2. speakers
  3. 189561-178822

Listening position/speaker position

I had a friend visit this weekend for some extended listening. I generally trust some of his suggestions, and his hearing may be better than mine, but I am 61 and don't have any hearing "issues." Also, in the interest of full disclosure, my friend and I are competitive with each other so there is always the possibility that he is busting on me.

 

I am very happy with my setup and my sound----the room is quiet, the system is quiet and I have low distortion, plenty of punch and volume, without sacrificing any detail. I have Revel 228be speakers, a McIntosh MC312 amp, C53 preamp, Pass XP-17 phono stage, Technics SL1200G TT run with an AT-art9xi MCC.

 

Anyway, my listening room is approximately 26' x 15' with less than 8-foot ceilings, plaster walls, wall to wall carpeting, lots of cushy furniture, and it's perfectly rectangular. I have my Revel 228's positioned on the narrow end of the room, a couple feet from the side wall and about 2-1/2 feet from the back wall. The listening position is about 10 feet from the speakers, or just shy of the midpoint of the room. My critical friend was suggesting that by having the speakers at one end of the room, I am asking them to "fill" a 26-foot room, despite the listening position being near midpoint depth. He suggested that I put the speakers in the middle of the room and move the listening position against the wall, so that the speakers are only tasked with filling half of the room. He also implied that I was under-powered with the MC312 which doesn't sound valid..

 

Obviously, the only way to know if I would get sound improvement would be to swap sides in the room, but his suggestion sounded so odd that I thought some of you with more experience might have an opinion.

willyht
tvad
11,620 posts
 

He suggested that I put the speakers in the middle of the room and move the listening position against the wall...

Moving the listening position against the wall puts you in a room bass mode. Putting the speakers in the middle of the room places them in a bass mode as well. So, that advice is contrary to what most would recommend.

Moving the speakers into the room might be very helpful, though, provided the plane of the drivers is at a distance from the front wall that’s ⅓, ⅕, 1/7 or 1/9 the length of the room. Same applies to positioning the listening chair away from the back wall.

I suggest buying Jim Smith’s book, "Get Better Sound", and following his advice. It may be the best $40 you ever spend on audio.

ghdprentice
6,940 posts
 

That does not sound remotely like a good idea. I’m guessing he’s trying to see if he can get you to move everything. 
 

You loose normal bass reinforcement and add rear reflection problem.

 

If I were to comment on your setup. I think your triangle is too big. Typically an ~8’ triangle would be best.. depending on the speakers. I would move the speakers closer together and listening position closer. This is likely to sound fuller and more dynamic.

grislybutter
2,943 posts
 

it’s just my instinct that you won’t get any improvement by moving the speakers to the middle. However 2,5’ from the wall is not much. With your room dimensions I would keep them 3.5 feet from the side and 4.5 feet from the back walls. This is from my experimenting with placement, and again, instinct. There are real experts here, I am not.

bkeske's avatar
bkeske
5,597 posts
 

@tvad I agree with your Jim Smith recommendation. In general, using his 83% formula (width vs distance to the speaker) has worked incredibly well for me, and I feel a fantastic starting point.

 

fthompson251's avatar
fthompson251
368 posts
 

Just to be clear the front wall is the one you are facing, the rear wall is the one behind your head.  If you are listening  11 feet from the front baffles then your speakers should be about 9 feet apart measured from the center of the front baffles. Try your speakers 5 feet 2 inches out from the front wall measured from the center of the front baffles, then move you listening position 11 feet back from that. This will "rough you in" then tweak as needed. Be patient, take you time and the results will be rewarding. But your friend is off base from his suggestion. Good luck.

More to discover