I don't believe a 3-way speaker will provide any advantage in dispersion over a 2-way speaker. There are many excellent 2-way speakers that provide a wide soundstage that can be had for $1500 (new or used). I use Esoteric MG-10s, 7 1/2" 2-way speaker in a room ~14 x 12'. Soundstage extends beyond side walls with some recordings.
Near-field speaker placement
I have a small room (13.6 by 9 by 7 feet high) with carpeting on the floor and acoustic tiles on the ceiling. In a near-field setup, where should the speakers be placed in this room? I've read a number of different takes on placement, including these two that seem to contradict one another:
http://www.cardas.com/room_setup_near_field.phphttp://arqen.com/acoustics-101/room-setup-speaker-placement/#equilateral-triangle
I have a very modest system (NHT Classic Twos, NAD amp and preamp, Cary disc player and a small Velodyne sub). NHT recommends that the Classic Twos be placed at a 1.5 ratio (60 inches between the speakers would mean 90 inches from the listener). How big of a problem is this if the typical near-field setup is an equilateral triangle? And in a room like this, how far should the speakers be placed apart?
I wasted years on trying to make a square room work, and if this doesn't pan out, I'm thinking I might just go the headphone route. Thanks for the time and advice if you can provide it.
http://www.cardas.com/room_setup_near_field.phphttp://arqen.com/acoustics-101/room-setup-speaker-placement/#equilateral-triangle
I have a very modest system (NHT Classic Twos, NAD amp and preamp, Cary disc player and a small Velodyne sub). NHT recommends that the Classic Twos be placed at a 1.5 ratio (60 inches between the speakers would mean 90 inches from the listener). How big of a problem is this if the typical near-field setup is an equilateral triangle? And in a room like this, how far should the speakers be placed apart?
I wasted years on trying to make a square room work, and if this doesn't pan out, I'm thinking I might just go the headphone route. Thanks for the time and advice if you can provide it.
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Thanks again, everyone, for your thoughts and advice. Right now, the best alignment I've found is placing the speakers along one of the long walls, 15 inches out, and 60 inches from the shorter side walls. I have bass traps in all four corners and 4-inch-thick acoustic panels on most of the rear wall. The speakers are 42 inches apart, with my listening chair equidistant. My next rabbit hole involves my speakers (NHT Classic Twos). According to the manufacturer, the listener should sit 1.5 times the distance between the two speakers (50 inches between speakers = 75 inches from the tweeters to the listener's ears). In my current setup, an equilateral triangle is about the best I can do given the space constraints. I asked NHT about this and they said the Classic Twos "would hold up well in an equilateral triangle arrangement. The key is to have them pointed to the listening position. The drawback would be that off-axis dispersion would not be the best (i.e. there'll be a sweet spot) given the Classic Two's are two-way speakers." My question(s): Is it worth chasing down a pair of speakers more suited to my room (13.6 by 9 by 7 feet high), i.e., a pair with a larger sweet spot, or a pair that might be engineered differently to perform better in a small room like this one? In this alignment the Classic Twos sound good at times, but not so much at others – specifically regarding piano, it seems. Maybe it's just me, but it just doesn't sound true. Anyway, I'd appreciate any advice on whether three-way speakers will improve (widen) the dispersion, and maybe any recommendations on more preferable speakers (in the ballpark of $1,500 a pair), bookshelf of maybe small towers. Gracias. |
The bottom octave is 20-40Hz, or to some 16-32Hz, frequency range. I was thinking of those speakers that have a -3dB down point just below 50Hz or -6dB below 40HZ. Something in that range. Prevents excessive excitation of bass modes. I get plenty of bass from speakers that fit this description in my 15'X12'X8' room. Do you know the roll off for the NHT Classic Twos? Don't give up, given that your room is not square and LxWxH all differ you should find an acceptable placement. I have a headphone system however do not hear it as a replacement for a speaker based one. Please keep us informed as you progress. |
Ray, that is the beauty of it, the soundstage/imaging can extend beyond the small room boundaries. Having speakers placed along shorter wall allows for more space behind speakers and listener. Providing greater depth of field for soundstage. Absorption panels at reflexion points along side walls helps with most speakers. |
I have an almost identical size room. My speakers are on the 9' wall. They are 31" out from the front wall(rear of the speaker),and 84" apart. The center of the drivers are 19" away from the side walls. My listening chair is about 75" inches away from the speaker plain. I am also running 3 HSU subs. (2 STF-1's,1 VTF-2 MK3.) I find soundstage extends beyond the side,and back walls. Good luck,I hope this may help you a bit. Ray |
In my (horrible!) square room I've had very good results by judicious use of bass traps in the corners.The wall/ ceiling junction is especially important.Controlling the bass smooths everything out.You could pick up a few 703 owens corning panels inexpensively to experiment with.Then lots of experimenting with placement.It's tedious for sure 😐All rooms are different but feel free to look on my system page at pics of my room treatments and how they ended up in their final position.Good luck! |
If speakers are to be placed in front of the 9'wall (the front wall) this allows for greater distance behind speaker and listener. Toe in and sound panels at reflection points will allow for closer distance to side walls. Another acoustic improvement is to place equipment rack to side of listener, not between speakers. Since you have preamp/amp separates you can place amp on stand along one side wall, splitting distance between equipment rack and speakers with lengths of interconnects and speaker cable. Please keep us informed as to what come come up with. Good luck! |
One needs to experiment for one's self. Can you position speakers along either wall? I have found it best when speakers are placed forward of front wall and away from side walls. Listener should be forward of back wall. This obviously becomes difficult in a room of your size. You may want to try true near field positioning. My idea of near field positioning is when the distance between speakers is greater than the distance from listener to the front of speakers. In my case the between speaker (center line of drivers) distance is 61/2' and distance from speakers is 51/2'. The presentation of the soundstage, fore and aft of front of speaker, differs greatly between speakers. This greatly impacts speaker placement. Room treatment panels behind speakers and listener and at primary reflexion points along side walls improves soundstage and imaging. Check out forums on acoustic treatment. |
go there read that and download the calculator : https://www.head-fi.org/threads/domo-audio-brings-you-that-sweet-spot-—-get-better-imaging-through-s... |
Since every room is different, you're going to have to experiment and just use those placement recommendations as a starting point. Also, check out this article on near field placement and get a load of the last photo: https://darko.audio/2019/03/kih-64-get-real/ Food for thought. All the best, Nonoise |