Placement of AMP and Turntable in-between speakers
After months of denial, I bit the bullet and moved my MA352/SACD85 and Project Classic turntable to the side wall of my music room instead of placement in-between the Dynaudio Contour 20s and subs. I was encouraged by "Get Better Sound" to do so, but had already purchased shorter speaker wire lengths.
Set up is visible in my profile at the newly added photos (before/after). My conclusion was immediate; it does provide a better sound stage. More depth, more realism. I didn't think it would make that significant an impact, but for my situation it's one of the best room treatments to date.
While it is a bit dependent on the speakers… yeah, it can make a really big difference. After experimenting I realized the place to, make the break was between the preamp and amp… leaving the amp close to the speakers and getting the rest of the stuff out of the way. Biting the bullet and spending a lot of money on the preamp / amp interconnects.
FYI, there was not nearly as big a difference with my ribbon speakers. |
Made zero difference with my QLN Prestiege 3's or the Sonora's. So I returned all the extended length cables and inter connects. Like short cable runs. Like Geoff says it will depend on the speakers. I have a pair of Raven CeLest speakers you can put anywhere and they sound awesome. They are in my second system upstairs. |
I've always questioned the issue of the equipment rack between the speakers. 1. The speakers are already further from the back wall than the equipment stand 2. The speakers fire straight down the line. Slight toe-in 3. The illusion of the "third speaker" or soundstage is created by the brain's perception of sound waves hitting you. That center sound image is not actually coming from between the speakers and therefore should not be impacted by the equipment rack. I may be off base here but I think my logic is sound. The center rack should not make any difference on most systems? |
@bigtwin I think you are dead on. |
I agree with all; not just to agree, but it all makes sense. So much depends on the room size, type of equipment, room treatments; maybe even type of music.
About a year ago I bought 30min from Jim Smith (Get Better Sound). Nicest man ever; he wouldn't end the conversation until he thought I truly understood his suggestions. His #1 was remove the equipment from in between the speakers, #2 was relocated the speakers to the get the most distance from my seating position. I previously had them wide but closer to my seating position.
So it took be a while to get to his #1; the rest I did rather quickly. My realization was that in my case #1 was an immediately noticeable improvement. But maybe primarily for my situation.
Note: another Jim suggestion was to have my subwoofers fire at the back wall. That's why they are placed on their front. If recall correctly he said I needed more travel distance for the lower sound waves. |
@socalml528 There are as many "rules" as there are people who will listen. I have tried many different ideas. One that worked well was the 20% rule. Take the length of the room and put the front of the speaker 20% off the back wall and centered 20% from each side wall. Have your seating postion 20% off the back wall. Just one simple idea. Even then found I still like the speakers a bit further apart. Just keep moving them a bit off the 20% rule until you find the sweet spot for your equipment, your room and your ears. Have fun. |
