Should I or not


This all started when my brother came down for a visit. As it stands now my system is against the short wall. He believes that if I move it to the long wall I can take my system/sound to the "next level".

My current speakers are Paradigm Studio 60. My room size is 11ft wide with 20ft in length. If I do change my setup how far apart should my speakers be if my maximum sitting distance is 10ft.

If I do move my speakers they will have to be closer to back wall which is half window but are curtained. I was planning on purchasing some room treatments(sound absorbers) with my speakers in their current set-up. Will my curtains be suffucient.

Basically I'd like to know if I place my speakers against the long wall will they image better.

I look foward to what members here think I should do.

Cheers
freakygreek

Showing 2 responses by stehno

Your brother's request is not like picking up a chair and simply moving it across the room. It takes days, weeks, or even months to plan and execute such a move (if one had to electricians, plan dedicated lines, outlets, etc.).

And even though the majority are often times wrong, it would seem the vast majority of so-called 'experts' recommend placing the speakers on the short wall of a rectangular room. Yes, there are a handful of speaker mfg'ers who recommend the long wall (Dunalvy was one), but it is only a handful.

On either wall, for enhanced soundstaging your speaker fronts need to be about 4 to 6 ft or so from the wall behind them. If your speakers are on the long wall, that means that you have at most 6 feet between your ears and the drivers leaving you with about 1 ft. between your ears and the wall behind you. The 6 ft. isn't necessarily bad but the 1 ft. distance is rediculous.

I can't imagine any sonic benefits with such a configuration.

But you might first ask your brother to explain in detail what sonic benefits await you when you 'reach the next level' by following his suggestion.

I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't have clue how to articulate his response. Seems to be epidemic with brothers these days. :)

If you're into experimenting, you might try experimenting with cables, outlets, installing dedicated circuits/lines, and vibration control. All these can be rather inexpensive experiments and should easily outperform any highly questionable sonic gains from moving your speakers.

-IMO
Good for you, FG. BTW, my last sentence was incomplete. I meant to say "All these can be rather inexpensive experiments and should easily outperform any highly questionable sonic gains from moving your speakers TO THE LONG WALL."

I felt the need to clarify because in my opinion, the benefits of proper speaker placement (on the short wall) in general will far outweigh any room acoustic treatments. (unless perhaps your room is absolutely atrocious acoustically).

But for starters I would recommend bringing your speakers about 5 ft. out from the back wall to the front center of the woofers. If you suffer a bit from light bass regions, try starting at about 4ft out may help reinforce the lower regions a bit.

-IMO