Speakers sound best facing wall????

O yes , never use the speakers stands, just put them on the ground. 
This is THE upgrade of your life ! Thinking out of the box. 

1,75 m seems to be the best place. Try it, you ll be shocked and amazed. 

A famous Belgian speaker builder , Frans van Hauwaert, always turns his speakers facing the wall, they sound terriffic !!!

Any speaker that sounds better turned away should just be turned off; why settle for half measures?

Just because something must be dealt with doesn't mean any particular solution is optimal. Some solutions could be even outright wrong.

Good point ,,,Mapman,, There are many things with audio that are technologically wrong but for some reason sound better. I guess it means we still have a lot to learn.
I still wonder, if it sounds bad, the further away and less direct it is the better?

"It ain't supposed to work, but it does."

I'm assuming you are referring to reflected sound?

If so, it absolutely does work! Just listen to any live un-amplified acoustic performance for proof.

Its also at work in most any home setup through speakers, just to varying degrees. Room treatments and other setup tweaks (like speaker orientation) can be used to adjust it but nothing short of an anechoic chamber or headphones perhaps can practically eliminate it. But since live music does not normally occur in an anechoic chamber, why even care? Its why many prefer to listen with speakers rather than headphones.

SO it is something one must deal with one way or another. It is something to tame and/or leverage in each case, not fear.

I have been quite amazed by the ecellent imaging delivered by the Bose 901s that I have in my swimming pool room. They reside amid a jungle of plants. It ain't supposed to work, but it does.

You can orient your speakers any way you want. IF it works for you, then that's really all that matters. Congratulations on an innovative solution that likely also saved you a lot of $$$$s otherwise.

I can relate to some degree. When I sit at my desk located behind my Dynaudio monitors to work the speakers are facing the wall behind me. This works fine for me for casual listening. I would probably not trade it for the sweet spot though.

IF you have found the "sweet spot" in your case, then you should be golden.

Tpreaves,,, You bet, but it's all in good fun, we heckle each other at every opportunity, the weekends she and others spend at are place or at the lake spot are riddled with male bashing and other post relationship shots, it keeps everyone entertained.

Old thread, but I just saw it for the first time. I clearly remember an article in HI FI News and record review years ago in which reviewer Jimmy Hughes turned his Impulse H2 speakers toward the wall, and was quite pleased with many aspects of the resulting sound. I don't think that I would want to do it, because it would be so strange to look at, but I admit that I am curious. And remember, it isn't that different from listening to your system from another room.

Tim, again with the ex. Sounds like you are in bad withdrawal!!!!

Hornguys,,, Same with my ex.

I meant to say face-down as the position that was least offensive for me from some speakers.

I've heard some speakers that I really prefer in that position.

This coming from Hornyguys. Oh, crap, my bad, it's Hornguys !!!!!!

I've heard some speakers that I really prefer in that position.

And that just what I've been doing.

Time to upgrade bigtime.

Yes good and bad, but it's been mostly good, and my audio purchases and passion for music continue unencumbered.

Then of course, I have neither so what do I know:)

Then you accept the good with the bad.

Yeah but you haven't seen her.

Marrying an ex's best friend shows signs of a Masochistic tendency.
Sorry, I call em' as I see em'.

Sorry, but when I was checking out some old but excellent posts I came across this and couldn't resist. It may be a three year old post but my ex still comes over to torment me after 15 years. She's been a close friend of my currant better half since they were 11.

You dug up a 3+ year old thread to belittle your ex-wife? Sad man, real sad!!!!

My ex sounds best when she's facing the other direction too. When the sound is bad, the less the better I guess.

Merry Christmas! & Happy New Year!

Thanks for mention my CD.

I think your hearing is normal and you can hear not the dog whistle fundamental frequency but a sub-harmonic.

I would feed the whistle sound to a spectrum analyzer using a professional condenser microphone to check how clean the sound is.

Cheers,

Waryn...You are in the Southern hemisphere. Isn't everything backwards down there?

Gawdbless, Yes, I seem to recall spending a little time in the corner facing the wall in my younger school days. As far as i can remember, this position made the teacher's voice (a woman) much deeper but a little bit boomy-with some basstraps it might have been different. Maybe this explains why I took up the electric bass in my teen years! LMAO-Mrmitch

Mrmitch, do you have first hand experience about facing the wall from your school days? Was a corner also involved? lol.

What you want to do here is turn your listening position around to face the wall behind you, and then everything will equalise out. Inserting my own LOL here so I wont receive 100 flame replies.--Mrmitch

Waryn

This is really scary. An audiophile who has good hearing!.. This could be unique.

One answer could be that you are hearing distortion which even at a low volume can really make you crazy.

Hi Waryn . . . what I'm trying to get an idea of is if your perception is based on some combination of the following:

- sensitivity to an ultrasonic peak or diaphragm resonance in the speakers' tweeters - in this case I'd expect a soft-dome tweeter to sound better to you than a metal dome, or metal horn diaphragm

- the relationship between the frequency of sound and the directivity of the tweeter - here, I'd expect you not to have the same issues with headphones

- early room reflections . . . again, headphones would eliminate this

Anyway, your case is an interesting one. At least you're finding some solutions . . .

- Have you had similar experiences with headphones; that is, do you find most of them harsh and bright?

I will need to get a pair, as I never use them.

- How do others find the sound of your system, now that you've reduced the treble to your liking? Do they find it overly warm and dull?

Hmmm... there is only my wife here, and she is not into music at all, but she also seems to prefer the sound with the treble reduced.

- What impressions did you have about the Tannoys and Heybrooks when you bought them? Did they not seem bright at first?

Heybrooks were excellent from the start. Tannoys (at least my model, the Revolution) don't have an equally well balanced sound. I also have a pair of older and smaller Bang & Olufsen S45. All these speakers sounded too bright from the beginning (tested with different amps, cables and CD players), and the brightness becomes unbearable after a few days of listening to one particular speaker.

Waryn, I find your observations very interesting . . . I am wondering . . .

- Have you had similar experiences with headphones; that is, do you find most of them harsh and bright?

- How do others find the sound of your system, now that you've reduced the treble to your liking? Do they find it overly warm and dull?

- What impressions did you have about the Tannoys and Heybrooks when you bought them? Did they not seem bright at first?

Ever thought about donating your ears to medical science?

BTW, I am still listening to my single cone BLH facing the wall with good results to my ears anyway.
Vive Le Difference!

PROBLEM SOLVED... but...

Well, I solved the problem. It was really easy. I just had to connect a second integrated amplifier that only powers the tweeters. Then, reduce the tweeters' sound by 30-40%. Now, my speakers can face at me again and all sounds very normal and authentic.

But why why why? - Here is what I have been through in the meantime, and I am still puzzled:

1) I bought myself an ultrasonic dog whistle with adjustable pitch. When I adjust it to the highest pitch, I can not only still hear it, but it is so loud that it is ear-piercing. Others either don't hear it at all, or hear it as a very soft sound.

2) I consulted an audiologist and he confirmed that my hearing is excellent... in fact, beyond his equipment measuring capabilities. My audiogram is almost flat, with a small peak at 2,000Hz. BTW the audiologist could not hear the dog whistle either...

3) I bought myself a calibration CD. Now, that was really interesting when it came to the various frequencies samples:

a) With the default settings (whether using my Sony solid state, or a tube amp) I can hear all frequencies between 22Hz (earthquake) and 10,000Hz (not quite as high pitch as the dog whistle), and I hear them all at the same volume. Below and beyond that, I do not hear anything at all.

b) With my preferred settings (with tweeters' sound reduced by 30-40%), I can hear all frequencies between 22Hz and 8,000Hz, and I hear them all at the same volume. Below and beyond that, I do not hear anything at all.

So what does that mean???

My speakers (I tested Heybrook and Tannoy), and the rest of my equipment (whether solid state or tube), are supposed to reproduce sounds up to 20,000Hz... but that is definitely not true, since the highest I can hear from them is 10,000Hz (and that is still a lower pitch than my dog whistle, which is ear-piercing to me).

So, if my equipment does not reproduce enough treble, I should hear not enough treble, right? - Wrong! - I hear too much of it, and I have to turn it down!

Anybody understands that mystery?

It is something to do with my audio system (or rather, with audio systems in general), since listening to live classical music never poses me any problems.

He said Amar cupped his hands over his mouth and asked Paul Klipsch how he was doing and Paul turned toward the wall and said he was doing ok.. Good story but not sure it was true.

It is hardly surprising that Paul turned round fast when Amar cupped his hands to his cheeks! However, the way I heard the story it ended differently - I was told that this was the day that the "slap" room echo test was invented.

Trelja Thanks I actually heard that from a salesman for B&O in Scottsdale a few weeks ago. He said Amar cupped his hands over his mouth and asked Paul Klipsch how he was doing and Paul turned toward the wall and said he was doing ok.. Good story but not sure it was true.

You could try a pair of original (not newer mk2 or series 3) Ohm Walsh 2s. These pseudo-omni's roll off at ~ 17Khz, have a very unoffensive top end and have a more omnidimensional dispersion pattern as well that might be less finicky to place for good results your room than conventional box designs.

These can be had for a couple hundred or less regularly on Ebay.

If these worked, as an upgrade Ohm might be able to custom tweak the more extended top end on a newer pair as an upgrade (they regularly tweak their speakers to customers specific needs as I understand it).

Just an idea for something inexpensive that might work.

Tubes help. So does single ended.....

Does anyone else do this? My ears are also strange-the last sytem that didn,t sound way to bright was in the seventies with a Grado cartridge and Advents.

Waryn

I think the fact is that most speakers I have heard would sound better turned away from the listener. Many systems actually sound best when they are turned off. A disclaimer here. I am a dealer and have heard lots of systems..

Dlr, "Sorry, I'm a pretty bad typist."

Maybe, but you sure turned this into a humorous thread. So, no need to apologize for that. In fact, stand up and take a bow.

Sorry, I'm a pretty bad typist.

Dreaming of an Alaskan adventure cruise are you?

Shadorne- there is a speaker that is about 40+ years old, that is ripe for reversing in my book and would sound heart achingly good that way, the top is far from harsh and looks good, the mid range is very well rounded, meaty and firm, the 'bottom end' is to die for. They also do not need to be governed! The name of this unique speaker is called the 'SLHP', only 1 ever made, extremely rare and very sought after when viewed. I think they are US made also, Idaho I believe.

Very funny, Shadorne. And, it even gets better as it looks like we'll soon be rid of Bose speakers.

Take my wife.

Please.

And Obama is the President.

One night, a Boeing 747 was flying above Glasgow. On board were five people: the pilot, Amar, Omar, the Imam, and a rather high (in several ways, after just winning the US election) Obama. Suddenly, a loud explosion was heard from the luggage compartment, and the passenger cabin began to fill with smoke. The cockpit door opened, and the pilot burst into the compartment.

"Gentlemen," he began, "I have good news and bad news. The bad news is that we're about to crash in Edinburgh. The good news is that there are four parachutes, and I have one of them!" With that, the pilot threw open the door and jumped from the plane.

Obama was on his feet in a flash. "Gentlemen," he said, "I am the President of the world's greatest country. The world needs great President's. I think the world's greatest President should have a parachute!" With these words, he grabbed one of the remaining parachutes, and hurtled through the door and into the night.

Dr. Amar Bose rose and said, "Gentlemen, I am the world's smartest man. I design amazing speakers. The world needs smart men. I think the world's smartest man should have a parachute, too." He grabbed one, and out he jumped. The Imam and the Omar looked at one another. Finally, the Imam spoke. "My son," he said, "I have lived a satisfying life and have known the bliss of True Enlightenment. You have your life ahead of you; you take a parachute, and I will go down with the plane."

Omar smiled slowly and said, "Hey man, don't worry. The world's smartest man just jumped out with my tent pack."