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Planar speaker placement

Hi again. I just came across this, being new to the hobby, but would like to put it forth for those few who might not know it yet, and to get feedback from those that do and have experience with it. It being hk/limage theory speaker placement. I tried this with my Maggies and, holy cow. What a difference it made in my room! The speakers disapear from the room and the soundstage is amazing. The speakers are brought out about 40%of the room size from the wall, instead of the usual 2-4 ft, set very close to the sidewall, amd tweeters on inside. I'm sure the regulars here have heard about it, and would like to hear your thoughts. Thanks for your time.
128x128droleg

Showing 5 responses by sbank

sbank's avatar
sbank
3,378 posts
 
You might also want to read about setup & room treatments on Sound Lab's website. Dr. West's approach to live end - dead end setup has worked well with my Sound Labs and might be worth a try with your Maggies too. Cheers,
Spencer
sbank's avatar
sbank
3,378 posts
 
Yeah, but absorption & some diffusion behind the planars will improve the depth & clarity because without it all that rear-firing energy will reflect back and smear what is heard.

Agreed, with cone drivers first reflection points are much more impactful on results. Cheers,
Spencer
sbank's avatar
sbank
3,378 posts
 
@cleeds Well that is interesting and it made me want to check out your system page, but :-( yet another guy who hasn’t shared. Come on dude, let’s see it and maybe I can learn something.

Take a look at the Sound Lab site, I read it all and spoke with them, and at least with their speakers, they recommend treatment behind the speakers.

I’ll also helped multiple friends with Maggies and in each case they preferred having some absorption, diffusion or both on the front wall. Hey, if you get better results without, that saves you expense, cool. But has anyone ever seen instructions from a planar manufacturer advise the owner to NOT use absorption or diffusion behind their speakers? I haven’t. Cheers,
Spencer
sbank's avatar
sbank
3,378 posts
 
@ct0517 That vintage quad pic is a classic, OMG. Love the pipe!

So I understand the point to avoid corners, but the manual quote doesn't tell me why "sound waves from the front and rear of the speaker should be restricted as little as possible".  Is that a manual for '57s? It's been a while since I owned Quad ESL63USAs and I don't recall if that advice applied to them too. The designs seem similar enough that I'd guess their setup advice is similar too. Anybody with more insights about this? Cheers,
Spencer
sbank's avatar
sbank
3,378 posts
 
@alanholvey 
That's an interesting perspective but goes against what most planar manufacturers suggest and how they choose to demo their products. For example, Sound Lab suggests ideally sitting >=12ft. away from the speakers.
Since your MLs have dynamic woofer, they will behave differently. Cheers,
Spencer 
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