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View Full Version : How far apart should speakers ideally be?



curtis
01-18-2004, 08:04 AM
Here is the Dolby speaker setup spec:
http://dolbylabs.com/Consumer/HomeEntertainment/Setup/

In the Ascend manual it recommends the seperation of the two speaker to be 73% the distance between the midpoint of the two speakers and the seating position.

But like you said, do what sounds best to you.

-curtis

ez-v
01-18-2004, 03:20 PM
Richard Hardesty of the "Audio Pefectionist" has some basic ideas of how to setup your room and speakers. While he is very opinionated, in a manner that you may not agree with at times, lot of what he says also has merit.

http://audioperfectionist.com/pages/freejournals.html

The above link is to the first 2 issues of his journal which are free. Might give you some ideas as to how to setup your speakers and your room.

Victor

Gregisme
01-20-2004, 03:06 AM
thanks for the links guys.

ez-v.. I checked out and skimmed through all those pages.

What I wonder about is some of his very strong recommendations, ie, speakers 4' from walls minimum, seating position far from back wall, etc., etc. It seems Dave F. (and some others) are much more liberal about placement issues. This is not to say that Dave F. would disagree with the "audioperfectionist" recommendations for absolute optimal sound, just that it isn't THAT critical for very good (if not spectacular) sound.

I wonder if it's a question of equipment and standards? That guy Richard/audioperfectionist was using some VERY expensive equipment and perhaps it's much more finicky where slight deviations make a bigger impact on sound and performance as compared to the average set-up. Also more critical to the extent of 'why buy such expensive equipment if you're not going to benefit fully from it by getting your room dynamics nearly perfect'? With less expensive systems, room set-up is still very important but not quite as necessary given the smaller investment.

Would this be a fair way of reconciling these two viewpoints?

btw, I also found it interesing in that Richard is generally opposed to center speakers, finding the L & R speakers are much more than adequate unless you have fairly extreme (read: very off-axis) seating scenarios.

ez-v
01-20-2004, 04:16 PM
Gregisme,

As with anything in audio, "perfection" is almost never achieved when you have to compromise it with reality. Some of the ideas that Richard puts forth... the angle between the listener and the speakers, how you go about making adjustments, how you should make the room symmetrical as possible... thesee are all ideas you can try to incorporate to the best of your ability.

Do most of us have 4' from the front wall? I know I don't. Nonetheless, I do try to assimilate as much as possible from sources like the Audio Perfectionist just to experiment and see what I can implement in my system to improve the sound.

But I agree, given the fact that many of us don't have dedicated rooms for our audio gear, there are limits to how far we can take "suggested setups."

Dermott
01-21-2004, 01:18 PM
If the Ascend Manual says 73% of the distance to the listening position for separation on the fronts....is that facing flat or does having them toed in throw the whole thing off?

curtis
01-21-2004, 01:28 PM
I think it recommends some toe in....5-10 degrees.

-curtis