I’m struggling with room layout restrictions, and have a question about speaker offset from the front wall (talking front mains, here).
It’s common to hear advice that the mains should be positioned 1 to 3 feet front the front wall. My understanding is that this rule of thumb is mostly appropriate for rear-ported speakers. True?
Assuming that is correct (and even if it isn’t) I’m wondering if a good quality acoustic panel (such as a Gik 244, or a reduced size version of same) positioned on the wall directly behind the mains would allow me to sneak a M60 or M80 (or even a M22 bookshelf, for that matter) closer to the rear wall. I’m having a hard time getting that clearance – I need the speakers to be fairly close to the wall (less than 12” from back of speaker to wall) and it’s limiting my speaker choices. I’m really salivating at the thought of some M80s, but I’m concerned about the clearance.
Any insight, or other advice on handling this problem?
FYI, my room is 14’ wide by 16’ deep with 9’ ceilings. The right side opens up into the kitchen and a lofted entry so I’ve got some funny acoustics (and more effective volume than the basic dimensions suggest). Yes, it’s a shame I can’t take up a bit more of that 16’ by moving the speakers forward, but the WAF is at play here. And, I’m looking to build a 5.1 system, but music SQ comes first, then movie SQ.
Thanks for any comments.
