Speaker spacing 5.1 B&W 685 set up

[admin_exported]

Is there any specific distances (starting point) for L & R speaker spacing?

I've read that the front should be about half a metre either side of the screen?

Or is it down to personal test on testing?

Same goes for the rears?

 

[professorhat]

My front 685s are just under 2m apart - I think ideally they should be a bit further apart but this isn't possible for me because of space issues - sounds excellent though. Of course, it will also depend how far away you're sitting, but this sort of distance should be okay for normal viewing distances of 3m or so. I spent a while experimenting with toe in as well and finally settled on them being slightly toed in. In my view, the rears should be a long way apart and ideally placed a little bit above ear height. Mine are either side of the room, but one is quite a bit closer to me than the other due to other furniture placement. As long as they are separated well enough so you can distinctly tell the direction the sound is coming from, the amp will take into account distances and the like for sound effects (assuming it's set up properly) so the distance to your ears doesn't need to be equal.

 

[Big Aura]

I've got mine just over 2.5m apart - it's a bit further than the experts advise for home cinema, but good for stereo listening. In any case, your amp will calibrate the distance, so don't worry about being too exact (within reason!).

 

[Sorreltiger]

I started off with mine right up against the rack that the TV is on, but didn't like the sound. ÿWhen I moved them out a little - more or less to a normal 'stereo hi-fi set-up' position, toed-in a little and at the base of a triangle, where the listening position is the apex - I was much happier. ÿLeft/right effects sound just right now. ÿFor me, that's one of of the tests - it needs to sound natural when someone comes in from a door off-screen on the left, for example.

ÿ