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Speakers with no rear wall, better or worse sound?

I have been in a debate about speaker placement. I was proposing that having speakers in the middle of a long space (~30 foot long room) would be preferred over having speakers about 3 to 4 feet from a wall behind the speakers. I would think that having little to no wall reflections of sound from behind the speaker would be preferable. The wall behind the speakers is currently about 14 feet back. Another opinion suggested that we should build a wall 4 feet behind the speakers to get the best sound. I was thinking that the reflected sound from this new sound would mix with the speakers' direct sound and erode the quality. Other views? We were considering some renovations and I do not want to go through a significant change to our home and erode sound quality.
hickory
philjolet's avatar
philjolet
2,306 posts
 
frankly it sounds ideal for a Maggie

they love to be away from walls

IMO YMMV of course
drew_eckhardt
394 posts
 
Different. Maybe better. 4 feet is too close to be optimum for many speakers - 5 feet, 6 feet, more is often better.

You'll push the front-wall reflections out in time which helps sound-stage depth, drop the front wall reflection intensity which may improve timbre because frequency response isn't as uniform at extreme off-axis angles, have less bass (which can be good or bad depending on how the speaker's baffle step was designed to compensate for wall proximity), move the SBIR null lower in frequency and diminish it (good), and energize room modes differently (which can be good or bad depending on where the speakers and listener rare).
grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,500 posts
 
You want the speakers you mention at least 5 feet out from the wall. The more the better. Mine are 7.5 feet and the sound is glorious. I measure from the front of the speaker. Perhaps 13 is too much, but I would have to hear them. The rule of 1/3's works very well based on my experience and current set up. My room is 24 feet long and my speakers are 7.5 feet out from the wall.

I bet 8-10 feet would be ideal for you. You should still have body without bass overhang and great imaging a focus.
koestner
670 posts
 
Putting up a wall behind your speakers will lessen the perceived depth. Whether it's a visual or acoustical thing I don't know, but you will notice an amazing reduction and probably not like it at all.
ablang
165 posts
 
Best soundstage depth I heard out of my system, I placed my speakers a third of the way into my 13x18 room (on the short wall) with a wide, open double doorway behind them, a 10x13 entryway beyond that, and beyond that through another open set of double doors, the living room. The distance from the speakers to the nearest full rear wall was 36 feet. Despite the speakers being closer to side walls, I do think I was hearing the depth of the soundstage on each recording more accurately than I ever had. Unfortunately, bass was MIA (lacking body and depth) and the placement was a bit awkward to live with.

I'd imagine you're probably getting most of the benefit already with a 14 foot distance? You could try some diffusion on the back wall--like a jungle's worth of plants. They help a lot.
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