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Seating distance to Magnepan 3.6r's?

I'm moving from my current living conditions to a new apartment. The main room (living room and listening room) is 17 feet wide by 26 feet long with 10 foot ceilings. My questions is: the Maggie's will be approximately 4 to 5 feet from the front wall, what is a proper listening distance, how far back should one's listening chair be?
Thanks for all your comments.
zippyy

Showing 3 responses by jafo100

jafo100's avatar
jafo100
17 posts
 
I am along time Maggie owner , having Tympani 1Ds and 20.1s. The general rule of thumb for maggies is to use what is called the rule of thirds to start with...that is...place your 3.6s 1/3 the distance from the back wall of the room (example ..if the rm is 18 feet deep..then place the 6 feet from the back wall)..this same rule is applied to the side walls..so if the room were 12 feet wide, place each speaker,s center 4 feet from each side wall.

This give you a starting point and from there you will need to listen then move them to find the best sound and imaging.

Your 10 foot ceiling is a big plus because it gives the 3.6s breathing room and avaids standing waves more common in 8 ft ceilings. But be prepared to move things around ...it's worth the effort. Good Luck
jafo100's avatar
jafo100
17 posts
 
Think of placement this way.....The Maggies send sound waves in both directions forward and backward...what you are seeking is the blending of the two....just as if there was a piano or a quartet in your room....they don't go against the wall....and they don't go in the center....I have found that for some reason...and I cannot tell you why...a distance of 12 inch multiples off the back wall works great for the Tympani 1Ds as well as the 20.1s...

As for the side walls...I have never had a rule to follow other than a triangulation as mentioned in one of your responses...good luck.
jafo100's avatar
jafo100
17 posts
 
As a footnote to all this, when I first started with the Maggies, I had an 8 foot ceiling and this lasted for 20 years...then I moved into a building where the living room had a cathedral ceiling...When I put the system back together and turned it on...WOW... they sounded the best ever...even before the placement struggle began.

I attribute all this to a diminished or minimal sound wave coming off the ceiling. In the new room as well as the original room allI had was the audio equipment, two chairs and a grand piano which the speakers face but at the other side of the room.Both rooms approx 12 by 20.

I would be interested in your (or anybodies) comments aabout htis experiance.
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