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What is nearfield listening?

I had someone "in the industry" who some of you have bought products from tell me that nearfield listening doesn't have to do with actual distance from the speakers, that it refers to whether you are sitting inside or outside a 60 degree angle from the speakers.

Secondly, what are the drawbacks to sitting close to your speakers? I figure that there are advantages like being able to pull your speakers far out from back and side walls and also that the listening seat can also be far from the back wall.
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rrog
1,958 posts
 
I agree with Mapman. Also, nearfield monitors must have drivers close together for proper integration. Floor standing speakers with drivers mounted across the front baffle are not designed for nearfield listening although many people use this type of speaker this way due to small listening rooms. This is a good reason to select the speaker that fits your room.
buconero117
2,311 posts
 
Most none orchestra recordings are mixed using near field speakers very close to the mixing board. Headphone mixing is even worse, yet seems to be done to often. So, there is nothing "normal" about the speaker/room/listener arrangement present. That is one reason that so much of what we are presented with to hear in recordings is pretty bad. It is the reason things like imaging, soundstage, and "air" are often missing.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,099 posts
 
YEs, good point. NEarfield listening requires tighter co-location of drivers for proper integration/coherency across the audible sound spectrum as Rrog indicated, although that often helps with imaging, soundstage and detail in non/less nearfield listening configurations as well. Proximity of drivers becomes less important geometrically when listening from a more distant location/perspective.
onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61
5,193 posts
 
SOund artifacts that require room acoustics and reflected sound to be heard, like imaging, soundstage, and "air" are not a consideration.
I disagree. Imaging, soundstage and air do not require reflected sound. The can be enhanced by reflected sound, but it is not required.
warrenh's avatar
warrenh
2,299 posts
 
Bill Evans, Scott LaFaro and Paul Motian = nearfield listening at its' best. Of course a little SET action in there will make it as toasty as their three recordings were meant to be. I always move my listening chair a couple of feet closer when these guys are on my rig.
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