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Speaker placement along the long wall

Does anyone have any experience with speaker placement along the long wall? My room is 15'Lx12W. The rear of the room has a 6' wide opening into the dining room. This allows me to seat in between the two rooms (about 10' from the speaker right now), though it remains domestically unpopular. I'm considering relinquishing the space between the two rooms by moving the speakers along the 15' wall. The only problem is that I'll have about 8' from the chair to the new front wall, thus forcing me into near-field listening. My speakers are sealed box design(Hales Rev3). I'm wondering, before I attempt to re-arrange the living room, how close to the rear wall can these speakers be placed with minimal change in sound quality or any other pros&cons.

Responses are much appreciated.
wywhcan
sean
6,231 posts
 
Obviously, this type of situation would be pretty speaker dependent. Having said that, i tend to prefer setting up speakers on the long wall if possible. More direct sound with less side-wall reflections taking place produces a very vivid soundstage and increased detail when it comes to imaging. I have a very hard time listening to systems that are firing into a long / narrow room as the sound seems so "un-natural" and "crammed together". This is especially true if the speakers are traditional front firing boxes. This is probably one of the reasons that i also like omni's and planar's i.e. increased "air", "space" and "depth".

The bottom line is to try it and see. Most all of your expense will be in labor, so you'll be getting off cheap : ) Sean
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nighthawk
259 posts
 
Could you put your speakers flanking the opening to the dining room? I bet this would give great depth to the soundstage.
unsound
7,311 posts
 
I have always prefered setting up speakers along the long wall. Dunlavy and Audio Physics have some interesting thoughts about this arrangement on their web sites.
soix
8,704 posts
 
My main concern would be if the new 8' listening distance gives the drivers a chance to gel together. If memory serves the drivers in the Rev3s are somewhat far apart, so this may be an issue. If you experience a lack of coherence between bass/mids/treble you may need to back the speakers up closer to the wall. It might not turn out to be an issue at all, but it would be something I'd watch for.

Tim
unsound
7,311 posts
 
Tim brings up a very good point! Intergrading drivers at the listening position may compromise ideal speaker to room boundry positioning. I think it's safe to say that the vast majority of us deal with some compromise in this regard. What did Hales recommend as a starting point? Trial and error may be your only resolve.
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