Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo M3s on their side?

Any problems with laying the M3s on their side? I just ordered a pair and the location (on an actual bookshelf) requires them to be on their sides. (my wife doesn't want them any other place)

Just wondering if anyone is doing this and if there are any sonic negatives?
Maybe put those adhesive rubber feet on to reduce vibration?

By turning a speaker that was designed to be vertical, on its side, you will be comprimising the horizontal pattern of the tweeters/drives as you will be flipping their axis.

You can do it, but the speaker won't sound as good.

I don't think that it will be a terrible thing, practically speaking. The imaging might suffer somewhat, but they are two way speakers, which should help.

I have 2 pair in different rooms on their sides with no ill effects.

Hi hammer,

kcarlile is correct. Although in theory, putting the M3s on their sides should screw up the dispersion patterns and cause degradation of stereo imaging, in fact, it seems to have remarkably few audible effects. I did a bunch of experiments with the M22s vertically and then on their sides, and I was hard-pressed to hear significant differences. On the other hand, at the time I was listening for coloration and tonal degradation rather than problems with imaging.

There seem to be some consensus that the tweeters should be on the inner side closest to the center line between the speakers.

Regards,
Alan

Thanks for the replies. This forum never lets me down when it comes to audio info. I will definitely take Alan's advice -- and it is in my nature to experiment so I will check out different configutations and listen for any differences. Are there any good musical pieces for imaging or coloration?