Corner Placement


My visit to Capital Audiofest last weekend reminded me that the Audio Note speakers with their corner placement are always one of the more enjoyable listens at these shows.

It got me wondering more both about the speakers and corner placement.

Corner placement done well is clearly good for bass levels but not so good for depth of soundstage.  That seems to be the main trade-off.    Would you agree?

Also I am not sure I can determine anything unique about the Audio Note speakers compared to others that give them any special advantage for corner placement.  I suppose they are designed to produce the right level of bass with that placement especially being acoustically sealed rather than ported I believe.   But why could not other speakers that may be a tad bass shy benefit similarly?

How much of the Audio Note sound is the speakers versus the corner placement?

It made me get around to trying out corner placement at home.   I have at least two pair of smaller monitor speakers that might work best that way, like seemingly Audio Note does.   So far I am liking what I am hearing with these speakers that are also very good but would be considered a tad bass shy otherwise perhaps.



128x128mapman
I’m doing the corner placement experiments in a smaller room (12X12) where I find it harder to get soundstage depth. I value soundstage depth but this is not my main listening room so I am willing to make a tradeoff there especially since options there are limited.

Having the speakers in the corner out of the way of traffic in a small room is a nice benefit.

With the AN corner placement setups I have heard, the merits overall always seem to outweigh any deficiencies in soundstage depth compared to most in that regard.

I think you have to have a larger room in most all cases for the best soundstage depth, though I have heard it done quite well many times in smaller rooms with careful setup.

The benchmark demo for soundstage depth and imaging accuracy within was mbl 111e demo at United Home Audio a few years back. The gear and showroom were just maxed out in this regard beyond most anything else I have ever heard.

My OHMS and other speakers do a decent job at home in regards to soundstage depth but I do not have a room that really facilitates anything like what United Home Audio was able to do in their showroom.

Yes I can easily see where bass reinforcement provided by corner placement would greatly benefit use of low power SET or other amps ie use the room to best effect provide the extra boost likely needed and not there otherwise.   makes perfect sense.

My big OHM F5 series 3 speakers have 4 3 way level adjustments on each speaker.   The one for the low bass is labeled corner/wall/free or something to that effect ie low bass level can be adjusted to compensate for placement within the room.  I've found this to be a most useful feature to help get the speakers best integrated into the room.    Also John Strohbeen at OHM typically recommends speaker models based on room size ie how big is needed to properly load a room.    That's a  useful metric that most vendors pay little attention to.  It means you may not need the top of the line biggest model to get the best sound possible in teh line in any particular room, so the end cost typically depends mainly on room size.
inna the AN setups I've heard had more soundstage depth than I would have thought and did not seem really 2-dimensional either, just not as much as many other good setups.   Plus other than that the AN setups at these shows continuously seem to be among my favorites.

Knowing what can be done otherwise, would that bother me over the long term?  Not sure.  My experimenting at home will help me answer that question.
One thing I am pretty sure of if I ever decide to take the plunge and add a SET amp system, which I have almost done many times to-date, I am pretty sure I would now definitely go with a corner placement arrangement of some sort. It seems to have the most advantages going for it and makes the flea powered tube amp option much more desirable for me.  WAF of corner placement helps a lot!


Mapman - I am with you, have always been intrigued by a setup like that.  I love everytime I have heard one and it is totally opposite from my long term rig - Thiel speakers and a big powerful SS amp.

I have also heard the MBL setup at the old UHA and it was incredible.  They temporarily hooked me but it is so much money.  I almost sprung for some speakers....just barely almost!

Jetrexpro, great description of your system - I would love to hear it!

Map, I forgot to mention that my speakers as along the long wall in my living room and there happens to be very shallow corners in which the speakers fit into. It's nice not to have any side walls. I guess this helps the sound to expand beyond the speakers sides, which also helps create some sense of depth.

Thanks Pops. You are welcome anytime if you are near NYC. It has been great hanging out with the guy who has the YG speakers CH amps. As you mention- a totally different and very expensive system compared to mine. I have learned from him and his system and he has helped me when he stops by for a listen. He helped my come upon the right IC's and speaker cables to bring it all together.