How far apart should my F3s be for TV/Movie watching?

[zedzed]

I have a 42 inch LCD and I sit about 8 feet away from the TV - (small room).

How far apart should I put the F3s (main front speakers)? Some people said to put them about 2.5 to 3 feet away from the TV on each side which others said to put them 1 foot away from the TV.

Other opinions include:

The speakers placement should form an
equilateral tringle between your listening position and themselves. IE
if you are 8 feet from each speaker at the listening position, they
should be 8 feet apart.

What do the experts here recommend?

My next problem has to do with the "Sweet Spot". I have a three theater chair setup and only the person in the middle chair gets the full effect. Guy on right side for example is too heavy on the right side effects. How do I minimize that?

Some interesting positioning resources

http://www.hometheaterdirect.net/roomlayout.html

http://www.rivesaudio.com/resources/listening_room/frame.html

http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/installations/2813/the-411-on-71-surround.html

http://www.audioholics.com/tweaks/speaker-setup-guidelines/loudspeaker-placement-guide

[Jeff Matthews]

Step 1: Place speakers where you'd most prefer them to be.

Step 2: Listen to them.

If satisfied, you are finished. If unsatisfied, proceed to Step 3.

Step 3: Move them to another location and go back to Step 2.

To allow the guy on the right side to get the full effect of the "sweet spot," let him sit in the middle.

I'm just goofing around here, but I don't think there are any such experts that can tell you how to balance your objectives between physical location restraints/desires and desired sound. We argue so much on this forum about what a person should "want" to hear. If you stick around a while, you'll get some good laughs.

[Islander]

Jeff is basically right.

Some AV types suggest that the speakers shouldn't be too far from the TV, since they may pull your attention away from the screen, but for music listening, an amount of separation something similar to your listening distance will sound better, with a proper-sized soundstage.

I'd start with the speakers about 8 feet apart and see how that sounds. As for the width of the sweet spot, that can be adjusted a bit by how much you toe in the speakers. If you toe them in to face the listening position directly (the on-axis position), the sweet spot will be relatively narrow, but if they're toed in very little or not at all, the spot will be wider.

There will also be some change in the frequency response, since the highs will be strongest on-axis and will be diminished as the speakers are less directly facing you. This can be good or bad, depending on the speakers, and can be a way to tone down overly bright speakers.

[Guest BobG]

I suggest narrower than the equalateral triangle approach. Measure your distance to the TV. Multiply that by 0.6. Use that as the distance between the centers of the speakers. So for 8" listening distance, about 4.8' apart. Unless the speakers are near a side wall, you won't want much toe-in in this setup. Toe in usually diminishes image depth anyway.

I think you may prefer this.

[colterphoto1]

Colter's general placment rule is: place the speakers 1/2 the screen width away from the tv screen for movie watching.

Stereo listening approach is the equalateral rule

I suggest a mid-point which is somewhat in line with Bob's suggestion (since he is far wiser than I)

Placement as shown in many ads, right next to the screen, may look cool but create a narrow sound field not good for music or concert films.

Placment too far apart, as may installers do when putting wiring into corners, creates an unnaturally wide sound field where sound panned hard will appear to be coming from off screen.

Placement that is just right helps to expand the sound field beyond the screen, psychologically making the screen seem wider. The degree of which this is pleasing may depend on your distance from the screen.

Example: 46" screen is about 40" wide so speakers 20" away for 80" total width

For 46" screen you would normally be seated maybe 8 feet away so the width is a bit narrower than the listener-speaker distance. Not quite as narrow as Bob's rule above.

Personally I like a wide sound field since I use my system 50% for music. On concert films a wide sound field is very usable. Only occasionally does my 12' LaScala spacing seem problematic. When I set up a new Klipsch tower system about 20" from my 42" set it felt very natural for all types of music or movies.

Michael

[Guest BobG]

Clash of Titans?

I'm pretty sure I can take Colter straight up in arm wrestling, but he's got more than 10x my posts...

[zedzed]

Thanks guys. I did the equilateral trianggle thing and it sounds pretty good.

Now to figure out where to put my front Presence speakers