Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners distance from wall

Hello,
I am new to the forum and am considering purchasing some Axiom speakers.

They will be used equally for listening to music as well as home theatre. Placement is facing the narrow dimension of an 11' x 30' room.

I had been looking at a pair of M60's but am concerned that since they are ported out the back as well as the front they may not do well placed close to the wall.

Thanks for your input.

try this thread:
http://www.axiomaudio.com/boards/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=152125&site_id=1#import

or

http://www.axiomaudio.com/boards/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=166020

All I can relate is my own experience with my M60s. In short, they seem to be very forgiving and I just can't seem to make them sound bad.

I have experimented with my M60s with just 4 inches of clearance to the back wall and then out over 1 foot. I personally could not tell the difference in my room. This could be very room dependent though and I don't have a trained ear.

I am also sometimes forced to put my left front in a corner to avoid blocking a room I only sometimes use. 95% of the time, I pull it in closer to the center to match the other side. I seem to notice a difference but I can't really say it sounds worse, mostly my sound stage isn't as good. I can't be sure if its because I've moved it into a corner or because they are now too far apart.

Nothing conclusive for you there but hope it helps.

Genereally speaking a closer proximity to a wall will boost bass a little. I have moved my M80 out a foot and back to where they usually sit about 2-3 inches away and I really have a hard time hearing much difference, it is there but really subtle.

Hi Newuser,

I just finished posting this in another thread (Tone Control Blasphemy) and since it's so relevant, you may find it useful:

"I had always read on forums that the more you can move speakers out from the wall the better, so I have always done that."

This is misguided advice. As long as you don't put floorstanding speakers in the corners, which may result in too much bass reinforcement, most floorstanding speakers are designed to benefit from the deep bass boundary reinforcement that the floor and wall behind the speaker provide. Of course, you don't want to jam them up flat against the back wall, but the M60s can certainly be used with as little as 4 inches clearance.

It's corners that are a no-no for most speakers except, in some applications, subwoofers.

The only speakers that I advise moving well out (2-5 feet) from the wall behind are floorstanding bipole and dipole designs (electrostatics, planar magnetics like Magnepans, bipoles like Mirages, etc) where you want the speakers' in-and-out of phase rear radiation to reflect from the back wall.

I'm pleased that you've got your M60s sounding good.

Regards,
_________________________
Alan Lofft Axiom Resident Expert

In relation to this, I can say that, in my setup, moving the M80 closer to the back wall allowed me to get rid of some booming. I had tried quite a few things until I realized that my right speaker was about the same distance from the side and back walls. Cutting the distance from the back (I could not move it farther from the side) brough back clean bass.