Path length vs. Distance from rear wall

[JetFlyGuy]

I am tweaking the front stage of my HT, and am looking for feedback as to which is more critial: Speaker distance from the listener, or speaker distance from the wall. I have a small room, and am trying to find the best compromise here. The walls behind and beside the speakers have absorbtive acoustic panels on them, so I am thinking I may be able to get away with having them closer to the wall than if the wall was bare sheetrock. I would loce to hear from anyone with experience in this area. Thanks

[Seeme]

Hi JetFlyGuy,

Well, I have found that it depends on what you like to listen the most to. I like music more than HT so I like the speakers off the wall more. The B&W sound better this way to me and it also helps the midrange sound less congested. The soundstage opens up more and the details are spot on.

You get more bass with the fronts closer to the wall but I feel you loss touch much by doing this. I good sub matted to the B&W will help with the low end I feel.

I like the B&W at least 3 feet off of the front wall and I have found that the sitting position works best when it’s able to equal the distance between the fronts. Example : if they are 6 feet apart than the sitting should be 6 feet.

If you like home theater more than you can set the speakers 6 inches from the front wall just don't put your chairs or seats on the back wall if at all possible. It sounds better if you could get a least a foot of the back wall.

Hope this helps. Give it a try and tell us what you think. You will lose bass but your will gain clarity.

Happy listening. :T

[scottielee]

hi JetFlyGuy,
if you haven't checked out the cardas speaker placement method, it is a simple and interesting read: http://www.cardas.com/content.php?ar...ing=Room+Setup
the site even has a speaker distance calculator for any room dimensions.
have fun!
scottie

[xk8boy]

Seeme, do you have your speakers toed in?

[audioqueso]

This depends on how much space you have, but I like to keep the speakers at least 8 feet from my listening position. It's ok if it's farther, but definitely at least 8 feet. I actually keep my speakers about 4 feet from the wall. It really does open up the soundstage this way and the bass becomes a lot cleaner.

[Seeme]

Hi xk8boy,

I had a slight toe-in for the 804's and the 802's I had as I used only the fronts for music as I listened in Stereo. I found that the center image was better with a toe-in this way. I used the center "which was a HTM1" for HT use only and I felt that I really didn't need to toe them in much but I left them toed in anyway.

Hope this helps.

[JetFlyGuy]

The front of my media room has acoustic panels in each corner that block off the actual corner of the room. They consume about a foot of real estate in the process as they have an empty triangular void behind them. My speakers are about 6 inches in front of this panel, which is about a foot from the corner, making the distance from the actual wall 1'8", but the distance to the panel being only 8". I am using quite a bit of toe in, and am experimenting with different positions and toe angles. The fronts are about 8 feet apart, and the listening position is between 6-8 feet, depending on how you mesure it. I am not unhappy with the performance I am getting, I am just looking to maximize the performance.

[Seeme]

Hi JetFlyGuy,

I would say while your testing to focus on the fronts first. I would get some music that you're use too and use it as your reference material. Play it in stereo and try different settings until you get good sound stage and I would say dont worry to much about nearfield listening as this might even sound better for you. I have had a lot of dealers tell me that they like nearfield better. If it sounds good to you than go for it, try different kinds of placement and enjoy.
Good Luck. :T

[Lex]

Again, this is not a B & W Question.

[JetFlyGuy]

It sure seems like a B&W question to me!!!!!!! Let me re phrase it so that everyone can have the benefit of understanding:

I am tweaking the front stage of my HT, and am looking for feedback as to which is more critial: B&W Speaker distance from the listener, or B &W speaker distance from the wall. I have a small room, and am trying to find the best compromise here. The walls behind and beside the B&W speakers have absorbtive acoustic panels on them, so I am thinking I may be able to get away with having them closer to the wall than if the wall was bare sheetrock. I would loce to hear from anyone with experience in this area. WITH B&W SPEAKERS Thanks


Again.... This question is referring to my B&W SPEAKERS!!!!


Any Questions

[ThomasW]

The question may seem specific because you have B&W speakers, however it's really a generic question because it applies to the placement of all brands of loudspeakers.

Here's part of the answer....

Built inside the crossover is what's called a baffle step compensation circuit (BSC). It's whole function in life is to EQ the speaker in a specific frequency range. As a result of how BSC functions, the speaker will sound 'boomy' or 'chesty' if it's placed too close to the walls (boundries).

The piece of acoustic foam you're using isn't thick enough, dense enough, or large enough (width/height), to adequately compensate for the speakers being overly close to the wall.

That being said, removing the existing foam will make the situation worse not better.

[RobP]

Hey Jetflyguy, here is an idea for you, I am going to use these traps in my corners behind my B&W N803'S, they are 2' tall each and very thick, I am going to bulid a frame behind them and stack them so they go the whole way up the corner, in between each two foot section I am going to put a wood quarter round "shelf". Once all connected together I will stretch acoustical transparent matierial around it. I will then put a base and a capital on top, place them in the corners spaced out a few inches and volia! a bass trap that will look like a column!, I made a set of these for a friend a few years back and they work great. :T

[JetFlyGuy]

I will look into the bass traps. I have considered them before, but passed as I already have a corner treatment.