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Corner Placement

My visit to Capital Audiofest last weekend reminded me that the Audio Note speakers with their corner placement are always one of the more enjoyable listens at these shows.

It got me wondering more both about the speakers and corner placement.

Corner placement done well is clearly good for bass levels but not so good for depth of soundstage.  That seems to be the main trade-off.    Would you agree?

Also I am not sure I can determine anything unique about the Audio Note speakers compared to others that give them any special advantage for corner placement.  I suppose they are designed to produce the right level of bass with that placement especially being acoustically sealed rather than ported I believe.   But why could not other speakers that may be a tad bass shy benefit similarly?

How much of the Audio Note sound is the speakers versus the corner placement?

It made me get around to trying out corner placement at home.   I have at least two pair of smaller monitor speakers that might work best that way, like seemingly Audio Note does.   So far I am liking what I am hearing with these speakers that are also very good but would be considered a tad bass shy otherwise perhaps.



128x128mapman

Showing 3 responses by erik_squires

erik_squires
15,877 posts
 
To make a speaker that works well in the corner you must have the right bass but also the correct (not wide) treble dispersion.

Here are some advantages I thought of.

  • More likely to excite all of the room modes evenly, allowing for smoother bass. 
  • Corner speakers take up less floor space.
  • Sensitivity. If you are designing for the corner, your crossover design may end up creating a speaker that is 3-6 dB or more sensitive than it would have been otherwise, allowing for the use of smaller amps.
So, in absolute terms, while you may use any speaker in a corner, a speaker designer who expects a speaker to go into a corner should make different crossover choices, not to mention tweeter choices.

As for imaging depth, that's a personal value thing. I think sometimes we place too much on depth and spacial reproduction, even when it's not real. That is, I think some systems create a perception of location that has no relationship with what we would hear live.  Like I said though, this is a personal value thing. :) I'd trade for instance, smooth and accurate timbre for hyper-etched 3D localization of instruments if I had to make a choice.

Best,

Erik
erik_squires
15,877 posts
 
By the way, I believe (and would not mind being corrected if wrong) the AN speakers were based on Snell models of yester-yore. Some of the reasons why listeners are fond of them may need a bit of a history lesson. :)

As always, buy what you'd like, I'm just trying to add to the understanding of the AN speakers.  At the last show I was at they were one of the few rooms I could stand to listen in. Most had such poor room treatment they sounded like pooh pooh.  The AN speakers, with no room treatment, sounded quite nice.  I'd still add room treatment, just saying, they seem to need less of it than most.

Best,

Erik
erik_squires
15,877 posts
 
Lastly, not exactly a corner speaker, but if you like the idea of a classic 2-way speaker, you may want to check out the Seas A26 kits.

Best,

Erik
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