Jump to content

speaker placement


steelie

Recommended Posts

hey all

does anyone have any special tricks or tips to suggest in order to find the best way to place RF7s for 2-channel music other than haphazardly trying to move the speakers here and there. In general, I know where the speakers are staying but I want to keep fine tuning them. I have a good deal of room to play around with the spacing between the back walls, the side walls, the angle I'll tilt the speakers toward the listening area, etc etc

I'm not looking for gear or instruments. Just want to know if there are ways to do this fine tuning more efficiently. What sort of music should I play to get the most noticeable clues that I'm placing the speaks in the best location. I'm thinking something with female voices, or some otherwise high pitches. Any suggestions that could help? Thanks in advance for your help

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would just play music that you are familiar with that has really good frequency extension top and bottom and that has a very realistic soundstage. Beyond that, I would suggest you not rule out moving the listening position, too.

As a starting point, setting up the speaker/listening position as three points of an equalateral triangle would be good.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

started with the equilateral triangle but moved the listening position back a little bit. Now, I've got 11 feet between the speaks, three feet from the rear wall to the back of the speaks, and I sit about 13 feet away. One speaker is 2 feet from a side wall. Left speaker has about two feet from the side wall, right speaker doesn't have a wall nearby for several feet. Speakers are in front of a wall where the ceiling starts at 8 feet, then climbs to 13 feet almost right under the listening position.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ive got mine about 7 feet apart and I sit about 9 feet from the speakers in a equilateral triangle, the speakers are angled in about 9" from the wall on each side and 2 feet from the back wall. The key to these speakers is to grab them and spread them far and wide to get the effect.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like to treat them as corner speakers .. to get as much out of the bass port as possible. I had to install a small 2.5' high wall next to one that didn't have a side wall. I point the speaker directly at the listening position. I often prefer to sit in a lower chair to align vertically with the upper cone. My rationale is that optimizes lower midrange which has no help from horn or port.

Leo

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Setting Up Loudspeakers

In A Rectangular Room

by George Cardas

Very precise loudspeaker placement can open up a whole new dimension in listening, so I will outline the system that is becoming the standard of the industry. This standardized listening room is a Golden Cuboid and is the model for the math used in this system. This method will work with any box speaker, in any reasonably sized rectangular room. You may find that you have already positioned your speakers this way by ear.

Active nodes are the main concern when placing loudspeakers in a rectangular room. A node, or the frequency where loudspeakers and parallel walls interact, is proportional to the speaker to the wall distance.

The three most importance nodes, in order of importance, are proportional to the distance between the speaker and:

1. The side wall nearest the speaker

2. The rear wall

3. The side wall across from the speaker

A secondary factor is the loudspeaker-to-loudspeaker time constant.

When you use this Golden Ratio method to set your room up, the speakers are placed so the three nodes progress or differ from one another in Golden Ratio. This eliminates any unison or near unison resonance in the nodes.

Panel or dipole loudspeakers such as Apogees and Magnepans cancel their side waves, so a formula of .618 x the ceiling height can be used for determining placement from the rear wall. Most box loudspeakers radiate low frequencies in all directions thus a formula that places the loudspeaker to rear wall distance at 1.618 the side wall distance should be used.

Loudspeaker Placement, Simply Stated

The distance from the center of the woofer face to the side walls is:

Room Width times .276 (RW x .276)

The distance from the center of the woofer face to the wall behind the speaker is:

Room Width times .447 (RW x .447)

This is all you need to know to place speakers in a symmetrical, rectangular room!

Diagram A

Distance Percentage

Speaker to side wall: RW x .276

Speaker to rear wall: RW x .447

Speaker to opposite side wall: RW x .724

Speaker to speaker: RW x .447

For those who must know more about the various ways to setup your room according to George Cardas, please click here.

For ease and accuracy in placing system components, heres a cool laser tool that makes the job a snap! www.Checkpoint3d.com

See Enjoy the Music.com's review

of the Checkpoint 3D/SAS system by clicking here.

Cardas Audio, Ltd.

480 11th Street, S.E.

Bandon, Oregon 97411

Phone (541) 347-2484

Fax (541) 347-2301

E-Mail: george@cardas.com

Website: www.cardas.com

http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/archives/2.gif2.gif2.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

GF

I like the high end clarity due to having a single driver in the upper mids and highs (no mid/tweeter crossover). I find it especially smooth with instruments with a lot of high freq energy and/or detail, such as violins. I also like the extra few notes in the bass (relative to my Chorus-II.). I think the lower mids lack the dynamics of the horn and lower bass.

In a very general sense, I tend to listed to small chamber works on the RF-7s and larger orchestral works on the Chorus-IIs.

Interestingly, with rock and jazz it's more of a trade-off.

Leo

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Okay, I must be misunderstanding the formula. In a room 19 feet wide, the speakers would be placed 8.493 feet apart as well as 8.493 feet from the rear wall. They also would be 5.244 feet from the nearest side wall and 13.756 feet from the opposide side wall, right?

These dimensions don't make sense to me, particularly the distance to the rear wall. I thought RF7s should be 2 to 3 feet in front of the rear wall.

Am I using the formula correctly or did I get it all wrong?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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...