Speaker placement

promo · Post by **promo** » Fri Aug 21, 2009 12:28 pm

Got my old 3 way hi fi speakers now in my place in London but I can't figure out where the fuck to place them. The sound from them is fuckin' nice but bass isn't there strong point as they have only about a 4 inch woofer. That said I didn't have any real concerns with bass when I used them in my music room out of London (much smaller room).

Any thoughts on where to place them? Think I will take some shots and post them up in order to get some thoughts. Problem is if I have them at head hight then the mid/hi just seem to prominent.

r · Post by r » Fri Aug 21, 2009 1:15 pm

put them in a corner if you want more bass. Ofcourse that's not the way theyll produce honest sound

vivace · Post by **vivace** » Fri Aug 21, 2009 1:32 pm

NEVER put your speakers in a corner, that gives +6dB to your low-end that come from nowhere.. not really something you want during producing..

Best is to put them on your ear-level, I guess.. woofer centered, but I don't have a woofer so I don't know.. Hell, I don't even have my monitors on ear-level myself..

Sinus Sawtooth · Post by **Sinus Sawtooth** » Fri Aug 21, 2009 1:36 pm

Vivace wrote:NEVER put your speakers in a corner, that gives +6dB to your low-end that come from nowhere.. not really something you want during producing..

Best is to put them on your ear-level, I guess.. woofer centered, but I don't have a woofer so I don't know.. Hell, I don't even have my monitors on ear-level myself..

word! put them centered in the middle of the room 30cm - 50cm from the wall, if possible put some antisoundstuff against that wall so the waves won't bounce that hard and you'll have the most natural sound.

but hey, what do I know, I still use these...

macc · Post by **macc** » Fri Aug 21, 2009 5:21 pm

Get a measurement microphone and room eq wizard, measure them, move them, measure them, move them, measure again, measure, move... you get the idea.

I spent 10 hours moving my speakers and measuring etc. It's very important, the most important thing along with treatment.

karmacazee · Post by **karmacazee** » Fri Aug 21, 2009 6:17 pm

I spent ten hours masturbating because I got my speaker placement right first time by complete fluke and chance

spencertron · Post by **spencertron** » Fri Aug 21, 2009 6:36 pm

SoundonSound 07 article on monitor placement and acoustics

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/dec07/a ... ustics.htm

SoundonSound 'MONITOR PLACEMENT'

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/mar02/a ... nitors.asp

SoundonSound 'Room for Improvement' [Acoustics] articles part 1-5

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jul98/a ... tics1.html
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/aug98/a ... ustic.html
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/sep98/a ... tic_3.html
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/oct98/a ... stics.html
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/nov98/a ... ustic5.htm

personally...a few bricks and mousemats, seem to do me fine, but what i've read from these is excellent.

vertex · Post by **vertex** » Fri Aug 21, 2009 9:49 pm

tweeters at ear level, they have narrow dispersion

lowpass · Post by **lowpass** » Fri Aug 21, 2009 9:52 pm

Karmacazee wrote:I spent ten hours masturbating because I got my speaker placement right first time by complete fluke and chance

haha,

yeah tweeters at the ears, it even rhymes

@macc what system did you use to measure?

macc · Post by **macc** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 9:31 am

Behringer ECM8000 (which is alright for the purpose) and Room EQ wizard.

lowpass · Post by **lowpass** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 9:40 am

Macc wrote:Behringer ECM8000 (which is alright for the purpose) and Room EQ wizard.

hehe I'm not a reflex behringer basher

good price too, do you move it around the room measuring or do you keep it at listening position?

Also Does it just help you optimize your speaker position or does it eq the output as well?

xiy · Post by **xiy** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 10:09 am

Here's some tips I picked up from working for Bose. They're militant in their speaker placement:

Place your speakers in an equilateral triangle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equilateral_triangle) with you as the top point and place the two speakers as far away from each other as they are away from you, directing the speakers AT YOU not straight ahead. And like was said above, make sure that they are effectively at eye level. Make sure there's nothing blocking the immediate edges of the speakers either like walls etc. and definitely never in the corner of the room.

The room you're working in makes a big difference to the sound you're gonna hear too so choose that wisely.

macc · Post by **macc** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 10:14 am

Generally you want it to be at the listening position. It oes eq the output but this is NOT a good solution for a great many reasons. Google 'Ethan Winer Room EQ' that will probably give you some reading...

There are more advanced solutions such as IK ARC and KRK Ergo, which are better but ONLY as a complement to the best room treatment you can do, to take things the final few %. I have treated the arse out of my room - I have about 25 basstraps of various thicknesses, some professional, some DIY, plus superchunked front corners, and IK ARC took it the last step. It sounds fucking unbelievable in here!

You have to buy it though really as the microphone that comes with it is 'tuned' to the software if you like.

lowpass · Post by **lowpass** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 10:26 am

Macc wrote:Generally you want it to be at the listening position. It oes eq the output but this is NOT a good solution for a great many reasons. Google 'Ethan Winer Room EQ' that will probably give you some reading...

There are more advanced solutions such as IK ARC and KRK Ergo, which are better but ONLY as a complement to the best room treatment you can do, to take things the final few %. I have treated the arse out of my room - I have about 25 basstraps of various thicknesses, some professional, some DIY, plus superchunked front corners, and IK ARC took it the last step. It sounds fucking unbelievable in here!

You have to buy it though really as the microphone that comes with it is 'tuned' to the software if you like.

Sweet have you got any pics up of this room?

Would be nice to see how it's set up

macc · Post by **macc** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 11:47 am

We're setting up my colleague's new room when he gets back from and then putting a load on the site once that's done. Been ages coming but been too busy actually working!

Either way, trapping is massively important but speaker placement has a huge amount of influence too. The only way to be sure is to measure measure measure, even with a purpose built room measurement beats theory.

safeandsound · Post by **safeandsound** » Sun Aug 23, 2009 9:51 pm

I am currently in the process of moving speakers around for optimal sound
and response, you cannot underestimate even what a few inches movement can do to change the sound.

Trapping is very important in order to flatten the response in the low end.

It never ceases to amaze me what a difference it can make with a set of monitors you know very well as more treatment goes in.

bandshell · Post by **bandshell** » Sun Aug 23, 2009 9:59 pm

I hate threads like this because I have to have my monitors in a corner

Nowhere else to put them.

vertex · Post by **vertex** » Sun Aug 23, 2009 11:23 pm

bandshell wrote:I hate threads like this because I have to have my monitors in a corner

Nowhere else to put them.

whack some bubblewrap or foam on the wall to stop reflections....

soner one · Post by **soner one** » Sun Aug 23, 2009 11:28 pm

i have mine in the centre of the room with my sofa facing them recently done this

and i noticed a big improvement in the sound of my music

Speaker placement

Speaker placement

Who is online