this is a really good thread to have alive and running on this board
should be one going all the time, as many if not most relative newbies come here focusing too much on the equipment, rather than how the equipment interacts with their room
Speaker shootout question -- do you position the same or differently, depending?
If you're comparing two speakers at home, do you position each the same or do you position each as (roughly) optimal for that speaker in your room?
I'm comparing a tower and a bookshelf now, and their design is different. It would seem that the best way to compare would be to figure out what is optimal for each and then compare them in (likely) different positions.
What kind of process do you use for comparing two differently designed speakers?
- ...
- 41 posts total
In my experience different speakers with behave quite differently depending on placement to boundaries and distance to listing position (reflection points, nodes, etc.) The position of the drivers in the cabinet will give a wildly different presentation, as will the width and depth of the cabinets. If you don't have a symmetrical space -5, if you don't have the ability to move the speakers around -3, add a great amp to this not optimal set +2, new expensive cables +1, etc. Obviously this isn't a scientific rating but without the first two, the (everything matters) approach with be skewed as well. Amps and cables matter more if you have the first two. Do the best you can and have fun +10. |
I have had the opportunity to hire and observe real sound engineers to work the acoustics in my rooms and I have learned a few things from them. It does not matter how good your ears are, mine a pretty good around19Hz and 21kHz in my last hearing test, if you just place your speakers by ear you are missing a lot. Your ear will take you 60-70% there depending how difficult your room is, but to do it right you need to use some application like REW and decent calibrated microphones to get past that 70%. Maybe some of you know how I am working and doing the work in the living room of my house in the USA, and I am nothing short of amazed of how easy is to use REW and a microphone and the results are not only audible but measurable. I would suggest the OP that he does 2-4 measurements after ear placement and @tk21 method, and gets each pair a fair and level opportunity, after all this is the time to decide which pair he will buy and live with. I know that what I am going to say is subjective, but using my ears and REW, the transformation of the sound was/is nothing short incredible. As an illustration, here is one of the measurements/parameters in my living-room "before/after" but still a lot of work to do. This system is all analog so there is so much I can do. Some here might argue that I can add more bass volume but at this point this is how I liked the sound best. The smoother the better. Have a lot of fun selecting your speakers! |
- 41 posts total