Speaker Position Revelation!

tyranniux42

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Hey all.

Just thought I would share my recent restlessness. Basically my system has always been positioned firing across my room width, the room is approx 3m x 4m with a notch cut out of one of the corners for about half the room length, basically a stunted L shape, with the notch used as my wardrobe covered by a curtain. Also I have always had my amp and CD player between the speakers, with as much room between them as asthetically pleasing to me. Whilst the sound has always been superb I have often wondered how it would sound firing down the room length ways as is usually recommended.

After moving my speakers around and allowing them almost twice the distance from the rear and side walls as previously (maybe a metre from each side wall with a metre and a half inbetween them, and roughly 70 cm from the rear wall, I then moved my seat to just over half way back in the room, leaving just over a metre to the back wall. My amp now sits further away from my CD player towards the speakers, and my cd player directly to the left of my seat. All the kit is on the left hand wall when I am listening now, as opposed to between the speakers.

WOW! After a few tweaks here and there with toe in and position of the seat my imaging is now almost holographic. Bass is much more linear, and DEEEEP! I know Naim gear isnt usually the best at projecting a large soundstage but if that is true then I would love to hear what a system sounds like that is supposedly fantastic in this area, because frankly I cant imagine it being much better! My room sounds at least twice the size and I have never experienced depth perception in my room like I am doing now, the speakers almost disappear if you close your eyes. :-D

Just thought I would share my experience, mainly to just advise anyone who is thinking of having a play with their room layout or speaker position especially to give it a go! it may be a revelation!

Ill post some pics if anyone is interested.

I would love to know what speakers specialise in soundstage and imaging, Totem maybe? an audition may be on the cards if anyone has any suggestions.

regards

Dan
 
A

Anonymous

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tyranniux42:

WOW! After a few tweaks here and there with toe in and position of the seat my imaging is now almost holographic.

Dan,

I'm curious.....did you find that you use less toe in now?
 

SteveR750

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Interesting - I thought that the convention is to fire across the room width to avoid standing waves....sadly I cant try this out in my house unless i block up either the lounge entrance or the conservatory doors....
 

DavieCee

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tyranniux42:

the speakers almost disappear if you close your eyes. :-D

I find most things disappear when I close my eyes
emotion-5.gif


Sorry, couldn't resist.
 
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Anonymous

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SteveR750:Interesting - I thought that the convention is to fire across the room width to avoid standing waves....sadly I cant try this out in my house unless i block up either the lounge entrance or the conservatory doors....

Steve, please explain "standing waves". I am interested to know as I can have my setup both ways. Lengthways it is nearly 10 metres and the width is 4 metres (setup down one end firing across the room)
 

tyranniux42

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LOL @ DavieCee!

Catlike, yes I have quite a bit less toe in now that the speakers are so much closer together. I have them pointing so that the tweeters fire to the same point at my back wall roughly, so that they hit a small panel to stop first reflection.

As for the standing waves, I would imagine that the longer the dimension that the speakers fire down is, the lower the standing wave frequency, and also the lower the frequency bass roll off.

the lowest frequency standing wave in a 4m length of room would be 1/4 of the wavelength (please someone correct me here if i am wrong). so effectively a 16m wavelength, which is somewhere around 20Hz, where as at 3m firing across I would get 27.5HZ, there are obviously many frequencies which will fit perfectly into a 4m or a 3m length, either by a quarter half, full or multiples of, so I cant see how standing waves would be improved, just changed in frequency. The only way to get rid would be lots of absorbant materials (which I do have a few traps etc), or to chenge the box shape of the room.

either way, in my room with the seat in its current spot the linearity of the bass seems to be improved, and definatly able to reach deeper.

Ill take some good pics tonight when i get home, its made me want to re-listen to a lot of CD's just to hear how much extra space there is in the music now, the 3D effect is quite amazing with certain records. If anyone has heard Amon Tobin's Foley Room, its a peach to test the soundfield depth and width!

regards

Dan
 

tyranniux42

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as promised!

http://s967.photobucket.com/albums/ae158/tyranniux42/

*does anyone know how to make this a clickable link?*

the first 7 pics in the album are as the kit is placed now, the previous pics are as it was before for comparison.

let me know your thoughts...

Regards

Dan
 

DavieCee

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Seems like a standard UK house set up.

Now, if only we could get window mount invisible on demand TVs
emotion-14.gif


Edit:- Thanks for the prompt in your photos. Possibly the best tweak I have ever done was to hang a towel behind each speaker (rear ported) last night. Now to find an aesthetic way of leaving this permanently
emotion-5.gif
 

Crocodile

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tyranniux42:
emotion-21.gif
thanks! You can simply insert url tags either side of the link to make the whole thing clickable.

[url*]Your link here[/url*}

Remove the asterisks that I've inserted to allow the code to show. To make your own word clickable as I did, click quote on my post & you'll see the tags & format used.
 

tyranniux42

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grifz:Do the egg shells work

They arent actually egg shells, its moulded high density foam used in quality packaging CCTV cameras, and it works very well to get rid of room flutter echoes which are caused by higher frequency reflections. the two panels that can be seen either side of the tv are the same foam only with a pine frame around it and covered in material. The large panels are 4 inch thick loft board insulation covered in material, also with a foam piece stuck at the bottom for extra absorbancy in the bottom corners. Seems to tame the room quite a bit.

With nothing in my room it sounds terrible due to me having flat walls and laminate flooring. With everything there it sounds as good as it can on a low budget but im still in no doubt that my system could be so much better in a decent room!
 

tyranniux42

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DavieCee:
Seems like a standard UK house set up.

Now, if only we could get window mount invisible on demand TVs
emotion-14.gif


Edit:- Thanks for the prompt in your photos. Possibly the best tweak I have ever done was to hang a towel behind each speaker (rear ported) last night. Now to find an aesthetic way of leaving this permanently
emotion-5.gif


why not try some small sofa cusions behind the speakers, with a simelar colour to your decor. They will likely be better than a towel at preventing reflections too...
 

DavieCee

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tyranniux42:

why not try some small sofa cusions behind the speakers, with a simelar colour to your decor. They will likely be better than a towel at preventing reflections too...

Unfortunately, the "small" cushions would have to be about 1m high. I am currently thinking of a couple of hooks for towels/dressing gown/fleece as a temporary measure until I can find a decent wall carpet or similar loose hanging decorative material.
 

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