Seating position

[BryO]

I have a pair of Roksan Ojan 3s, and I find for the best aural pleasure that I spend most of my time sat on the floor.

When I sit on the couch I don't seem to be sucked into the music as much.

Whereas sitting on the floor in front of the couch with my ears totally equal to the cones, is a miles more involving listening experience.

anyone else find this?

 

[MeanandGreen]

Speakers should be at ear height yes.

No speaker below the level of your ears are going to sound as good they should.

 

[DocG]

And you use the couch as a full fat bass panel too! And you sit further from the back wall! (That is: unless the couch is in the middle of the room already).

So yeah, makes sense...

 

[lindsayt]

My Sansui speakers are the same. You need to sit on the floor for them to come into focus. Maybe it was a Japanese home market thing with them?

Bryo, have you thought about trying higher speaker stands for your Ojans?

 

[BryO]

The Ojans are floor standers and weigh a lot as I filled them with ballast when I first got them. So the idea that stands were available them never crossed my mind.

 

[The_Lhc]

The Ojans are floor standers and weigh a lot as I filled them with ballast when I first got them. So the idea that stands were available them never crossed my mind.

In that case if the stands have adjustable spikes on them you might consider lengthening the front ones to point the speakers "up" a bit more towards your seating position.

 

[BryO]

They definitely have spikes will have a look at how much they can be raised by, it's worth a go. Though if it doesn't work, I'm happy to resume my floor position.

 

[sheggs]

Seating position and set up position really make a huge difference when setting up your systems.

We get asked about it a lot so wrtoe this short article to explain some of the basics -

http://gikacoustics.co.uk/basics-room-setup-acoustic-panels-bass-traps/

 

[davedotco]

They definitely have spikes will have a look at how much they can be raised by, it's worth a go. Though if it doesn't work, I'm happy to resume my floor position.

Interestingly there is much discussion of speaker positioning, toe in and the like but very little in terms of vertical allignment.

Most conventional two ways place the tweeter on top, but if you measure such a speaker you will find that the directivity of the speaker output is downward, rather like dipped headlights. This explains why reflections from a hard floor can be so troublesome.

In the case of the Ojan 3 the tweeter is below the bass driver, so the directivity will be upwards, I have had 'hands on' with these speakers in the past and can not recall any oddities positioning wise. Overall I think the difference you are hearing is the sofa behind you blocking out reflections from behind.

 

[relocated]

The Ojans are floor standers and weigh a lot as I filled them with ballast when I first got them. So the idea that stands were available them never crossed my mind.

You filled your floor standing speakers with ballast, could you help me out there?

 

[andyjm]

The Ojans are floor standers and weigh a lot as I filled them with ballast when I first got them. So the idea that stands were available them never crossed my mind.

You filled your floor standing speakers with ballast, could you help me out there?

Stops the speakers capsizing when he puts them in the bath.

 

[BryO]

There's a port that can be filled with sand at the back of the speakers, Roksan advised at the time to put some in, did something for the bass apparently. It was back in the 90s I no longer have the manual and can't totally remember the full reasons.

 

[davedotco]

If I recall correctly there was a separate sealed enclosure at the bottom of the speaker that could be mass loaded. It gave the bass slightly greater 'weight'.

There was also the tweeter, mounted on that slightly springy, vertical wooden stave. Touraj at his most inventive.

 

[BryO]

Dave you are spot on! Also I believe that what you said regarding reflection is also true. Have raised the spikes, neglible difference. But when I sit in front of the couch there's total immersion.

 

[DocG]

And you use the couch as a full fat bass panel too!

Overall I think the difference you are hearing is the sofa behind you blocking out reflections from behind.

Dave phrases it all so much clearer, BryO. Glad you understood him better than you understood me.

 

[Gazzip]

And you use the couch as a full fat bass panel too!

Overall I think the difference you are hearing is the sofa behind you blocking out reflections from behind.

Dave phrases it all so much clearer, BryO. Glad you understood him better than you understood me.

I think Dave is referring to high frequency standing wave reflection from behind rather than bass reflection. Bass tends to hang around in the corners rather than reflecting straight back from hard surfaces.

 

[BryO]

Ha, either way sitting in front of the couch seems to work.

 

[DocG]

Next step: sit in your couch with a thick pillow behind your head. See what happens. Is the couch close to the rear wall?

 

[BryO]

The couch is mid room at the moment but will be moved to the back of the room once our daughter isn't so reliant on the pram, as we need access to get in and out through this room.

I will try the pillow idea, if it works, it will lead me to hope that once the couch is at the back of the room I should get the same sound as I do when sitting in front of the couch.

 

[DocG]

That's puzzling... *scratch_one-s_head* With the couch in the middle of the room, backwall reflections should be limited. There's no huge window or mirror behind you, is there? Anyways, I'm afraid things won't be better once the couch is against the wall...

But do try the pillow!

 

[BryO]

I tried the pillow thing, but wasn't as good as resuming my floor position. I'll see how things sound when we rearrange the room in the future.

Maybe one day i'll upgrade the speakers to some taller floor standers, but I love the Roksans, have had them for roughly 20years now and they are great for Rock music. KEF seem to be lauded as the speakers for Rock nowadays, never heard them though and the style of the bass and tweeters looks bloody awful, just like larger versions of PC speakers.

 

[DocG]

OK. So you sit in front of your couch, on a comfy pillow! Enjoy your music! *drinks*

 

[BryO]

Yes, that's the plan.

 

[RobinKidderminster]

As said - couch against back wallis bad bad idea - and difficult to resolve. Suggest you take a degree in room acoustics before moving any furniture. In your case not an armchair course.

 

[BryO]

As said - couch against back wallis bad bad idea - and difficult to resolve. Suggest you take a degree in room acoustics before moving any furniture. In your case not an armchair course.

It's not going to be for a good while as our daughter is still very young. If we move the couch and things are worse I can always resume the central position. It's tricky as it's just our front room, we don't have a big enough house to have a designated listening room.