Forgot to mention that I mostly listen to Jazz, Blues, Easy Listening and some new age.
Time for a change. Need some Advice
We recently moved to a smaller house. I now have a dedicated listening room which has been acoustically tuned with absorption, diffusion and corner traps. My room dimensions are on the small end 11'7" x 15'6" with 8 foot ceilings.
Speakers are 6'6" from centre of each speaker. 31" from side walls and 36" from rear walls.
My head position is 8 feet back from front of speakers with 30" from my head to the rear wall.
Diffusion is on wall behind me. Absorption at first deflection points on side walls. Rear wall with additional absorption on side walls. Corners have base traps.
My room was a lot larger and my Dynaudio C4 Signatures had a lot of room to breath. With patient room tuning and adjustment they sound great in my new room at moderate listening levels. If I crank things up it can be a little more challenging. They are driven by Krell Evolution One and Two's. Source is EMM DA2, Bryston BDP-2 and cabling is Siltech. I also own a JL Fathom 112.
I have had a chance to listen to the Sonus Faber Guarneri Evolution on my last visit to Florida and liked them very much. I have also heard the Wilson Sasha 2's. Our choices are very limited where I live. Not much high-end anymore here. I have access to Sonus Faber here if I order them, also have access to Wilson Audio. The reality is I don't have much choice here if I move away from Dynaudio. I also listened to the smaller Paradigm Persona's but found them a little on the forward bright side. I wouldn't mind trying something new and may be leaning towards the Amati, Guarneri's but have to say the Wilsons sound pretty nice when driven by Krell.
I understand that in an ideal world speakers should be auditioned in your own listening environment but the reality this isn't possible in small market cities. Hence my query here.
Speakers are 6'6" from centre of each speaker. 31" from side walls and 36" from rear walls.
My head position is 8 feet back from front of speakers with 30" from my head to the rear wall.
Diffusion is on wall behind me. Absorption at first deflection points on side walls. Rear wall with additional absorption on side walls. Corners have base traps.
My room was a lot larger and my Dynaudio C4 Signatures had a lot of room to breath. With patient room tuning and adjustment they sound great in my new room at moderate listening levels. If I crank things up it can be a little more challenging. They are driven by Krell Evolution One and Two's. Source is EMM DA2, Bryston BDP-2 and cabling is Siltech. I also own a JL Fathom 112.
I have had a chance to listen to the Sonus Faber Guarneri Evolution on my last visit to Florida and liked them very much. I have also heard the Wilson Sasha 2's. Our choices are very limited where I live. Not much high-end anymore here. I have access to Sonus Faber here if I order them, also have access to Wilson Audio. The reality is I don't have much choice here if I move away from Dynaudio. I also listened to the smaller Paradigm Persona's but found them a little on the forward bright side. I wouldn't mind trying something new and may be leaning towards the Amati, Guarneri's but have to say the Wilsons sound pretty nice when driven by Krell.
I understand that in an ideal world speakers should be auditioned in your own listening environment but the reality this isn't possible in small market cities. Hence my query here.
19 responses Add your response
(((31" from side walls and 36" from rear walls.)))
It sounds like you are in a tabu position. You never want a close or similar distance of out from the front wall and side wall. If you download the Vandersteen manual to any of their speakers it should help you with yours. For starters try 1/7th into the room and 1/9th from the side walls. measure to the center of your speakers. Cheers JohnnyR |
@ shpritz A two way sealed LS3/5A type speaker would be a nice fit for your small room and the type of music you like. Harbeth,Spendor,Stirling,etc,etc,make some fine sounding ones!! |
@shpritz - If you really just wanna spend the money then please go right ahead (and if you have a moment you could also send your C4 Sig's to me...). However, before you do you might want to pay some attention to the comments from Johnny R. True story: we re-did a bunch of things in our house a couple of years back & I now "own" the den w/ a certain system moved into there. I (very ignorantly) initially set things up like they'd been in a prior and totally different room - and they were obviously not as wonderful. Then I started down that rabbit hole of treatments etc. but luckily learned some similar placement recommendations. My placement now is not quite exactly what was quoted but that one adjustment made a large difference - both to my ears and to all the measurements I was taking. I guess I was just ignorant - but I got better. It costs nothing to at least experiment with different placement and you just might get that smile back on your face. And if not - well, then just PM me for my address... |
I ended up in a 10 by 12.5 foot room...it was ported or no ported cabinet?...I was getting a lot of boom...I ended up with atc 19...as yogiboy suggested that non ported cab does work well in smaller room...speakers are just under 6’ apart...have them 40" (front/tweeter) back...sitting 6’ back...about the same as youre given dimensions for youre room...I did get rid of first reflections because of axis is straight at me...that made a huge difference. Just corner bass traps....did a all day set up on speakers and it really paid off...I do listen to same music pretty much...hard to go wrong with the handfull of English made standmounts available... |
Okey dokey. Before spending a lot of dough, moving things around is a lot easier and a hell of a lot cheaper. So based on my room dimensions please send me your recommendations of what you feel is an ideal starting point for speaker placement. I will use measurements to tweeter centres. I have mine currently toed in as well. Fire away @audioconnection and @mr_hosehead... |
The Vandersteen manual is easy.... seriously pick up a math and science based skill few have and it will help you get better sound in any room with any system. print out the 3a sig manual ignore tilt adjustments ( there I would follow what your manufacturer recommends - normally this is a function of tweeter to ear distance but can also be pretty subjective especially with metal tweeters with ring and breakup in hearing frequency. as for toe in IMO most people have too much are you treating first reflection sidewall point ? |
This guy always made a lot of sense to me. I'm just throwing it out there as additional information..... http://www.acousticfields.com/speaker-placement-listening-positions/ http://www.acousticfields.com/acoustic-rule-2-speakerlistening-position/ |
(((Fire away @audioconnection
))) Here you are 15.5 from side wall to center of speaker 26.5 from front wall to center of speaker adjust first reflection points, next measure tweeter to tweeter and put your ears and chair at the same distance for left and right like a triangle or out just a little more. |
a lot of good suggestions, the one from Audioconnection sounds good, measurements and all. sounds like the Cardis formula one which I try to use. ( on their web site ) Given the size of the room I would look for speakers that are not rear ported , this allows the speakers to be closer to the front wall. which would give you more room to move your listening position back and forth till it sounds right. This is from personal experience. |
John know what hes doing...saying as well (audioconnection)...when i positioned my speaker they were done on axis at me.. at a little more (6’+) than the triangle...when seating is moved up...they are just over my shoulder and at exactly 6 feet...sweet spot for my room...bada boom. So i am able to move with some back/forth too...a little |
genez.....is pretty much on point. Near field listening is to often overlooked for achieving awesome sound in smaller acoustic spaces. I just completed a system doing just this very approach and the results are simply ridiculous! Using: Wilson-Benesch Vertex Loudspeakers Sutherland N-1 Preamp Eagle 11' Mono-Blocks Vinyl & Custom Silent HD Audio PC |
You got bad advice. C4 needs more space. You should not be closer than three feet to the back wall - very bad listening position. Diffusion will not help bass which will be bad near a wall. You need something like ATC SCM 25 or 50 in a nearfield configuration. A speaker with critically damped bass will help. This would be a big step up from Dynaudio C4 which have muddy excessive bass but would retain or possibly improve upon the mid range and treble clarity of the C4. You obviously have excellent hearing acuity and your comments about speakers are bang on accurate. I concur on Wilson - they get bashed here a lot but in general they have better mid range than many others. Unfortunately Wilson have resonant excessive bass and therefore this is not an option unless you can find a much bigger room. |
