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Seating height and bass

So my myriad of other threads seem to have me believing I have a null which explains the lack of low bass at my sitting position.

tonight I pushed the couch out of the room and used a chair instead. Bass was much improved but I realized that with the chair my ears are at tweeter height. Sitting in the couch they are several inches below the tweeter.

i stacked some books to mimic my height when sitting on the now displaced couch and started moving them closer to the speakers. I tried 6 positions starting at where I normally sit (relative to the front wall/back wall) and there were differences. However I moved that chair to the same positions and better bass in each spot (some more than others but all better than the books/couch). 
Anyone else run into this? Bass better when stating vs sitting? I wish I could borrow any pair of stand mount speakers and try this again to see if, what I believe to be poor engineering/stands for aesthetics not performance, is indeed the case. My speakers are on 24” stands but are front ported with a big 4” port at the bottom front raising the drivers up 4”+.
gochurchgo

Showing 3 responses by erik_squires

erik_squires
15,877 posts
 
If I remember correctly, most speakers want the tweeter to be positioned at ear height. That would be step number one.


That's a good starting point. This isn't always true. Some B&W's seem to measure much better at midrange axis, but only your own ears can tell you what you like. :)

erik_squires
15,877 posts
 
OP:
Tweeters get darker off-axis. That is, they have the most HF output if you are listening to them directly, and as you go off axis the high frequencies roll off. See figure 6 (yeah, this is lateral, but horizontal should be similar):

https://www.stereophile.com/content/monitor-audio-silver-300-loudspeaker-measurements

As you go off axis, you get more mid (or mid-woofer) and less tweeter.

Ive got a 2-way that I designed to be flat on-axis, but I still like listening a little below the tweeter. Troels Gravesen has also reported similar findings.

Anyway, point is, off axis the speaker’s character changes, and it’s up to you to decide what you like more, but room modes won’t. That is, even if you tilt the speaker the room modes (if any) will remain the same, so this is a way to test if this is truly a room mode issue, or speaker tilt issue.


If truly a room mode issue, highly recommend the Soffit Traps from GIK Acoustics.

Best,

E
erik_squires
15,877 posts
 
It's hard to tell if you are actually hearing a bass issue, of if you are just discovering that your speaker's output is uneven.


Try tilting the speaker back. :)


Best,

E
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