Stereo Speaker Placement, Basic Two-Channel
No matter how well designed your
loudspeaker is, if it is not properly placed in the listening
area you will not realize its performance capabilities. Placement
is a very important determinant of loudspeaker performance. Optimal
stereophonic placement is treated in considerable detail in the
section "Stereo Loudspeaker Setup,"
by Leo Massi. For those of you who have a dedicated listening
room please refer to that section.
Basic Two-Channel
Stereo Loudspeaker Placement
Most people however do not have
the luxury of a room that they can dedicate strictly to listening
to music. They cannot rearrange the room around the music system.
Listening to music must co-exist with the other pursuits that
occur in the living room among the furniture and other fixtures.
For these situations the best compromise is a basic setup where
the loudspeakers are placed fairly close to the wall and a couch
or chair that is opposite to them is the listening position.
Variations in placement can produce
dramatic differences in the way music sounds. And no two listening
rooms are the same. Therefore you are encouraged to spend some
time experimenting with which placements work best in your listening
room. Trust your ears and be willing to experiment freely. Start
with our basic recommendations.
For flattest frequency response,
position the loudspeakers to ensure the tweeters are close to
the height of the ears of the seated listener as possible (if
necessary use loudspeaker stands to achieve the desired height).
A height of thirty five inches for the tweeter will generally
match the height of the ear of a person of average height who
is seated on a couch. Place the loudspeakers six to eight feet
apart and eighteen inches or more from the rear wall. For greater
bass response place the loudspeakers closer to the rear wall.
If you cannot realize this basic setup, moving the loudspeakers
even six to twelve inches from the rear wall will significantly
improve the depth of the stereophonic soundstage. Consult the
section on "Stereo Loudspeaker Setup" for techniques
to improve on this basic placement.
What About Placement
on Bookshelves and in Wall Cabinets?
Because bookshelves and wall
cabinets are usually located close to the wall, placement on
book shelves and in wall cabinets will generally reduce the soundstaging
and imaging performance of loudspeakers, while it can often provides
a richer, more full-bodied sound. This type of placement is very
commonplace and because our designs are acoustic suspension designs
they are the most well suited type of loudspeakers for it. Our
small loudspeakers are widely used in custom installations where
the loudspeakers are fitted into custom wall units, with excellent
results.
Remember, for any placement,
try to maximize the performance of the loudspeakers. Moving them
just a few inches and changing the angle of the loudspeaker can
provide noticeable improvements in performance.
The Mastering Series
a tribute to bass, imaging
and musicality
formaldehyde-free,
eco-friendly, high performance point source loudspeakers

the new 100M
Hybrid
minimonitor-active subwoofer loudspeaker system
(37 X 12 X 12.5 inches) |

the new 30M
two-way, time coherent,
point source, transmission line bass alignment
(405 X 8.5 X 8.5 inches) |
the new 20M
two-way, time coherent,
point source, with acoustic suspension bass alignment
(14 X 9 X 10 inches) |
|