediately in front of the electronics stands. The improvement in soundstage and detail was obvious and immediate. Strikes me it was the equivalent of placing electronics closer to the floor. Mysteries of acoustics. My wife won’t let me keep the box there, but I’m going to experiment some on the basis of the improvement I heard. |
Yyzsantabarbara get a heavy set of floor to ceiling drapes . Fabric stores have millions of options for cheap. Slide your desk closer to the windows. Put your stereo rig in the closet. Place your speakers on either side of your work station. Just above the monitors. Set the two tall pads in the corner opposite the windows. Keep the one between the door and closet . Place the other four on the wall behind your new seating position. Now you can at least continue programming while listening to tunes. Make the whole room a station. As opposed to a dual purpose set up. And i would probably lose those cubes and get a set of jbl 306p monitors. And some sort of dac. (Aune x1 perhaps ) sell the peach tree . |
@davekayc Thanks for the time to write up that suggestion. Your suggestion was something I never contemplated. I will have to let it percolate in the brain. Do you have any opinion of a bookshelf with books as a sound absorber in-between the speakers? One thing that I am benefiting from today with this configuration is the ability to have my room door open, it makes my room sound bigger. My room today sounds really good with the KEF LS50's but I want to get better gear in there. The gear I have in this room will leave very soon and the incoming gear will likely be the much bigger Yamaha NS5000 "bookshelf" + Lyngdorf 3400 (with Room Perfect) + Luxman m900u amp. I will only use the preamp section of the Lyngdorf integrated. I am also considering the Anthem STR preamp with ARC3. So DSP is going to be part of this new system. I was considering putting the electronics, except the amp inside the closet. This system will hopefully be my second system, with a bigger room available in a year or 2 for the placement of a non-DSP based system or I may even move this Yamaha based system to the future bigger room and ditch the DSP. |
yyzsantabarbara... Try a ten-pack of SR’s HFT's placed around the room as directed. I think you will be pleased with the results. Frank |
My rack has been behind and off to the side of my speakers since I can remember...... Had a few different configurations with a large power amp on the floor and longer balanced ic. But for last year or more have had an integrated at bottom of the rack and running 14ft speaker cables and loving every minute of it! |
Yyzsantabarbara what do you normally do for music ? My idea was to simplify your system while adding more than enough impact. Simply having a desktop dac such as the aune x1 and powered speakers would be plenty versatile and most assuredly blow the doors off your current set up . I’m sure it could be done for around 5 or 6 benjamins . |
@davekayc If you are asking about how I play music, it is mostly streaming from 1 of my computers via a Sonore microRendu into the Peachtree. I also have a FM tuner and SACD player hooked up onto the integrated. The types of music varies upon mood. My current setup is rather good and suitable for such a small room. However, I am trying to blow the doors of the current setup with my next setup. Actually one of my thoughts was to keep the LS50s in this room and go crazy with the electronics such as the Luxman c900u preamp (non-DSP) and Luxman m900u amp. However, that changed along with interest in other (or better) speakers once the Yamaha NS5000 became available in the USA this month. The next speaker I am get is likely the Yamaha NS5000, even on a temp basis, for this current room until I move to another house. So my question about adding the bookshelf containing a lot of books in-between the speakers was related to taming a very bass heavy speaker. I will speak with the dealer that will sell me Yamaha speakers and the DSP preamp or integrated about the bookshelf placement. Some DSP engines like Room Perfect actually suggest one does not use room treatments, but real world feedback (at least on A’gon) seems to indicate that treatments first, then DSP Room Perfect on top of that. Exciting news today was the funding of this new system purchase has now become clear. I am just figuring out the final details of system setup now, thus these questions on this thread and the thread I started about Balanced XLR and the AES48 standard for long cable runs. |
In 45 years, I’ve generally had something between the speakers, either the equipment (including turntable) and/or a TV. Recently, after reading Get Better Sound, I decided to get everything out of the middle. A formidable task given that my room is 12’ W X 11’ L. I have no Wife Acceptance Factor so the result is not pretty. I did it in phases, first removing the TV and consolidating the racks, then I listened. There was a distinct improvement in the stereo image and sound stage. Now everything is gone from between the speakers. The racks are on the side and the only thing between the speakers is a large window covered by a mattress pad. The results have been phenomenal. Live jazz is literally staged in the club as if I were sitting front and center. My reference records have never sounded so good. When I listen to the better recorded and mixed rock n’ roll I am hearing things like never before, like I have a new system, it’s so compelling. Live rock is in the hall or auditorium. I lucked out. Every cable I had already invested in was long enough, so no cable replacement. I recommend it highly. You’ll be very pleased with the result. I also recommend Get Better Sound by Jim Smith. The guy is a wealth of knowledge and experience and has very practical methods to get better sound. Get the DVDs too, they augment the book very well and bring out a few tricks not in the book. Rollin |
Any adjacent room or closet will work, unless of course, it is important to show your gear off. The CD and XM remotes still work, reflecting off of a wall, when the door is open. A mirror has worked elsewhere, I really wanted to put the turntable on a stand in the speaker room,but did not want to run long wires from the M/C cartridge. No vibration isolation is needed at all! |
I’d like to be a glitz queen, but unfortunately my equipment rack is off toYour one of the rare "queens" that listens, not that there's anything wrong with that😊 Glitz queens take note, and listen, not just to this, but finally to your music. Recently, after reading Get Better Sound, I decided to get everything out of the middle.Cheers George |