Room Acoustics and Speaker Placement


Hey guys,

I’m moving to a new condo next month. It’s going to be a living room setup and I have two options:

 

1) speakers will be positioned such that it will only have 1 side wall. The other side will be open (dining area).

2) speakers will have both side walls (not equidistant) but no rear wall (my back will be towards the dining area). 
 

I know that neither setup is ideal but if you were to pick one, which one would it be and why? 
 

let me know if you need more info. Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

dcp20124

The distance to the sidewalls is important. If they are far enough away, then the asymmetry doesn't matter. 

As long as you don't hear a shift in the center image you should be fine. Hopefully the one that's closer to the side wall isn't very close.

Adding some sound absorption at the first reflection point on the near sidewall should help alleviate any concerns about L/R balance with having differing distances to your sidewalls.  I’d always prefer an open back wall condition over a close one.