How far back should I be sitting?

[Wilts Hobbit]

Hi all

Hope all is well. After some rough guidance please from you knowledgeable lot. Up until recently I have never had to consider how far away to sit from my speakers as the old houses room size determined that.

Now however I have options. System is elex r amp with denafrips ares ii dac and audiolab cdt 6000 transport and a rp3 tt all feeding mission 753 floorstanding speakers.

Room size is 17ft by 14ft. Speakers are 5ft 8 apart from center of driver to the other driver centre and are placed 35cm from rear wall and approx 70cm from side walls. They are facing up the 17ft length of the room and have no toe in.

My sofa is at the other end of the 17ft room. I guess I need to play with distance myself and see what my ears prefer but as a starter for 10 what's the suggested distance away I should be, I have just been lounging on the sofa best part of 16ft away 😬

Many thanks

 

[treesey]

If you don't have the instructions, Mission recommend 20cm from back wall for the 753. 1.5-2.5m gap between speakers, and minimum 0.5m from each side wall.

To answer your question - I find that the soundstage does vary by distance away, but I have a wooden ceiling which has an effect depending on if I'm standing or sitting....

Long way of saying it totally depends on what else is in the room and the materials that make up the walls, floor and ceiling helpful, huh?

 

[Al ears]

The equilateral triangle suggestion is only a guide, so six foot from speakers should be a starting point.
Me, I'd be at least 10 foot back.

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

Moving the speakers apart should help massively - you'll get a much bigger soundstage for free - like getting a bigger TV for nowt!

 

[nopiano]

As long as you’re a bit further from the speakers than they are from each other…which you are. The classic equilateral triangle survives in many speaker manuals, but i find that too full on, and only works for solo listening.

However, in a 17’ room, sitting 16’ away means you’re quite likely to hear wall reinforcement from being so close to the rear wall. So likely to boom a bit, though you might like it. But, using a chair that’s easier to move than a sofa, you can easily experiment. Start at 6’ or so and move back a foot at a time to get rough idea. Then finesse it from there. Bear in mind you may need to tweak the speaker position too!

 

[manicm]

Hi all

Hope all is well. After some rough guidance please from you knowledgeable lot. Up until recently I have never had to consider how far away to sit from my speakers as the old houses room size determined that.

Now however I have options. System is elex r amp with denafrips ares ii dac and audiolab cdt 6000 transport and a rp3 tt all feeding mission 753 floorstanding speakers.

Room size is 17ft by 14ft. Speakers are 5ft 8 apart from center of driver to the other driver centre and are placed 35cm from rear wall and approx 70cm from side walls. They are facing up the 17ft length of the room and have no toe in.

My sofa is at the other end of the 17ft room. I guess I need to play with distance myself and see what my ears prefer but as a starter for 10 what's the suggested distance away I should be, I have just been lounging on the sofa best part of 16ft away 😬

Many thanks

I'd say about 2m for a start. Then pay attention to soundstage width and depth, and adjust from there.

Maybe toe in slightly - experiment a bit.

 

[Wilts Hobbit]

If you don't have the instructions, Mission recommend 20cm from back wall for the 753. 1.5-2.5m gap between speakers, and minimum 0.5m from each side wall.

To answer your question - I find that the soundstage does vary by distance away, but I have a wooden ceiling which has an effect depending on if I'm standing or sitting....

Long way of saying it totally depends on what else is in the room and the materials that make up the walls, floor and ceiling helpful, huh?

Thank you. So it seems I am not too far off in terms of speaker positioning as recommended by the manufacturer which is good. In terms of room

If you don't have the instructions, Mission recommend 20cm from back wall for the 753. 1.5-2.5m gap between speakers, and minimum 0.5m from each side wall.

To answer your question - I find that the soundstage does vary by distance away, but I have a wooden ceiling which has an effect depending on if I'm standing or sitting....

Long way of saying it totally depends on what else is in the room and the materials that make up the walls, floor and ceiling helpful, huh?

Thank you I have owned the missions from new but the manual had long since disappeared.... Good to know I am not too far out with there positioning. In terms of room they are firing up the longer length of the room as shown, probably should of tied before posting a picture on a forum 😬😂 thanks again

 

[Wilts Hobbit]

The equilateral triangle suggestion is only a guide, so six foot from speakers should be a starting point.
Me, I'd be at least 10 foot back.

Awesome thanks got something to start with tried 6ft way too full on for me 👀 will start playing with distance back from that. Thanks for replying

 

[Wilts Hobbit]

Moving the speakers apart should help massively - you'll get a much bigger soundstage for free - like getting a bigger TV for nowt!

I wish I could they are as far apart as I can get them unfortunately. Thanks for replying

 

[Wilts Hobbit]

As long as you’re a bit further from the speakers than they are from each other…which you are. The classic equilateral triangle survives in many speaker manuals, but i find that too full on, and only works for solo listening.

However, in a 17’ room, sitting 16’ away means you’re quite likely to hear wall reinforcement from being so close to the rear wall. So likely to boom a bit, though you might like it. But, using a chair that’s easier to move than a sofa, you can easily experiment. Start at 6’ or so and move back a foot at a time to get rough idea. Then finesse it from there. Bear in mind you may need to tweak the speaker position too!

Awesome cheers on it now and you are bang on about 6ft being too full on 👀😁 too close for my old ears. Thanks again

 

[Wilts Hobbit]

I'd say about 2m for a start. Then pay attention to soundstage width and depth, and adjust from there.

Maybe toe in slightly - experiment a bit.

Cheers will find my preferred distance 1st and then try a little bit of toe in and see where it leads thanks for your help

 

[Romulus]

I think looking at your photo of the room the only answer is to experiment all positions until your ears are satisfied. When I look at people who have photos of systems I am often taken by surprise how some systems which include large ATC speakers the listening chair is so near and upfront to the speakers (despite the size of the room) the owners obviously enjoy the near listening field experience (a bit like studio monitors)....

 

[nopiano]

I think looking at your photo of the room the only answer is to experiment all positions until your ears are satisfied. When I look at people who have photos of systems I am often taken by surprise how some systems which include large ATC speakers the listening chair is so near and upfront to the speakers (despite the size of the room) the owners obviously enjoy the near listening field experience (a bit like studio monitors)....

Talking of which, here’s a pic from three years ago when I was playing with some LS50 in front of my ATC SCM40. The room is 3.5 metres wide and I’m about the same distance from the speakers, which are about 2 metres apart.

I tried the equilateral position and it’s quite engulfing, but harder to get a natural perspective. Definitely more studio-like as you say.

https://imgur.com/r8ttUo2

View: https://imgur.com/r8ttUo2

 

[treesey]

Thank you. So it seems I am not too far off in terms of speaker positioning as recommended by the manufacturer which is good.

Here are the useful pages for reference. 2nd page is from my 752 version, 3rd page from the 753 version - 1st page is a one-diagram-fits-all.

753s weigh 25kgs each! ...or slightly less if you subtract the packaging..... I move them about the house on a skateboard

 

[Wilts Hobbit]

Just as an aside I was reading reviews for the wharfedale evo 4.4 and the reviews says they will need a medium sized room

Here are the useful pages for reference. 2nd page is from my 752 version, 3rd page from the 753 version - 1st page is a one-diagram-fits-all.

753s weigh 25kgs each! ...or slightly less if you subtract the packaging..... I move them about the house on a skateboard

View attachment 3630View attachment 3631View attachment 3632

Thank you very much. What did you do with yours in the end? I have not changed the x overs or tweeters yet, an £850 bill for my campervan saw to that for a while 😬😬

 

[treesey]

Still awaiting some kind of amp purchase. I didn't hear back from Mission re the crossovers - must chase them.

The 753s are part of a 7.1 system and the 752s are in the Sony CDP555ESD direct into Crimson Power amp system, which produces a wonderful stereo image/soundstage where the speakers are invisible.