Jump to content

Cornwalls on hardwood floors, do I need anything special?


ericedelman

Recommended Posts

I just picked up a set of Cornwalls and am planning to unbox them tonight. 

We have hardwood floors over a plywood subfloor over a concrete slab. 

Should the Cornwalls sit directly on the floor, or am I supposed to put something under them like a piece of carpet or a rubber mat?

Thank you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Schu said:

On the floor unless you are trying to keep your floors from being scratched and damaged.

You should probably invest in a rug or remnant pieces of carpet to place in front of each speaker...

 

Welcome to the forum!

 

I agree with Schu.  The pieces of carpet (or area rugs, or throw rugs) should be put on the floor at the point where the sound from the tweeter & midrange bounces off the floor and hits your ears when you are seated in the Main Listening Location.  To locate this point (area), you can temporarily lay a mirror flat on the floor, sit in the MLL, and have someone move the mirror around, still flat on the floor.  When you can see a speaker in the mirror (or at least a midrange/tweeter area when seated the way you will be when listening, without leaning forward) , the mirror's location is where to put the area rug.   For multiple listeners, repeat for each position.  Some people have advocated doing the same for the side walls, but a few experts are now questioning this, thinking it can be overkill.  You can always start without wall absorbers, and see how it sounds. 

 

If the Cornwalls sit flat on the floor, without rocking back and forth at all, you don't need anything under them.

 

That sounds like a good, firm floor.  According to an ancient Stereo Review magazine article, some sound rooms suffer from bass loss due to a flimsy floor.  You won't have that problem!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 3/17/2018 at 3:30 PM, garyrc said:

I agree with Schu.  The pieces of carpet (or area rugs, or throw rugs) should be put on the floor at the point where the sound from the tweeter & midrange bounces off the floor and hits your ears when you are seated in the Main Listening Location.  To locate this point (area), you can temporarily lay a mirror flat on the floor, sit in the MLL, and have someone move the mirror around, still flat on the floor.  When you can see a speaker in the mirror (or at least a midrange/tweeter area when seated the way you will be when listening, without leaning forward) , the mirror's location is where to put the area rug.   For multiple listeners, repeat for each position.  Some people have advocated doing the same for the side walls, but a few experts are now questioning this, thinking it can be overkill.  You can always start without wall absorbers, and see how it sounds. 

 

Diffusers placed in the sidewall 1st-reflection locations will usually produce better-sounding results than absorbers will. However, if the room is fairly reflective, absorbers will likely improve things over doing nothing at all.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We live in Arizona where there are many tiled areas including our living room where my Cornwalls reside. They have been sitting on the tile but we have a large oriental rug that is less than a foot away from the bottom of each speaker. As they are angled in a bit because of furniture as close as 2 inches, as far as 6-8 inches.  I think they sound great (but what else would I think?).

 

Good luck, I'm sure you'll enjoy them. I recently had to decide between my Chorus II's and Cornwalls when I retired and downsized-for me that was a very tough decision.

 

Del Bomberger

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...