Help with speaker placement
JimMueller
Posts: 100
I posted this over at AVSForum but didn't receive any replies... maybe it's too anal? I'd appreciate some input though.
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Need a bit more advise on speaker placement...
ear height on sofa: ~40" (before the spring retainers broke :mad:)
vertical center of plasma: 39 5/16"
SDA-1C mains height:
Center of the top tweeter ~38 9/16"
Center of the bottom tweeter ~33 12/16"
tweeter vertical average is ~36 2/16"
distance to rear wall: 23"
distance to side wall: 33 8/16"
diagonal distance to sweet spot: 84" (both)
distance between mains: 62"
horizontal distance between tweeters: 78 10/16"
stepping stone height: 1 13/16"
Am I correct in assuming the signal going to each tweeter is the same and thus I want to get the vertical average to be at ear level and if it must be slightly too high or too low, it is better to have it slightly too high? Which tweeter would you place at which height? I have the space to make a perfect 7' triangle with the sweet spot, but right now I have them squeezed in to the plasma stand to maximize the distance to the side walls...where is the balance?
top tweeter w/ 1 stone: 40 3/16"
bottom tweeter w/ 1 stone: 35 6/16"
average with 1 stone: ~37 12/16"
top tweeter w/ 2 stones: 42"
bottom tweeter w/ 2 stones: 37 3/16"
average w/ 2 stones: ~39 9/16""
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Back surround speakers: RM-3000 satellites
Tweeter height: ~83" (mounted on wall), directly aimed at the sweet spot (Left 96", right 102" away)
wall distance between satellites ~128"
distance from side wall: 19" (L), 17" (R)
I can't lower the left rear channel without pulling it in towards the center about 45" (which would put it almost directly behind the sweet spot) because it is above a hallway to try to keep it aligned with the previous location of the left front main. The minimum distance I could move the left channel towards the center is ~26" due to an air duct.
To move them to the side wall surround position, the left rear would effectively be directly to the left of the sweet spot due to a doorway. To match that on the right would require the right speaker to be very close to the 8' ceiling due to a patio door in the way. I could move the right rear back, but to keep the left rear even with it would require I mount the left rear on the ceiling (I'm not sure if that's even physically possible).
With these restrictions, what's the best place to put the wall mounted satellites?
---
Thanks!!
Jim
---
Need a bit more advise on speaker placement...
ear height on sofa: ~40" (before the spring retainers broke :mad:)
vertical center of plasma: 39 5/16"
SDA-1C mains height:
Center of the top tweeter ~38 9/16"
Center of the bottom tweeter ~33 12/16"
tweeter vertical average is ~36 2/16"
distance to rear wall: 23"
distance to side wall: 33 8/16"
diagonal distance to sweet spot: 84" (both)
distance between mains: 62"
horizontal distance between tweeters: 78 10/16"
stepping stone height: 1 13/16"
Am I correct in assuming the signal going to each tweeter is the same and thus I want to get the vertical average to be at ear level and if it must be slightly too high or too low, it is better to have it slightly too high? Which tweeter would you place at which height? I have the space to make a perfect 7' triangle with the sweet spot, but right now I have them squeezed in to the plasma stand to maximize the distance to the side walls...where is the balance?
top tweeter w/ 1 stone: 40 3/16"
bottom tweeter w/ 1 stone: 35 6/16"
average with 1 stone: ~37 12/16"
top tweeter w/ 2 stones: 42"
bottom tweeter w/ 2 stones: 37 3/16"
average w/ 2 stones: ~39 9/16""
----
Back surround speakers: RM-3000 satellites
Tweeter height: ~83" (mounted on wall), directly aimed at the sweet spot (Left 96", right 102" away)
wall distance between satellites ~128"
distance from side wall: 19" (L), 17" (R)
I can't lower the left rear channel without pulling it in towards the center about 45" (which would put it almost directly behind the sweet spot) because it is above a hallway to try to keep it aligned with the previous location of the left front main. The minimum distance I could move the left channel towards the center is ~26" due to an air duct.
To move them to the side wall surround position, the left rear would effectively be directly to the left of the sweet spot due to a doorway. To match that on the right would require the right speaker to be very close to the 8' ceiling due to a patio door in the way. I could move the right rear back, but to keep the left rear even with it would require I mount the left rear on the ceiling (I'm not sure if that's even physically possible).
With these restrictions, what's the best place to put the wall mounted satellites?
---
Thanks!!
Jim
Yamaha RX-2600 receiver, Nakamichi Dragon, Mitsubishi HS-U80 VCR, Pioneer DVL-90 LD Player, Sony BDP-S550 Blu-ray player, Sony CDP-X555ES CD player, Carver TFM-42, Carver AV-634, Panasonic TC-P54V10 plasma, BenQ W1070 PJ, Fisher MT-90 turntable, AKG-K340 headphones, Polk SDA-1C mains, CS-400i center, FX A4 surrounds, Rti A1 surround backs
Post edited by JimMueller on
Comments
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Am I correct in assuming the signal going to each tweeter is the same
No, it's a progessive point source. One plays full range, the other doesn't.
Play with your seat height and decide what sounds best to you.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
Hi Jim, it's good to see you're thinking this through so thoroughly. I don't think the placement is as critical as you may think it is. You should expect good dispersion to 30 degrees out of alignment with your ears from your 1C's for stereo. For HT the whole idea is to spread the sound evenly around the room with appropriate delay to the satellites, not to give you point-source accuracy, IMHO.
JimInfinity QLS1, Polk SDA-1A, OLAdvent Econowave, Yamaha RXV-1300, CDC-685, P2200, AB International 9220A, Rane ME15B, Cambridge Audio 640P, Grant Fidelity B-283, Luxman PD277-AT7V, Pioneer PL707-Denon DL-207, DL-160....And projects on the bench! -
I sit on a phone book book to get to the proper ear height to listen to my 1.2TLs. The third tweeter from the top of the tweeter array is the full range tweeter.
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Maybe I'm just not getting it (wouldn't be the first time). Is there really a distinct difference a couple inches either way? My current speakers would be gone if that were the case.
JimInfinity QLS1, Polk SDA-1A, OLAdvent Econowave, Yamaha RXV-1300, CDC-685, P2200, AB International 9220A, Rane ME15B, Cambridge Audio 640P, Grant Fidelity B-283, Luxman PD277-AT7V, Pioneer PL707-Denon DL-207, DL-160....And projects on the bench! -
Is there really a distinct difference a couple inches either way?
That depends on the speaker, the room and the listener. For me, myself and I in my 2 channel rigs, absolutely. For HT, I don't think it matters as much, but I could be wrong on that one.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
That depends on the speaker, the room and the listener. For me, myself and I in my 2 channel rigs, absolutely. For HT, I don't think it matters as much, but I could be wrong on that one.
I've fiddled with my HT speakers and they are not as sensitive to placement as two channel setups. I had moved the fronts (RT2000P) back, forward and out further away from each other. The big difference I noticed was when I moved them further apart, although the soundstage got wider the seamless sound from left to center to right diminished and put a gap in the sounds going from left to right and visa versa. I did not notice any difference in bass or high frequecy improvements or lack thereof when moving the speakers front to back and visa versa. Suprisingly enough when moving the rears around there was a big difference in the seamless effect of the whole 5.1 experience.
In my two channel rig any changes from front to back or further apart made a dramatic difference in the presentation of music.
I've said this before, my HT rig is for sound effects thus moving speakers around don't affect the sound effects as much, my two channel rig is for musical accuracy. YMMV and of course this is all IMHO opinion and experience. -
hearingimpared wrote: »I sit on a phone book book to get to the proper ear height to listen to my 1.2TLs. The third tweeter from the top of the tweeter array is the full range tweeter.
This is the first time in my life I have felt sorry for a phone book. -
Maybe I'm just not getting it (wouldn't be the first time). Is there really a distinct difference a couple inches either way? My current speakers would be gone if that were the case.
Jim
Some people live their entire lives without every experiencing a truly magical "sweet spot"...TNRabbit
NO Polk Audio Equipment :eek:
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Carver AL-III Speakers
Klipsch RT-12d Subwoofer -
Maybe I'm just not getting it (wouldn't be the first time). Is there really a distinct difference a couple inches either way? My current speakers would be gone if that were the case.
Jim
Very much so...but only if you're paying attention to it.
If you're not listening very critically, you may not even notice it. If you're sitting off-axis, the whole soundstage seems shifted. If you're sitting to the right off-axis, the right speaker is going to slightly overpower the left speaker, thus shifting the entire sound stage to the right some, as well as making parts from the left channel less audible, or blurrier sounding.
As others have said, this isn't as much of an issue with HT setups, since you aren't really creating a stereo image. There's a center channel to take care of the center image, so sitting off-axis isn't going to be as big of a deal.
All that being said, I sit off-axis when I'm listening to my rig a lot of the time. I've got a couch in my 2 channel area, and when I'm listening alone I'm sitting right in the middle of it. If I have a friend over, I'll be sitting off-axis on one side or the other. When sitting off-axis, my rig still sounds great, but the image is much less pronounced. The center image in particular is much less coherent. Also, with my SDA's, the SDA effect is greatly reduced, and sometimes not even noticeable when sitting off-axis.
Like I said...my rig still sounds great off-axis, but there's nothing like being dead center in the sweet spot...that's where the magic happens.:)The nirvana inducer-
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