Fronts about ten feet
rears on walls 6’ either direction
back channels on ceiling 8’ high, 8’ apart
rears on walls 6’ either direction
back channels on ceiling 8’ high, 8’ apart
How far away from your speakers are you?
I thought it would be interesting to know how people position their speakers... do you have the freedom to put them where you want or do practicalities dictate?.. How far away are they from the listening position?.. How big's the room and how far away are they from boundary walls? My main speakers (Seas A26) are 1' from back wall, 3' from sides in a 14' by 20' room and my listening position is about 16' from the speakers. Just wondering how much floor space we're willing to give up to get the optimum placement.
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My Listening room is: 22’(L) X 12’(W) X 8’(H). My Tannoy SGM-15’s are 7’ apart, 7’ from front wall, 9’ from seating, and 14’ from the rear wall. A pair of Rel S-812 are just inside L & R Speakers. The Tannoy's are on 18" stands and fire directly to my ears when I am seated in my "sweet spot" The sound stage is good and most noticeable in between speakers. |
Good question. I have 2 listening areas. Main, for my primary system. Secondary, for my computer system. My listening room is 30ft x 12ft, roughly divided in 2. Approximately 1/2 is for equipment and listening. Approximately 1/2 is for an office. Primary KEF LS50 Speaker are about 2.5ft from side walls, about 4ft from the back wall and sit about 6.5ft apart. My chair is about 6.5-7ft from the speaker center line. Speakers are toed in so I can just see the back edges of the cabinets. I initially placed the KEF pr in the same location as the Triangle pr: about 3ft from the side walls, 5ft from the back wall and about 6ft apart, with a listening distance of 6ft. This location was perfect for the Triangle pr; they disappeared with an image that extended far beyond the confines of the cabinets. However with the KEF pr, I began to feel that the the stereo image was a bit confined and I wasn't fully hearing what I felt the pr were capable of. I moved the KEF pr a little closer to the side walls, a little farther apart, and a littler farther away from me. Improvement was immediate. A much wider and more detailed sound stage. Images have started to move outside of the speaker edges. I hear more depth around musicians etc. Still a work in progress, but moving farther away definitely helped. Triangles worked best in near field. KEF not so near so to speak, even though they are an homage to the LS3/5a which is the archetype for the nearfield monitor. Secondary system is in my office. Spica TC50 Speakers are located at the outer back edges of a 4ft wide desk and toed in to directly face me, and my head is about 3ft away. Imaging is pin point with outstanding depth and placement, albeit in a small space. Almost like a pr of headphones. I tried several small monitors in the same space (NEAR 10m, Acoustic Energy Aegis 1, ADS 410, Advent 3, Dynaco A-10) and the Spicas are significantly better in this location. Like the KEF example, not what was expected. The lesson of all of the above is to be open to experimentation, and thinking out side of the box. |
My dual Audire dual mono powered amps feed older B&W 803 II Matrix speakers on 10", time aligned positioned subs a bit over 2 feet from the back wall of windows, 4 1/2 feet apart in a 12 foot wide room that is 9 feet deep, The speaker/dining room (Table is below and between the speaker drivers) is about 6" lower than the rest of the house, and is completely open to a 25 foot deep kitchen room on one side, and 32-35 feet on the other. Variable bright reflection or deadening rear reflection of the sound is provided by blinds with a woven, convex surface on one side and a slick concave side on the other. Other options are available by partially open blinds that can be set for a bit of directionality of the reflection off of the 12-14 foot high windows and with open windows, at least when my neighbors are gone for the winter. I usually run the blinds in the soft, reflection absorbing position. The rest of my house is two medium sized bedrooms and baths. Depending on the source and the mix of the recording, and on the position of the blinds, I sit from 10 feet to about 13 feet away, which gives me from 15-22 feet of open room behind me. I did buy the house based on what I thought the acoustics would be, with its open area floor plan and high ceilings. My guess was right. My electronics are in the ex- laundry room, with its dedicated washer outlet. Speaker cables are still only about 14-15 feet long. Yes, I am spoiled by my listening room, but... It gets worse! By turning my listening room chair 90 degrees, after sliding it back a few feet, I have my much older stand mount B&W DM14's a foot and a half from the wall, 5 feet apart, and 12-13 feet from me, with the ceiling rising from 10 to 14 feet before dropping off behind me. Under the television, just above the fireplace mantle is a fake fireplace stuffed with Bryston electronics and TV electronics. And yes, all can play on NPR FM play when I cook! Oh yeah, a friend gave me his BOSE towers with powered subs, which sit alone on the back wall by my antique desk, alas, with no amp, bless their little hearts. |
Hi all, I had the luxury of designing my music room on the side of our home with no size restrictions. The room is 30 ft. wide by 55 ft. long with no parallel surfaces. The ceiling is 11 ft high in front and 18 ft high in the rear. The ceiling design was patterned after a concert hall in Osaka Japan.It was designed with acoustic treatment from ETF tests taken when the room was closed in. The three front channel line sources are 9ft 6 inches tall. Left and right channels are 6 ft. from built in subs and center channel is 11 ft from the curved front wall. Seating positions are 23 ft. from the front channels. Pictures are in Audiogon's extra large rooms-Ken Fritz's system. Additional information in the following links.https://www.dropbox.com/s/yqoirc6g2w6jf9m/Ken%20Fritz%20V3%20CC%20Mix.mp4?dl=0 |
Once I read that a good way to find a place to put your speakers is to put one of the speakers in the chair where you sit (if they are small enough) and to move around the room with music going in the chair and find a spot where the music sounds balanced. Put one of the speakers in that spot. Repeat the process for the other speaker and put the other speaker in that second spot. This procedure also works with small sub-woofers to give balanced bass. Alternatively some people like to put sub-woofers in the corner. That often gives more output, but there is also a level control on powered sub-woofers. Other recommendations are given by the manufacturers. You could try that, too. They often suggest things like a triangle shape, and various amounts of toe-in and distances, such as the rule of thirds. I have recently experimented with four Magnepan 1.7 speakers by putting two on one end of the room and the other two facing in the same direction about halfway along the room near the walls. It really gives a big image. The key is experimentation. |
With my maggie 1.7s I have them 6.5’ apart, center to center (5' edge to edge) with the tweeter ribbons to the outside. They are exactly 41.5" from inside back edge of speaker to the wall behind and 42.5" from outside back edge of speaker to the wall behind, so very slight toe in. The rt. speaker is 3’ from side wall and left speaker is open to the dinning room. The audio room is 14’ x 27’ plus 11’ x 14’ open dinning on the left. Listening distance is 8.5’ from the center of ea. speaker, so it works out very close to the 120% ratio. I have a well dampened room with acoustic drapes across the wall behind the speakers. As set up, the image stays tight and true regardless of standing sitting or in or out of the center sweet spot, but if the toe in is changed even by I/4" the off axis imaging diminishes. I’ve tried changing their placement a dozen different ways but nothing sounds as good as exactly the way it is....Jim |
Thanks Larry5729 I rechecked with the Ballad of a Runaway Horse by Jennifer Warnes and felt placement and imaging good but had to mess anyway. I sit 9’ from speakers. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it said no audiophile“ never. |
I have ATC SCM100aslt's setup in a 2.5m (~8ft) equilateral triangle in a 4.3x6.1m (~14'x20') room. Per ATC'S setup recommendation, the speakers are spaced well off the front and side walls. I'm also a strong advocate of room treatment. The speaker position and room treatment is mirrored L/R. This is probably close to how the monitor versions of the 100's would be used in studios and provides wonderfully neutral coherent sound. |
@kftooll, Wow, just wow! I love it! It just oozes the love put into it. I wish you the very best with your health. I hope your endeavor to find an eventual suitable curator comes to your attention soon. Perhaps, the local symphony could purchase it to house the residing conductor as part of his or her's compensation? |
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it said no audiophile“ never. I am not lazy, but I placed my speakers where they function best without worrying if it is the absolute best spot. I correct soundstage/imaging problems with the speakers by using a pair of Shakti Hallographs on the front and rear wall areas. The speakers are equidistant from walls but I chose 8'6" center of speaker separation, 2' from side walls and 3' from rear walls for Focus speakers. I sit 11' from the front of the speakers and 3' from the rear wall on a velvet couch although sometimes I place a chair in front at about 9'6" for more direct sound. Unfortunately, my smaller listening room almost dictates the speaker and seating placement. The room is of very high custom built quality so that I have no bass issues and has acoustic foam along the side walls and hung from the ceiling. The walls have 22 SR HFTs placed on them and 10 on the speakers. Three people can enjoy great sound on the right and two on the left (10' wide couch). After I adjusted the Hallographs, I haven't altered the speaker positions or the HFTs in a year (new residence). |
