How far apart should the front L and R speakers be?

[Oldboy]

Hello all,

I've been doing some research concerning the ideal distance for the front left and right speakers to be apart from each other with conflicting ideas, Dolby say they should ideally be 3 feet away from the centre channel and THX only make reference to the angle and not the distance.

Of course the harder i looked the more conflicting the advice from other sources so could anyone tell me if the Dolby advice is the best way to go or is there a better way for determining the ideal distance for fronts to be apart? My rooom is 4m x 4.5m by the way just in case that info is required.

Many thanks.

 

[shooter]

I haven't a clue but i would imagine Dolby has it right.

http://www.dolby.com/gb/en/consumer/setup/connection-guide/home-theater-speaker-guide/index.html

 

[f1only]

I totally ignored the HOW FAR APART should they be. It is irrelevant in my situation due to room configuration having a wedge & a door right where my F/R speaker should be. I decided to just go equidistant as much as possible from the sweet spot seat, it certainly works well for me. Both my F/R & F/L are around around 8-9 feet from the centre & all are a similar distance from me. Lets face it nothing is perfect unless purpose built.

Regards ... Paul

 

[duaplex]

Symmetry is the important factor when it comes to placing them. The fronts should be ideally in line with your rear speakers, so 3 feet apart from either side of the screen seems to be about right. This was the advice given by B&W, Dolby and many retailers I spoke to. It seems to work very well for me. Of course you can try and play with it and there is no exact science, however the general consensus is what i mentioned above.

Also distance from your viewing position is crucial, which Dolby has on the site.

Hope that helps

 

[The_Lhc]

Symmetry is the important factor when it comes to placing them. The fronts should be ideally in line with your rear speakers,

That's the first time I've ever heard that before, not least because in a 5.1 configuration it's generally recommended that the "rear" speakers should actually be to the side of the listening position.

 

[bigboss]

Symmetry is the important factor when it comes to placing them. The fronts should be ideally in line with your rear speakers,

That's the first time I've ever heard that before, not least because in a 5.1 configuration it's generally recommended that the "rear" speakers should actually be to the side of the listening position.

Agreed. If the fronts are in line with the rears, you won't get a proper surround effect (unless your room is large enough that you're seated in the middle & not close to the wall).

 

[BenLaw]

This rectangular configuration also seems wrong to me. I agree with The_Lhc, as do THX: http://www.thx.com/consumer/home-entertainment/home-theater/surround-sound-speaker-set-up/

Oldboy, I don't see how a strict 'distance' can ever make sense, just aim for as close to an equilateral triangle as you can, with L & R level with centre.

 

[Oldboy]

Very many thanks to all of you for your input.

I was just experimenting with my room layout as i moved my sofa nearer to the screen and into the room further to get the nearest i could to the Dolby 5.1 set up and the speakers did seem a little far apart to me in this configuration. Due to the constraints of my room it's impossible to get the ideal set up as i'm sure it is for most people unless you are fortunate enough to have a cinema room and not your average living room but it's a case of i either get the correct angles for the fronts or go with the 3 feet apart approach.

I guess the only way is to experiment with it so when the new tv turns up tomorrow i will have a play around with the two set ups and see which i find the best solution, i'm thinking somewhere inbetween may end up being the best solution. I've got my rears wall mounted in the corners behind my seating position and at the correct height and the centre is in line with the fronts too so it's all set up nicely apart from the position of the fronts.

I do have another issue aswell since moving the sofa and changing the configuration, i can no longer get the sub between either front speaker and the centre as advised by Dolby and THX. All i can do is place it to the outside and near to the corner of the room, is this an issue? I know bass isn't directional but im concerned that with it now being close to the corner of the room it will negatively affect the bass, any ideas?

 

[BenLaw]

Can you give us a photo so we can give more specific views re the positioning of the fronts?

I wouldn't worry too much about the sub, unless there's a problem with booming. You can try 'crawling for bass' but if you're positioning is limited (as mine is) it's just not worth getting bothered by.

 

[Oldboy]

I will try! The last time i tried to upload a photo i had all sorts of issues trying to get them onto the site, hopefully i won't have such issues this time around. Picture quality won't be great as will be using the phone or iPod touch but should be good enough for you to see the layout at the front.

 

[The_Lhc]

I will try! The last time i tried to upload a photo i had all sorts of issues trying to get them onto the site, hopefully i won't have such issues this time around.

You don't upload pictures directly to this site, you put them on a photo sharing site (flickr or some such) and link to them from there.

 

[Oldboy]

Thanks The_Lhc, i've uploaded the photos to Flickr but how do i now get them onto the forum???

 

[The_Lhc]

Copy the http location of the image (it'll end in .jpg), start a new post here, click the little tree icon in the toolbar and paste the location of the image.

 

[Oldboy]

Don't know how large the image will appear on the forum so hope you can see it ok, this is how it looks at the moment...excuse the messy cables, next job on the list this weekend once the new tv is in place as then i can run all the trunking.

 

[Oldboy]

Copy the http location of the image (it'll end in .jpg), start a new post here, click the little tree icon in the toolbar and paste the location of the image.

Thank you very much, hey presto it works!

 

[Oldboy]

Two further shots from the side to get an idea of the size of the room and layout, hope they help.

 

[bigboss]

The distance between front speakers looks fine to me.

 

[The_Lhc]

Copy the http location of the image (it'll end in .jpg), start a new post here, click the little tree icon in the toolbar and paste the location of the image.

Thank you very much, hey presto it works!

See, easy isn't it?

 

[Oldboy]

Copy the http location of the image (it'll end in .jpg), start a new post here, click the little tree icon in the toolbar and paste the location of the image.

Thank you very much, hey presto it works!

See, easy isn't it?

Yep simple, many thanks again for your help much appreciated.

 

[BenLaw]

If the photos are approximately from the sofa then this looks pretty ideal to me. Wouldn't want them closer and you can't have further apart due to furniture anyway. I would experiment with toe in as they look to be firing parallel with the walls at the moment.

 

[Oldboy]

No the photos are from behind the sofa as it was the best way to get a shot of reasonable quality that got all the speakers into the photo, the way they are at the moment is the Dolby method so 3 feet from the centre point of the room to the centre point of the speaker, it sounds nice i must admit.

As for toe in the speakers are designed to be in this configuration according to Dali and have a wide dispersion and when i did start to experiment with toe in i just couldn't get a sweet spot, when the new tv is in situ tomorrow i will experiment further over the weekend with toe in and see if it improves the soundfield or not.

Many thanks for your help BenLaw, much appreciated.

 

[BenLaw]

If your seat is slightly in front of the camera then it looks pretty much perfect. Fair enough re toe in. I tend to have mine a little less toed in for movies than for stereo and the soundstage broadens the straighter they are, so if straight works for you that's what matters

 

[bigboss]

Have you experimented with placing your subwoofer in other areas of the room to determine where it sounds best?

 

[Son_of_SJ]

My understanding was that the left speaker, the right speaker and the listening position should form an equilateral triangle.

By the way, do you have a soft spot for Clare Balding?

 

[The_Lhc]

By the way, do you have a soft spot for Clare Balding?

No, but I do have a bald spot for Clare Softing.