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Long Wall Speaker Placement: Pros and Cons?

There have been a few threads on tweaking speaker placement for imaging etc, but (at least for Magneplanars) it seems most people position them on the short wall firing down the longest dimension of the room.

Decorating and architectural considerations will now be moving my Tympanis to the LONG wall of my rectangular room (approx 18 x 25) where they will be firing across the 18' dimension of the room.

I am imagining - just a guess - that the bass response will suffer in this move which is a concern. Also, this will make it trickier to bring them out 3 feet or more from the new "rear" wall.

However, I suppose this might make it easier to move the speakers farther apart which could enhance the width of the image?

Or offer some other benefits from sitting several feet closer to the panels?

I really hope I can get them to work well this way and would appreciate any insights or advice.
cwlondon
jefff1
32 posts
 
I have the same situation as your room layout...I tried placing my speakers on the short wall of the room but never liked their sound as much as I do having them placed on the long wall now...The bass from the subwoofer is impressive especially after some wall acoustic treatment...
cwlondon OP
1,210 posts
 
Unsound and others

I finally got everything moved to the long wall yesterday.

Good news -- even before dialing the panels into tweaked position, I can tell it is going to sound just fine and probably even better. This is a real news flash for me after 20 years of putting Maggies on the short wall.

My listening chair is closer, the speakers are farther apart, and I am using a bit more toe-in to adjust for the width.

So far, the imaging seems very good, the bass is initially less impressive but actually just less boomy, and everything sounds much more pulled together and coherent.

They are only about 2ish feet out from the rear wall, however, which may be hindering front to back depth.

Will report any interesting observations and try to update my system photos soon.

Thank you.
unsound
7,329 posts
 
Cwlondon, thanks for the update. I always appreciate it when those who pose a question respond with their decision/results. I don't know about your room and living requirements, but, if you can move your seating position as far back as possible (say about a foot from the rear wall), use the room treatment I've previously suggested (for different reasons than I'm about to discuss) and move your speakers out from the wall behind them (perhaps, for a total of 3'). I think you will achieve the best possible bass response. Let us know what you do. Good luck!
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