Eagledriver, yeah it takes careful positioning through trial and error. I've had best results with nearfield listening by positioning the speakers a few feet away from any walls (to minimize reflections), about 6 feet apart, sitting only about 1 or 2 feet away from them, tweeters at ear height and nearly pointing directly at my ears -- pointing just a little behind them. The detail and clarity are almost like good headphones, but you also get the 3D soundfield of good speakers. The instruments and vocals seem to be hanging in space out in front of you. Optimal positioning and results I'm sure will vary depending on speakers and listener.
Nearfield listening - once more
I have a small nearfield pinpoint satellite speaker system, as well as a large floorstander speaker system, at home. I am intrigued by the fact that the small system does some things as well or even better than the big system. How can that be. A few questions:
1 - how can big speakers be tuned /positioned towards optimal nearfield listening?
2 - what are the main things to consider, to get optimal nearfield sound, with smaller speakers? (I already know that speaker stands and positioning are key elements).
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- 54 posts total
@o_holter Every speaker whether it is small or or large has a critical listening distance independent of the electronics or room. For an example, speakers with first order crossovers require one to sit at least 8 ft from the center of the two speakers. Why? because the output from three drivers (tweeter, mid-range, and woofer) needs that distance to merge. Now Horn speakers and monitors may not need 8 ft for the sound from different drivers to merge. So near-filed and far-field are basically relative to the speaker design, but they all have a minimum critical distance to the sweet spot. Impact of "early-reflections" and "reverberations" from the room can be minimal for so called near-field listening. This is one advantage and may be the reason why it is appealing to certain listeners. For those who sits 8 ft or more form the speakers need room treatment to control "early reflections" and "reverberations." Essentially near-field listening gives you a listening experience similar to that of headphones, but with imaging and perhaps sound-stage. One thing to keep in mind is that smaller speakers are limited to frequencies 45-55 Hz and above. Big floor standers will give you the bottom octave, but you need to sit away from the speakers. For an example double bass can go low as 30 Hz, and the piano down to 27 Hz. You will miss this kind of information with smaller speakers with near-field listening. Laws of physics dictate what you can get from small speakers versus large speakers and critical listening distance, etc. |
- 54 posts total