21' 13' room: long wall vs. short wall placement


I know there is only one real way to find out but do you think I would have success setting my system up the long wall and sacrificing the distance behind speakers - that is so important with Avalon?
Given the furniture and cabling to rearrange, I would first like a consensus from those who tried and succeeded that way.
beheme
I have found that with big speakers (I have tried Cello's and my present B&W800's) and the long wall wins big time.

My room is 15X25.

Richard
Bob suggests a great loacation....the positioning well into the room is extremely important and something many audiophiles do not recognize (it will reduce comb filtering in bas frequencies)
I have a 27 by 15 room (actually a few feet narrower in a few closet nitches). The long wall setup avoids the strong sidewall echo. You may have to treat the wall behind your listening area, I used echobuster panels. Check for slap echo by clapping your hands in the room.

Tom
Long wall is best for many of the reasons above, especially the sidewall first reflection issue Tom mentions.

HOWEVER, the short dimension of the room must be 15 feet, bare minimum: 2.5 ft minimum behind the speakers which are 7 ft apart (midranges), + 1.5 ft speaker cabinet depth (average) + 7 ft from the front of the drivers to your ear (when seated) + 1 ft chair or sofa back, + 3 ft for bookshelf (abfussor) and walkway behind sofa. Total = 15 ft, and the long dimension must be 21 feet or more.

You can try and eliminate the 3 ft bookshelf/walkway, but even with absorption on the rear wall (behind the sofa) if you shove the sofa against the rear wall, the bass will be pretty boomy and you won't hear a good soundstage. So I'd recommend you go for the short wall. 13 ft is a decent width (12 ft or less is a bitch!) and you will need sidewall treatment to kill the first reflections. You can pull the speakers out 5 to 7 ft from the rear wall (a very good thing) and put your ears about 7 ft back from the drivers, leaving you 6 to 7 ft behind your (ears) listening position.

The reason for 21 ft being the minimum long dimension, is that with speakers centered on the long wall about 7 ft apart, the path length for the first reflection from either speaker to the sidewall and back to your ear is approximately 17 feet. Since sound travels approx. 1100 ft/sec, it takes the reflected wave about 15 milliseconds to reach your ear while the direct sound, travelling 7 ft, takes only 6 milliseconds, a difference of 9 milliseconds. As long as the difference is at least 7 milliseconds (if my memory still works ;--) your brain will hear the reflected wave as an echo (which is OK) but if the difference is less than 7 milliseconds, your brain will combine the direct and reflected sound as if it was ALL DIRECT SOUND and that's what SCREWS UP THE IMAGE AND SOUNDSTAGE.
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I agree with bob. Atleast as far as my room is concerned. Placement on the short wall with speakers pulled way out into the room.