Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions speaker positioning?

I have a question about speaker positioning. Do think it is better to have the two main speakers closer together as opposed to too close to walls? Currently, my M60's are only about 5 1/2 feet apart and the listening position is about 13 feet away. I'm not quite satisfied with the stereo separation this way although it's livable. I had found a possibile way to position them further apart but the left speaker would be practically against the side wall (about 2" and 15" from the rear wall). I have a feeling that reflections from the walls might cause even more dissatifying results than keeping them closer together. Before I tore apart the system, I wanted to ask first whether this would be worth the attempt or not.

Thanks!

Yeah, I can imagine that your current placement may provide a less than impressive soundstage. Although I would be concerned with the side wall, too, I would go ahead and try it! It is very difficult to predict the results without actually experimenting on the placement.

Mary, unless you move your listening position closer your M60s should be separated by at least 10 feet and toed-in slightly so that the tweeters point at your ears. Another basic positioning rule is that the distance from the woofer cones to the floor and each of the two nearest walls should be unequal. It should be okay to have one of those three distances very short, but experiment.

I struggle with this issue. I have a bigscreen TV, but it's not massive. It's a slightly older 4:3 53" Sony. With the speakers off on the corner, providing a wide sound stage, sounds just aren't placed right. I feel like there's a huge hole between just off screen where positional audio would be directed at the individual speaker and where the sound is coming from. It seems thrown. However, with the speakers closer to the TV, the room just isn't enveloped.

So far, the only solution I've been able to come up with is a projector and a massive screen... :/

That's a pretty tough solution to debate there Semi.
Big screen?
Hmm.
Yep, that's a two second head scratcher.

YES, Semi, another big advantage of front projection! -- No big, reflective, and possibly resonating box right in the middle of your soundstage!!!

Believe me, I've read ALL about speaker positioning! Unfortunately, the "rules" cannot apply to my situation. First of all, I've decided to put up a link to a picture of the current setup so you know where I'm coming from:

http://image1ex.villagephotos.com/pubimage.asp?id_=2306538

The TV is a great big 61" Sony. The center channel is up really high compared to the front speakers, but I used a doorstop to prop up the back to angle it down (I got that idea from someone else here!). It sounds great that way. By the way, the speakers are about 15 inches from the back wall and about two inches in front of the TV.

Anyway, what I was planning on doing was putting together a couple of sets of adjustable wire shelving (I'm cheap...fancy audio racks are way too expensive!) like what I have now except these would be square units. Since they would be square units, I would have room to place one on each side of the TV and then place the speakers on the ends. This would put the speakers about 8 feet apart, but as you can see, the left speaker would be only a couple of inches away from the side wall while remaininf 15 inches from the back wall. I'm just afraid that crowding the left speaker too much might change it too sonically due to those darn walls. I should mention as well that the chair to the left would be removed. The right speaker would have to remain where it is.

Also, moving the system to a different part of the room is not an option in my case. I've also tried moving the listening position closer (due to the "rules") but the couch ends up in the middle of the room and the center channel way over my head. So, what I'm getting at is whether or not it is worth moving all that stuff (oh..the dreaded wires!). Even experimenting would be a pain because I would still have to move all that equiptment out. My curiousity might get the best of me however. I would be quite disappointed if the results didn't bring me more happiness!

Hopefully, I'm not being a pain in the ass for bothering you guys with this dilemma...just wondering what you would do in the same situation.

Thanks again!

Sonic,
You and i are in the same boat.
It appears that the audio equipment and wall width is really a limitation in our respective rooms.



I cannot move my speakers due to the wall distance and tv size (the right M60 is 5 inches from the wall on its right, both M60s are 6-8 inches from the back wall and spaced 5.5 feet apart while my viewing position is a whopping 8 feet from the Toshiba tv).
Moving the subwoofer did not have a very positive effect on the low end so it has to stay where it is.
I have tried one thing for a little while that was interesting, swapping the location of the left speaker and my audio 'rack'
(Sushi, please now note what i was getting at in regards to the low and awkward ceiling negating installation of overhead projector...there are heating ducts running all through that cheap amateur drywall overhang).



However, the problem i then encountered was with the home theatre design. Music sounded great, wider soundstage with the extended distance between the 2 M60s however the left speaker was now much further offset from the tv which means i had an imbalance in sound when watching movies.

So what did i do?
Nothing really.

I moved the left speaker back to its position you can see in the picture and i'm grumping about moving to a new place.
Sometimes there may not actually be a solution.

In your case i would do exactly what you are thinking of doing. Shorten up the width of your audio rack and space out the 2 M60s evenly on either side of the tv with the racks next to the tv itself.
You may get a bit more squished with the speakers closer to the walls but generally speaking, the extra bass i've noticed has not been distracting in any way and oddly enough, there are no extra 'echoes' off my concrete walls.
Maybe i've already reached the maximum echo possible in that room. I'm sure the light berber carpet helps. I think you will find the extra width between those M60s makes a bigger difference than the potential effect of having them closer to the walls.

sonicfox,

In fact, when I saw the photo you linked (even before I read through your post), I immediately thought that I would do just what you described. Of course I cannot guarantee the results, but if I were to bet, I would bet you would get a significant improvement.

chess,

I haven't given it up! HAHAHA... How about placing the projector on a table or stand behind the couch? (I remember you have there an exercise space or something...)

Okay, Mary, looking at your picture I think what you propose for the racks and the left speaker would be fine(it's easier for me to move them than it will be for you). Although I can't tell from the picture, couldn't the right speaker also be moved about 2 feet wider? Then, if you do make the change, the TV should be centered.