2 Attachment(s)
The importance of speakers placement
I'd like to share some of my recent observations on how critical the speakers' placement is to extract the sound clarity, crisp bass, and large soundstage.
I have quite an oddly shaped family room (12 x 20)with a large 7 ft opening to the dining, kitchen, and rest of the open floor plan.
I just recently bought Sierra 2EX and my first placement attempt resulted in a lack of wide soundstage and poor bass response. My Sierra 1 sounded better and fuller in the other room. I was quite disappointed to say the least.
Attachment 1987
However, given the superb opinions about 2EX, I didn't give up. I started digging around room acoustics. I found out about the Cardas Method and leveraged this calculator for the ease of computation. After following rigorously the recommendations, the speakers started to sound completely different. Outstanding soundstage, clarity and musical bass. I believe this is how 2EX are supposed to sound.
Attachment 1990
I experimented with a few other setups, including the rule of thirds and Vandersteen method, but Cardas seems to work the best in my case with slight 1” toe in.
Lesson learned - do not underestimate the importance of room acoustics and speakers placement. I highly recommend trying the Cardas method in your room to get the most out of your speakers. It was day and night difference in my case.
Good sound to you!
Re: The importance of speakers placement
Re: The importance of speakers placement
Yep, room acoustics and seating make a big difference.
Just from your drawings, I would expect the 2nd one to sound better.
In the first setup, you are sitting near the wall behind you. And one speaker is near a corner while the other is not.
Having your listening position out in the open space of the room instead of with your back against a wall really seems to help.
In the 2nd setup, your seating position is farther away from any walls behind you, and the speakers are each in a similar environment.
Re: The importance of speakers placement
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Beave
Yep, room acoustics and seating make a big difference.
Just from your drawings, I would expect the 2nd one to sound better.
In the first setup, you are sitting near the wall behind you. And one speaker is near a corner while the other is not.
Having your listening position out in the open space of the room instead of with your back against a wall really seems to help.
In the 2nd setup, your seating position is farther away from any walls behind you, and the speakers are each in a similar environment.
Absolutely!
What truly helped too is to have the speakers placed well into the room. They opened up flawlessly!
Re: The importance of speakers placement
Quote:
Originally Posted by
machnik
I'd like to share some of my recent observations on how critical the speakers' placement is to extract the sound clarity, crisp bass, and large soundstage.
I have quite an oddly shaped family room (12 x 20)with a large 7 ft opening to the dining, kitchen, and rest of the open floor plan.
I just recently bought Sierra 2EX and my first placement attempt resulted in a lack of wide soundstage and poor bass response. My Sierra 1 sounded better and fuller in the other room. I was quite disappointed to say the least.
Attachment 1987
However, given the superb opinions about 2EX, I didn't give up. I started digging around room acoustics. I found out about the
Cardas Method and leveraged this
calculator for the ease of computation. After following rigorously the recommendations, the speakers started to sound completely different. Outstanding soundstage, clarity and musical bass. I believe this is how 2EX are supposed to sound.
Attachment 1990
I experimented with a few other setups, including the rule of thirds and Vandersteen method, but Cardas seems to work the best in my case with slight 1” toe in.
Lesson learned - do not underestimate the importance of room acoustics and speakers placement. I highly recommend trying the Cardas method in your room to get the most out of your speakers. It was day and night difference in my case.
Good sound to you!
Excellent post - yes, speaker placement / room acoustics are indeed critical to achieving maximum performance. This is for any set of speakers...
