New to the Forum & pending L800 Owner
Options
Greetings and thank you for going easy on me with my first post. I am not a newbie when it comes to both modern and vintage audio but I always have more to learn.
I may already know the answer to my question, but I will risk ridicule and ask anyway.
My audio room is small; 12”x12”. I really have my heart set on the L800s. I know Polk recommends at least 3’ from the speakers to the side wall.
Can I get away with using the L800 if I install sound absorption panels to reduce reflections?
I’m running a Musical Fidelity M6 Preamp and Power Amp.
Appreciate you letting me post here and for putting up with a Polk Newbie.
PS, if the SDA is impacted, does that mean the L800s will sound awful?
Regards,
Kevin
I may already know the answer to my question, but I will risk ridicule and ask anyway.
My audio room is small; 12”x12”. I really have my heart set on the L800s. I know Polk recommends at least 3’ from the speakers to the side wall.
Can I get away with using the L800 if I install sound absorption panels to reduce reflections?
I’m running a Musical Fidelity M6 Preamp and Power Amp.
Appreciate you letting me post here and for putting up with a Polk Newbie.
PS, if the SDA is impacted, does that mean the L800s will sound awful?
Regards,
Kevin
Comments
-
Welcome!
The L800s would still work but the impact of the dimensional arrays at the ears wouldn't be ideal. Each speaker is 18 inches wide so a pair fills 3 feet of front wall space. If the speakers are placed 6 feet apart the amount of space from the speakers to the side walls would be 1.5 feet. You may be able to have the speakers 5 feet apart to leave 2 feet to each side wall. Polk recommends the speakers be 6 to 8 feet apart as optimum but 5 feet would be acceptable but that affects how far away you should sit from them.
Acoustic panels on the side walls may help some.
The L800s are unique in the audio world but for some situations the L600s are a better choice. -
This content has been removed.
-
You came to the right place. These guys will give you the best, easy-to-understand advice. We were all newbies, once.
Brian -
My first thought is that the bass and mass of the speakers is going to overwhelm that size room, therefore the L600's might be a better fit.Amplifiers: Norma IPA 140, MasterSound Compact 845, Ayre v6xe, Consonance Cyber 800
Preamp: deHavilland Ultraverve 3
Dac: Sonnet Morpheus 2, Musical Paradise mp-d2 mkIII
Transport: Jay's Audio CDT2 mk2, Lumin U1 mini
Speakers: Rosso Fiorentino Volterra II
Speaker Cables: Crystal Clear Magnum Opus 2, Organic Audio Organic Reference 2
Interconnects: Crystal Clear Magnum Opus 2, Argento Organic Reference 2, Argento Organic 2
Power Cables: Argento Organic Reference, Synergistic Research Foundation 10 and 12 ga.
Digital cables: Crystal Clear Magnum Opus 2 bnc, Tellurium Q aes, Silnote Audio Poseidon Signature 2 bnc
Puritan PSM156 -
Thank you to all for the advice. I have some thinking to do.
Appreciate the feedback. -
I’ve never had the privilege of hearing the L800, but just from experience with different speakers I’d have to think they would be a bit much for that sized room.
I used to think “buy the biggest, baddest speakers you can afford”, but now I realize that’s not very good advice. My end game speakers are Rosso Volterra’s, but I’ll never own them in my current music room as it’s just not big enough.Things work out best for those who make the best of the way things work out.-John Wooden -
This content has been removed.
-
This content has been removed.
-
My experience with the L800 at Troy's is they love alot of space away from the back and side walls while being relatively close together.
The back wall made a huge difference in their performance. I Wan to say we even had them out 5 to 6 ft into the room and it was a tremendous improvement.- Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit. -
Thanks again for all the feedback. I pulled the trigger on the L800s.
I have an unfinished space that is 20’ x 15’ that I plan to turn into my new listening space this winter, so I am sure I can make that work. -
I have an unfinished space that is 20’ x 15’ that I plan to turn into my new listening space this winter, so I am sure I can make that work.
Well, that's a horse of a different color!
-
A square room is bad for any speaker, but if you are planning the 15'×20' room at a later date, then I would say the L800 will work great in that room.
-
Greetings and thank you for going easy on me with my first post. I am not a newbie when it comes to both modern and vintage audio but I always have more to learn.
I may already know the answer to my question, but I will risk ridicule and ask anyway.
My audio room is small; 12”x12”. I really have my heart set on the L800s. I know Polk recommends at least 3’ from the speakers to the side wall.
Can I get away with using the L800 if I install sound absorption panels to reduce reflections?
I’m running a Musical Fidelity M6 Preamp and Power Amp.
Appreciate you letting me post here and for putting up with a Polk Newbie.
PS, if the SDA is impacted, does that mean the L800s will sound awful?
Regards,
Kevin
Congrats! No, they won’t sound awful at all. Mathew Poes had a “narrower” room and said that side wall absorption worked well. I think Symmetry is the most important if you are dealing with close sidewalls (i.e. having the sidewalls equal distance from the speakers).
Those speakers will sound great! I was just at Axpona and the L800’s blew away the speakers I listened too. I really enjoy my L800’s and I have them in a “sub-optimal” set up.
However, I can confirm that I get a large XTC despite not having the recommended set up and I can confirm that they sound way better than most speakers because of the XTC.
-
This content has been removed.
-
-
Mathew Poes? Narrow room?
-
Audio reviewer and scientist. He reviewed the L800’s but had closer sidewalls. He talked about all of the things he had to do to make them shine.Mathew Poes? Narrow room?
