Speaker Placement

mara5
mara5 Posts: 54
edited November 2011 in Speakers
I realize that speaker placement can be paramount to best listening, however some of us cannot place in best position. This may be due to room size, furniture, etc. The one biggie is the significant other. No way is my wife gonna accept speakers sitting out 3-4' from wall (livingroom).
Finally my question, are there any $1500ish speakers that will do well close to walls (about 12" or so)? Also, how are speakers denigrated by being close? Thx.
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  • pearsall001
    pearsall001 Posts: 5,094
    edited November 2011
    mara5 wrote: »
    I realize that speaker placement can be paramount to best listening, however some of us cannot place in best position. This may be due to room size, furniture, etc. The one biggie is the significant other. No way is my wife gonna accept speakers sitting out 3-4' from wall (livingroom).
    Finally my question, are there any $1500ish speakers that will do well close to walls (about 12" or so)? Also, how are speakers denigrated by being close? Thx.

    As a general rule of thumb a real ported speaker needs distance from the back wall. A 12" distance might be okay but awfully close. Nothing worse than boomy bass & you if you can't move them further out you're kinda stuck. Now on the other hand front ported speakers can go very close to the back wall without having a bass issue. All speakers will benefit from distance from the side walls regardless if front or rear ported. Choose wisely. Try to get them home for an audition if you can & make sure you can return (without a $$ penalty) them if they don't work out.
    "2 Channel & 11.2 HT "Two Channel:Magnepan LRSSchiit Audio Freya S - SS preConsonance Ref 50 - Tube preParasound HALO A21+ 2 channel ampBluesound NODE 2i streameriFi NEO iDSD DAC Oppo BDP-93KEF KC62 sub Home Theater:Full blown 11.2 set up.
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  • falconcry72
    falconcry72 Posts: 3,580
    edited November 2011
    It really depends on the design of the speaker. Magnepans, for instance, put out just as much sound to the back as they do to the front, so they need space for the backward firing sound to not be slamming up against the wall too quickly. This is true of any bipolar or "omnipolar" speaker. Martin Logan, certain Mirages, etc.

    Some speakers do great close to the wall. SDA's are a good example. most people prefer them to be somewhere between 4" and 12" from the wall.
    2-Channel: PC > Schiit Eitr > Audio Research DAC-8 > Audio Research LS-26 > Pass Labs X-250.5 > Magnepan 3.7's

    Living Room: PC > Marantz AV-7703 > Emotiva XPA-5 > Sonus Faber Liuto Towers, Sonus Faber Liuto Center, Sonus Faber Liuto Bookshelves > Dual SVS PC12-Pluses

    Office: Phone/Tablet > AudioEngine B1 > McIntosh D100 > Bryston 4B-ST > Polk Audio LSiM-703's
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  • falconcry72
    falconcry72 Posts: 3,580
    edited November 2011
    mara5 wrote: »
    No way is my wife gonna accept speakers sitting out 3-4' from wall

    I adopt a different take on this:

    No way I'm going to have a wife who won't accept my speakers the way I need them to be!:razz::cool:
    2-Channel: PC > Schiit Eitr > Audio Research DAC-8 > Audio Research LS-26 > Pass Labs X-250.5 > Magnepan 3.7's

    Living Room: PC > Marantz AV-7703 > Emotiva XPA-5 > Sonus Faber Liuto Towers, Sonus Faber Liuto Center, Sonus Faber Liuto Bookshelves > Dual SVS PC12-Pluses

    Office: Phone/Tablet > AudioEngine B1 > McIntosh D100 > Bryston 4B-ST > Polk Audio LSiM-703's
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  • falconcry72
    falconcry72 Posts: 3,580
    edited November 2011
    mara5 wrote: »
    ...are there any $1500ish speakers that will do well close to walls (about 12" or so)?

    Yes, tons. You'll probably want a traditional, front-firing cone-based speaker either in a sealed cabinet or with a front-firing port.

    What are you going to use them for? If it's music, I'd take a real hard look at the new Polk Audio LSiM-703 bookshelves. They are a lot of speaker for the money, and will do well even close to the front wall.
    2-Channel: PC > Schiit Eitr > Audio Research DAC-8 > Audio Research LS-26 > Pass Labs X-250.5 > Magnepan 3.7's

    Living Room: PC > Marantz AV-7703 > Emotiva XPA-5 > Sonus Faber Liuto Towers, Sonus Faber Liuto Center, Sonus Faber Liuto Bookshelves > Dual SVS PC12-Pluses

    Office: Phone/Tablet > AudioEngine B1 > McIntosh D100 > Bryston 4B-ST > Polk Audio LSiM-703's
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  • mara5
    mara5 Posts: 54
    edited November 2011
    Thanks all, gives me something to look for.

    Falconcry72, you're a better man than I!!
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  • mara5
    mara5 Posts: 54
    edited November 2011
    Followup question. Is there any type of equip. that will mitigate the sound of speakers being to close to a wall?
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  • falconcry72
    falconcry72 Posts: 3,580
    edited November 2011
    mara5 wrote: »
    Followup question. Is there any type of equip. that will mitigate the sound of speakers being to close to a wall?

    Acoustic panels can make a big difference:

    http://www.atsacoustics.com/panels
    2-Channel: PC > Schiit Eitr > Audio Research DAC-8 > Audio Research LS-26 > Pass Labs X-250.5 > Magnepan 3.7's

    Living Room: PC > Marantz AV-7703 > Emotiva XPA-5 > Sonus Faber Liuto Towers, Sonus Faber Liuto Center, Sonus Faber Liuto Bookshelves > Dual SVS PC12-Pluses

    Office: Phone/Tablet > AudioEngine B1 > McIntosh D100 > Bryston 4B-ST > Polk Audio LSiM-703's
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