Hm, I think you meant to write "Elevator".
Speaker positioning: why do audiophiles neglect this so much?
Went to a recent seminar featuring Jim Smith, well known author of the book "Get Better Sound" and hi fi set up guru.
The basic gist of the discussion was that the most important elements of a high end stereo installation are listening position and speaker positioning, in that order. The actual hardware (speakers, amplifiers, source, cables etc) are of less importance relatively speaking.
Yet it is clear from this web site and it's contents, that set up is discussed much less than the actual hardware.
When I look at the Virtual Systems page on site, I'm estimating that, maybe, 10% of the systems posted are close to well set up. Thus, hardly any of the featured hardware is performing close to it's maximum potential.
Shame, and why is it so? Not sexy enough to talk about system set up in depth? Lack of knowledge? Or is it simply too hard to do and too complex a subject?
Just my 2 cents ...
Showing 6 responses by sharri
Good to have this discussion and all the responses. A few responders have mentioned that they do not have dedicated rooms, with a bit of lament. A dedicated room is not necessary, but dedicated music listening is. In other words you need to just listen to the music and not do anything else. As I have mentioned a couple times, for background listening, nothing really matters in the speaker positioning. If you are set up in a multipurpose room, it's best to not move the furnishings around. Everything in the room affects the sound. And if you move things around you need to adjust the a speaker setting to get back to the optimum sound. The Sumiko/Master Set method that I referenced in my first post is said to work with any speaker in any room. And thus it can be tried in a multipurpose room, some times quite successfully As to "Optimum Sound", there is likely a few definitions of that and with a lot of divergence. I will only say that optimum sound is the perfect summation of the two speakers to be as if they were one speaker. A good way to check for that is to listen to a mono recording, and mono recording will do. By definition there is equal music in each channel and each speaker. The two speakers will automatically sum together to give sound perfectly between the speakers, no matter where you sit in the room. If you do this with your speaker set and go to one side and the sound also goes to that side then you are getting more sound from the speaker on that side. That should not be and you do not have the speakers set for optimum sound. This is a good check because the mono recording can be a reference as to what you are trying to do with the speakers. |
The speaker-room interface is the most important aspect in getting good sound from one's audio system. It is really the first thing that needs to be attended to when setting up an audio system. Here are some links to the best places to start on this: 1. The Wilson Audio Setup Procedure (W.A.S.P.) - YouTube This video from the late David A. Wilson gives some good background information in the first 5 minutes of the 20 minute video. The actual procedure is not something one can do on one's own, so forget that. 2. Sumiko master set-up process - AudioAficionado.org The Sumiko/Master Set procedure is an outgrowth from the research by Sterling Trayle when he owned Sumiko Importers in Berkley California. This is pretty DIY friendly that anyone can do by following the steps in Post #2 in the thread. The most difficult part may be obtaining the setup disc/files. But the setup song does work really well for doing this. Better than anything else. 3. Master Set & Rational Speaker Placement How To For GREAT SOUNDSTAGE - YouTube This is a really long video of one person's experience in setting up his speakers. It is quite helpful. 4. And then there is full on DSP, such as DEQX. |
Ah, now getting somewhere. Yes, if you want optimum speaker positioning it is going to be in a room where music is primary and you sit and listen to the music. For background listening, nothing is very important. The methods of using microphone and instruments sound intriguing, as I suspected all along that this could be done somehow. Perhaps some more writing to detail the procedure/process could be helpful. FWIW, my room is 13 x 14 x 10. The room is a bit irregular with a bay window on one side and a fireplace in the middle of the back wall sticking out in to the room. I sit to the right of the fireplace, pretty much in line with the right speaker. My perspective is like I am sitting in symphony hall in a seat on the right side aisle. I set my speakers as described in my post following the instructions exactly. The area of sweet listening is pretty large, even in this small room. |
Sonic79, Well 19 positions and 19 different sounds. How did you decide what you liked best? Did you have some kind of reference sound for this. And the precisely placed listening chair????? I assume it is on some kind of centered axis between the speakers and you sit precisely on that axis as best you can. You are working on a perfect symmetry model, and it has to be perfect with left-right symmetry to be close, both in dimension and room furnishing. This is usually hard to achieve, though not impossible. The Dave Wilson video mentions very early that it does not take much to throw off methods using ratios, as you are doing.
Secret Guy, It is not all that complicated, but it is necessary for the best sound. As I mentioned, for background listening or just sound in the room, nothing matters. |