moved my 2Bs

leftwinger57

This I thought would never work or make any difference but once again I was wrong. My right 2B used to be about 8/9" further back w/ my black lacquer rack blocking some of it sound wise. They were always a clean foot off the back wall but still obscured somewhat in front. Now I moved them and my tv console all even and w/o any obstruction and while airing them out yesterday I must say the sound stage improved, broadened and clearly there is no problem w/ taking up more space in my living room.
1 Question, when is to much being away from a back wall. This I don't understand at all because all here say to have peak performance out of your speakers the cabinets should be as air tight as possible so why should distance from a back wall matter so much ? Now they are 18" off the rear wall. Top pix is the newly moved second is the former position.

boston1450

I got mine 8 inches off the back wall & even with rack/cabinet & with 2 1/2 feet on each end open. I get its hard to get that 3ft on each end. But if you can-you will notice a difference. I also spiked mine & the first thing i noticed my bass improved. Being too far from back wall i would think it may throw the bass off by bouncing around. Youve heard it before-that set up that way with that rack (which is beautiful) is not helping

leftwinger57

Randy, thanks for the compliment but I think my Black Behemoth is a monstrosity. What I am really looking for is a 5 shelf open glass rack which would also afford more air to the 2B. About spiking, I've tried it and still have the inserts in the bottoms covered by larger furniture sliders. I also have 2 more of those 16"x16" x2" pavers which could decouple the speakers from the floor. Are your spiked speakers on hard wood or carpet ??

boston1450

They are on carpet. I went with the ones WMG suggested & i used them on all my speakers with great results

George Grand

That is the FRONT wall ladies.

cnh

First rule of SDA placement: NEVER have any surface farther out from the wall than your speakers! You did not do that and now you've corrected it. And? It does make a difference.

You also don't want to have them too far away from that wall. 18" is a bit much, IMO, but if it works, fine.

The rest you know, a minimum of 4' between the speakers, and 3' from either wall, etc. SDA placement, frankly, S U C K S, if you have an older house. I have almost NO room that can accommodate that, except the basement room which is only 10 feet wide-and how much BASS do you think you can propagate in 10'? They're wonderful speakers but a B to place! So many restrictions and rules that mine are temporarily residing in a CLOSET! Exiled because they're Prima Donnas. lol

leftwinger57

Everything you said is absolutely correct. My living room specs out at 18' x 15' but if you noticed in some of my pix I have my front door and a closet which I use on the same wall as the rack and 2Bs. When I got them I didn't even know if they would fit and man they are shoe horned in but do fit, so I lucked out w/ the correct width spread, distance from the wall (give or take) and now more breathing room on the right side. As for the placement protocols they are almost as bad as Bose 901s w/ too many don't put me here or there in their own manual.

PolkieMan

best place for 901's is garage or back porch

smglbrth

My 2A's are 6 1/2 to 6 3/4" from the wall, 7 feet apart (inside corners) and have more than 3 feet from each side. They sound great but I read somewhere, on here most likely, that having stuff stacked between speakers took away from the sound some. So..., I made a small shelf, 3" off the floor and wide enough to accommodate my pre/amp/CDP (granted it's not as much gear as you have) and put that in between the speakers instead of a big table/rack setup. I did hear quite a difference. In the future if I have to move stuff around, or combine the HT and 2 channel again I will try to get rid of as much furniture and other stuff to keep that area as clear as possible.

My only problem now is there is a support beam (it's wood to the width of 5" on each of the four sides) to the left of my seating position that I can't get around. I wish I could just knock the sucker out but guess that would be "problematic". It messes with the sound a little and my wife won't let me wrap it in foam to try and make it disappear...

Braddles63

I find the further you get the speakers off the back wall the better the sound stage "depth" also improves. You will loose some quantity of bass but it will be better quality bass. Just for interest sake pull them out another few inches and see how the overall balance and soundstage changes.

westmassguy

PolkieMan wrote: »

best place for 901's is garage or back porch

You've obviously never heard a pair rebuilt by me, and paired with one of my Equalizers.

leftwinger57

Dave, I just knew you would chime in after that comment. I was at least polite and pretty much correct on my assessment of 901s and would never insult anyone's gear or taste on music because like art it self it's all subjective. To get back to my little move they are staying up front and closer..

westmassguy

Lew, didn't mean to hijack your thread. My 2As are about 10" off the back wall, due to front clearance issues. I noted no decrease in bass by doing so. They should actually be another 6" forward to clear my center, but It has not been a problem. My 52" DLP is much deeper than a Plasma/LED/LCD flat screen.

leftwinger57

I don't care who jumps in and has something to say that's relevant. Now my problem is I still don't get Polk's nomenclature so I have no idea what the difference between 2s, 2a. 2b are, and then the 1.2TL and other decimal point models. I just don't get it and have to refer to the handbook every time I hear of a different model. They are certainly not like Klipsch's vintage Heritage line w/ The Heresy, Forte', Quartets,Cornwalls. Now again they probably ran out names and also did the number thing w/ the KG series 3, 4s, 4.2s 5.5.

westmassguy

leftwinger57 wrote: »

I don't care who jumps in and has something to say that's relevant. Now my problem is I still don't get Polk's nomenclature so I have no idea what the difference between 2s, 2a. 2b are, and then the 1.2TL and other decimal point models. I just don't get it and have to refer to the handbook every time I hear of a different model. They are certainly not like Klipsch's vintage Heritage line w/ The Heresy, Forte', Quartets,Cornwalls. Now again they probably ran out names and also did the number thing w/ the KG series 3, 4s, 4.2s 5.5.

Different generations Lew. There are five SDA generations, with improvements along the way

motorhead43026

I am still experimenting with my placement from the back wall. My 2B's at this time are 10-1/2" which puts the front 22" into the room. This just clears my open rack by a couple inches. Although this seems to be the sweet spot after trying both closer and further out.

leftwinger57

just remeasured and mine are 18'' off the rear of cabinet from front wall ( thanks George) and 29" to front of cabinet into my living room. Giving up 5/6" for the way better sound was a no brainer and I 'm glad I tried. It's a tough speaker to place if space is limited.

PolkieMan

Oh I agree yours are The Bose but my poor guys are quite tired and pre-abused.

westmassguy wrote: »

PolkieMan wrote: »

best place for 901's is garage or back porch

You've obviously never heard a pair rebuilt by me, and paired with one of my Equalizers.

Nightfall

Just pulled a tape on mine from the backwall, though not SDA's, 15 1/4" on the inside and 22" on the outside.

leftwinger57

I think most of us are pretty damn close w/ the space we have to deal with. I have no expansive great room, or study or anything like that but somehow I manged to get both the SDAs, and 4 other sets of floor standers,& 1 set of bookies in 1 room w/o knocking into them or stubbing of toes. Yes, they all work including my H/T which are wall mounted

motorhead43026

My 2b's aren't in the best placement either. I do have them exactly 4' apart but the right speaker is only 16' from the wall. I still get the SDA effect and these are still the best sounding speaker I have owned.

Nightfall

motorhead43026 wrote: »

My 2b's aren't in the best placement either. I do have them exactly 4' apart but the right speaker is only 16' from the wall. I still get the SDA effect and these are still the best sounding speaker I have owned.

Only 16' or did you mean 16"?

motorhead43026

16" ...forgot the shift key.

machone

My 1A's are in a 18.5 ft wide x 21 ft long x 9.5 high room.
Their backs are 16" off the wall. They are a little over 8 ft apart inside to inside.
Their fronts stand proud of any obstructions by 3".
However the right speaker is covered up (only about a 2 ft gap in front) by a large table that holds my slotcar race track. I thought about selling it but my 9 year old grandson did not think much about that idea.
Anyway I listen standing up and I think the imaging is very good. I would expect it to improve without the racetrack in the way and I could sit down!

leftwinger57

I like those 1a just as cosmetic thing w/ the wood veneer all over instead of the fabric side panels of my 2Bs which comes loose. Wow, I haven't seen a slot car track since the late 60s. My father owned a hobby store and we had a fairly big track in the store I think by Aurora or Carrera. Models of every kind from Revell to Aurora and balsa wood WW1 models of planes used from the Fokker tri plane, Spads, Camels Nieuports and Albatros.

boston1450

LEW got a question & dont be offended please. Not sure how your placement is on your left speaker is -but- have you thought about putting the tall rack elsewhere & putting components on top of that beautiful entertainment center your albums are on ? That would free up some room. I had the same/similar situation here as i hate getting rid of gear. I have to travel to get albums through the house now.

leftwinger57

Randy I have. I actually reversed the entire room w/ the thinking of not giving up the front and closet
door widths. I left it like that for a week and it just did not work for me. I'll take some shots and I think my left 2B is fine and the right which again gained a healthy 6" by moving it up equal to my rack which of course has solid sides got better but is not perfect.

leftwinger57

To further your thought by putting my gear on the console it self, I tried that and it looked terrible. I also think if I had just 3/4 devises it could work and transfer my albums to the bottom of the book case and ditch the books. Fantasy here, a McIntosh 2105 or the classic tube Mc275, C-28 pre, Mc MRX-tuner and a Dual 1225 or 1229 w/ the beveled United Audio base which was the table of the late '70s.

boston1450

Yup. You like most-including me,need a bigger place lol.

leftwinger57

''To Dream The Impossible Dream" This apt. is the biggest square footage wise in the Old Bridge, East Brunswick, and South Amboy townships. Before settling on this place I toured most garden apt. complexes and this one just came in on top w/ it being the largest apartment around and having the most in terms of different floor plans, appliances and being a commuter community access to just about every major road in Central Jersey and having the bus depot in town also 3 minutes away. I do think if I get an open air glass rack it would certainly help w/o giving up anymore space.