Speaker Placement Issue/Thoughts

The book is an excellent resource for many things. Good luck

My apologies -- "Peterayer". I misspelled your username.

FYI a 4db shift is quite a lot. I think you can ameliorate this to a degree just by getting your speakers dialed in equidistance-wise.

The disparity has everything to do with your room and set up, I'm sure. I have the same problem (imaging left of center) and I believe it's largely due to the unsymmetrical nature of my room layout. In particular, I have an entry way directly behind my right speaker. If I stand in the entry way while music is playing, it's clear a lot of musical info, esp bass, is going into that space.

I highly recommend getting a copy of Jim Smith's Get Better Sound. It's invaluable. For speaker set up, they need to be equidistant to you, and also equidistant to the center line that runs from the front wall through your listening chair. This is measured down to fractions of an inch. They also need to be level. FYI I found it very useful to use some yarn as a measuring device. Tape it anywhere on the center line, and use it to measure the front and rear corners of each speaker and adjust for both distance and toe in. Works great and no need for any sort of ruler. However, it may be impossible with your room and set up not to have to use the balance control.

It's unfortunate the room setup seems compromised from the get go. But dialing in your speakers is the absolute first step before you do anything else. Once that is done and if you are still hearing anomalies, then you can address them. Good luck! I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

Peternayer, I disagree with your assessment of the yarn measurement approach. I find I can actually get a more accurate measurement that way then with tape measure, laser pointer, etc. Once you have established your center line, the yarn method works wonderfully. Also, once you have established the center line, per Jim Smith's method, the outer walls are irrelevant. All measurements are based on the center line, which makes his method particularly valid in odd-sized rooms or layouts.

Hi Peterayer,

Using strong tape to attach the yarn to the floor along the centerline, I measure to the inside front and rear corners of each speaker and get each the same (ie front = front, rear = rear). This works twofold: for both distance and toe in.