How does speaker distance affect sound.

[ehinton]

How does speaker distance affect sound.

Due to the size of the room I am currently in, my rf-52 are about 3ft apart from each other. Soon I will be in a room where I can have them up to 16 feet apart. How will the greater distance affect the sound; will it be fully, sound better etc. I know that Klipsch reccommends at least 6 ft apart.

[PrestonTom]

It is an interesting question; however, there is not a simple answer.

Much of the effect will be room dependent. It will also vary with different types of speakers (corner horns and panel speakers would be two different extremes). In general, the wider the spacing the wider the stereophonic spread up to a point.

Once the speaker are placed too widely, you will get "the hole in the middle" effect. The stereo image will still have phantom percepts in the middle (usually the singer or the soloist, frequently percussion depending on how it was engineered). However the centered percepts will not be as "anchored" or "convincing". They may also be prone to a smaller and more fragile sweet spot that can quickly collapse if you move too far to one side or the other.

Now the key question: how wide is too wide? Well, it depends .... If you are forced to space them widely and the centered phantom image is weak, this can be remedied with a 3rd speaker that is fed a signal that the sum of the L & R channels. Although, this can also introduce some other problems, it is one trick too get both a very side stereophonic image that is still "good" in the middle. PWK was an advocate of this approach and there are many threads on the topic that can make for good reading.

Good Luck,

-Tom

[wuzzzer]

Try and place your listening position from either 1/3 of the way of the total length of your room or 2/3 of the way of it. (If your room is 21 feet long, sit either 7 feet from the front wall or 14 feet) If you sit too much in the middle you'll usually be sitting in an area where the bass from the speakers is the weakest in the room. Some also recommend an equilateral triangle as far as the distance between your speakers compared to the distance you sit from them. So, if you place your speakers 16 feet apart you'll want to sit about 16 feet from them.

Of course, every room is unique so the best thing to do is experiment with several different scenarios and choose what sounds best to you!

Having the speakers farther apart will increase the stereo separation of each speaker and the imaging (being able to pinpoint where each voice/instrument is coming from) tremendously.

[Marvel]

I rearranged my living room a couple of months ago, and now have my LaScalas abotu 6ft apart. Still have a couple of feet on each side to the walls. I sit about 10ft back. The imaging is much more solid, and I have instruments that seem to be farther out to the left and right. As important to me, the room is far more cozy, while seeming to havemore space. It's one of theose weird things that just happened to work out to my satisfaction.

Bruce

[ehinton]

Thanks to all.....I did a little rearranging and I can tell a huge difference. ALtough i might have just gotten lucky with the spacing.

[oldtimer]

There is a classic saying in finance that applies here: "I'd rather be lucky than smart."