Looking for speakers to be positioned near back and side wall

Jcypser

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Hi all

The the misses is giving me earache about my tannoy revolution dc6 being positioned about 50cm from the wall, problem is if I move them back then I get booming sound...tried all positions and nothing works.

So I've been looking up speakers that can be positioned near the wall. Ones that look like they could work well are Focal 906 and Cambridge aeromax 2 or maybe aeromax 6 as they all are front ported.

Any advice would be appreciated.
 

chebby

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The Audio Note AX-Twos that I use were designed to be optimal against walls and in corners. (And they are.)

Allowing for the connections and cables (and/or skirting board thickness + the base of the stands), the backs of the - rear ported - cabinets are about 6cm centimetres away from the wall and just over a paperback book's width away from fully loaded bookcases to the sides of both speakers (just enough room to allow me to take out and replace books comfortably without moving the speakers).
 
chebby said:
The Audio Note AX-Twos that I use were designed to be optimal against walls and in corners. (And they are.)

Allowing for the connections and cables (and/or skirting board thickness + the base of the stands), the backs of the - rear ported - cabinets are about 6cm centimetres away from the wall and just over a paperback book's width away from fully loaded bookcases to the sides of both speakers (just enough room to allow me to take out and replace books comfortably without moving the speakers).

I concur. Just need to know OPs budget and actual room size.

If it's around £600 there may be a bit of difficulty finding ideal speakers here, second-hand might be an area to investigate.

Heybrook HB1, 2 or EB Acoustics EB2s for example.
 

seemorebtts

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What's your budget and I think most Speaker's need some space.mine are rear ported and are about 25 30 cm away from the back wall.iv never had boomy bass with any of my Speaker's.i have a rug on the floor and some canvas on the wall.dont get me wrong all rooms are different.just notice you have a sub.need more information on this one
 

davedotco

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Despite what you are told, the position of the port makes little difference as Chebby's Audionotes prove. It is all about the polar response of the speakers and how this is balanced, as long as the airflow is not restricted, the position of the port is irrelevant.

Neat Iotas are great speakers for wall mounting and far more capable than their size suggests, but they are tiny and that effects peoples judgement.
 
davedotco said:
Despite what you are told, the position of the port makes little difference as Chebby's Audionotes prove. It is all about the polar response of the speakers and how this is balanced, as long as the airflow is not restricted, the position of the port is irrelevant.

Neat Iotas are great speakers for wall mounting and far more capable than their size suggests, but they are tiny and that effects peoples judgement.

True. The best example IMO is the old Ruark Sabre IIIs. Rear ported and sound really impressive in close proximity to the wall.

Concur that balance is key. Most of the older Dynaudios (Audience, Contour...) need a fair bit of breathing space -- they could be a little bass heavy (use of the words 'could be' is a cautious one).
 

davedotco

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plastic penguin said:
davedotco said:
Despite what you are told, the position of the port makes little difference as Chebby's Audionotes prove. It is all about the polar response of the speakers and how this is balanced, as long as the airflow is not restricted, the position of the port is irrelevant.

Neat Iotas are great speakers for wall mounting and far more capable than their size suggests, but they are tiny and that effects peoples judgement.

True. The best example IMO is the old Ruark Sabre IIIs. Rear ported and sound really impressive in close proximity to the wall.

Concur that balance is key. Most of the older Dynaudios (Audience, Contour...) need a fair bit of breathing space -- they could be a little bass heavy (use of the words 'could be' is a cautious one).

I recall an enthusiasts discussion on soundstaging at a US hi-end show.

All very interesting and knowledgeable until an obviously english voice (not me) popped up with what I thought a reasonable comment.

The 'put down', from an american reviewer was classic, "What would you know about soundstaging," he said, "you're english and your wife makes you put your speakers against the wall".
 

nick8858

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++1 for Neat Iota. My room is high celing victorian lounge 13 x 13 feet. Speakers about 10cm from wall. No problem whatsoever and they bounce sound all over the place. Fantastic little boxes. I have a sub woofer as well although its in a cupboard as I simply don't need it. Occasionally you can get "slight cosmetic seconds" from Creative Audio for £450. Absolute bargain
 

Gaz37

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How is a speaker designed to be used near a side wall?

A rear wall I can understand, a front ported or sealed box would suffice, but what can a manufacturer do at the design stage to counteract the effects of a side wall?
 

davedotco

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Gaz37 said:
How is a speaker designed to be used near a side wall?

A rear wall I can understand, a front ported or sealed box would suffice, but what can a manufacturer do at the design stage to counteract the effects of a side wall?

As explained above, the position of the port is irrelevant.

What matters is polar response of the speaker, as we all know, higher frequencies are more directional whereas bass is near omnidirectional. In essence, adjacent serfaces will reflect and re-inforce bass frequencies but have negligable effect on higher frequencies.

So if a speaker is balanced to sound 'flat' in free space, placing it close to a boundary, (back or side wall) will reinforce the bass leading to a bass heavy sound. The balance of the speaker and hence it's preferred position in the room is up to the designer.

Most speakers are something of a compromise in this respect, though this is far from ideal.
 

Gaz37

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So how is a speaker balanced?

What is there to play with in terms of balance? You have two drivers, a crossover, some wires and a wooden box, how can these be adjusted to allow for a surface to either the left or right?

Without intending to sound rude or dismissive that sounds like mumbo jumbo.
 
Gaz37 said:
So how is a speaker balanced?

What is there to play with in terms of balance? You have two drivers, a crossover, some wires and a wooden box, how can these be adjusted to allow for a surface to either the left or right?

Without intending to sound rude or dismissive that sounds like mumbo jumbo.
There is any number of books and articles on loudspeaker design that will explain this. You've listed the components. When you consider all the different cabinet shapes and sizes, the method of design, the choice of materials, the permutations for crossovers, etc., the options are endless.

You might conclude that is why there are so many different speaker designs out there.

Regarding room boundaries, speakers with relatively raised mid and treble ranges can benefit from proximity to boundaries, or indeed are designed with that in mind.

On the original point, a couple of years ago the Guru Junior got some great reviews, but became unavailable. I recently emailed the importer who says they are hoping to start deliveries again soon.
 

davedotco

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We are talking about the basic balance of a loudspeaker, ie whether it is bass heavy or bass light.

Take a speaker that is neutral, this infers a flat frequency response from the bass to the high treble. In free space, you hear the speaker as designed, ie flat. Place it close to a boundary, back or side wall, it matters not, and the bass, which is effectively omnidirectional, reflects from that surface and some of that reflected sound will reach the listening position.

This is added to the sound arriving directly from the speakers so the bass level is boosted, the mid and higher frequencies which are more directional are not boosted, so the balance is off, ie too much bass.

Very simplistic I know, but that is in essence, why room boundaries affect the tonal balance of the speakers.
 

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