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Placing monitors sideways

Posted: Fri Nov 26, 2010 5:08 pm
by hayze99
I've got a pair of KRK RP5s, and unfortunately, have nowhere to put them in my new studio space.

So I've got em at hip level on their side, since it fits in the little slot of my dj table. Yes, I know, it's possibly the shittiest positioning possible, but I need em there while I'm waiting for some stands to arrive.

I heard that a lot of monitors can be placed on their side, but I've also heard that some can be damaged this way.

Any idea if placing a pair of KRK Rokit RP5s on their side could cause any damage to em in a month or so?

Cheers!

Re: Placing monitors sideways

Posted: Fri Nov 26, 2010 5:10 pm
by drokkr
Surely, having them on their side will affect stereo imaging?

Re: Placing monitors sideways

Posted: Fri Nov 26, 2010 5:17 pm
by Depone
Some monitors were designed to be placed either sideways or vertical.

My old Rubicons were on their sides as it have the stereo field a feeling of more width.

Best thing to do is to read the manual and see if they were intended to be able to be placed on their sides, that way no damage if they say go for it.

Re: Placing monitors sideways

Posted: Fri Nov 26, 2010 5:40 pm
by hayze99
Depone wrote:Some monitors were designed to be placed either sideways or vertical.

My old Rubicons were on their sides as it have the stereo field a feeling of more width.

Best thing to do is to read the manual and see if they were intended to be able to be placed on their sides, that way no damage if they say go for it.
Just flipped through the manual - doesn't say anything right now. Yeh, the everything's off about the sound, but I don't really focus too much on it when I'm DJing - only producing - so it's not that big a deal. I've left the tweeters on the outside so that hopefully I'll get a broader stereo image if anything.

Re: Placing monitors sideways

Posted: Fri Nov 26, 2010 5:46 pm
by DZA

Re: Placing monitors sideways

Posted: Fri Nov 26, 2010 6:22 pm
by overcast radio
Never put monitors on their sides.

Re: Placing monitors sideways

Posted: Fri Nov 26, 2010 6:31 pm
by th@-pu$$y
KRK aren't designed to lay sideways. It has to do with the shape of the enclosure. Any monitor with the traditional "rectangular" enclosure will be fine for it. Any rounded shape can sound strange largely due to the fact the ports are slotted and front firing. Also the shape of the face is designed for vertical use, you'll notice that those krk's tend to buldge out near the cone and tweeter. this helps direct airflow to the back of the box where it's reidirected down and out the front port. But if you have stands on the way. just stick it out and the problem will be solved soon enough.

Re: Placing monitors sideways

Posted: Fri Nov 26, 2010 7:02 pm
by 3za
overcast radio wrote:Never put monitors on their sides.
So why in some commercial studios they have monitors on their sides?

Re: Placing monitors sideways

Posted: Fri Nov 26, 2010 7:35 pm
by samkablaam
overcast radio wrote:Never put monitors on their sides.
some

Re: Placing monitors sideways

Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2010 3:35 am
by Elkie
Macc posted this in another thread on the same subject:
macc wrote:Saw this and thought of you lot;

Note the impact on arrival times/wavefront coherency. This is why it is important.


Image
but I was thinking, and sorry if I've missed something here...

It says about keeping the relationship between the woofer and tweeter the same when youre sliding down a mixing desk, thats cool for massive studios and all, but how many of us have to actually do much moving to get around our gear? A lot are entirely inside the computer, and when I sit and make tunes, my posture is often different, I might be slouching or sitting upright, but I'll more that likely be sitting in exactly the same spot in my room. this means my head is moving more in the vertical plane than it is in the horizontal plane, which according to the principles of that diagram would mean horizontal positioning would provide more a better woofer/tweeter balance?

It would make even more of a difference for those with setups they use for mixing and producing!

Re: Placing monitors sideways

Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2010 8:53 pm
by Sharmaji
I actually prefer my ns10's on their side.

Re: Placing monitors sideways

Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2010 11:43 pm
by overcast radio
That diagram is correct re: comb filtering. You are supposed to hear the woofer and tweeter from the same points generally. Maybe the trend of horizontal NS-10s (tweeter out) was the precursor of the tissue over tweeter trick re: less harsh? Hehe then Yamaha just flipped the label. Whatever works, whatever you can learn, but speakers vertical always. You can't dispute the science!

Re: Placing monitors sideways

Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2010 11:47 pm
by back2onett
I'd only put monitors on their sides if they were black so I could pretend they were NS10s

Re: Placing monitors sideways

Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2010 12:23 am
by 3za
overcast radio wrote:That diagram is correct re: comb filtering. You are supposed to hear the woofer and tweeter from the same points generally. Maybe the trend of horizontal NS-10s (tweeter out) was the precursor of the tissue over tweeter trick re: less harsh? Hehe then Yamaha just flipped the label. Whatever works, whatever you can learn, but speakers vertical always. You can't dispute the science!
I got mine vertical, it just seems abit strange to me.

Re: Placing monitors sideways

Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2010 12:35 am
by ohoi
Sharmaji wrote:I actually prefer my ns10's on their side.
how have ns10's been working out for you? i know they have a very pecualiar and specific sound, with that weird midrange, so wanted to know how do you handle the frequenies more on the extremities of the frequency range and mixing in case these are the monitors you use for that.

Re: Placing monitors sideways

Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2010 1:27 am
by macc
Elkie wrote:I might be slouching or sitting upright, but I'll more that likely be sitting in exactly the same spot in my room.
Forget about a mixing desk. You're always going to move a bit... assuming one place is the 'average', or the most common, then that's most likely to be in the middle innit, unless your room is set up funny.

Look at the diagram again. Wouldn't you want that position to be one where the drivers are best time-aligned?

;)

Re: Placing monitors sideways

Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2010 2:01 am
by Sharmaji
ohoi wrote:
how have ns10's been working out for you? i know they have a very pecualiar and specific sound, with that weird midrange, so wanted to know how do you handle the frequenies more on the extremities of the frequency range and mixing in case these are the monitors you use for that.
they've been great; been mixing on them for 5 years now, and I def. think my mixes stand up very, very well if I do say so myself ;).

I don't hear anything particularly peculiar about them; I can work for long periods of time on them and not feel exhausted, which I can't do on krk's and cheaper genelec's. The low end isn't huge, but I get solid dynamic and freqency info from them. I also know my room and have been working on them for so long that i'm really comfortable with them.

For big-volume and super low-end stuff, I have a pair of the orig. 8" BX8's from m-audio, which are really fun speakers. not as much detail at all, but for checking what's really going on below 80hz,writing and vibing out to stuff in general, they're great.

even before I had them, between knowing where i get amped-up bass response in my room and checking on headphones-- i was never surprised by the low end in my mixes when hearing or playing them on a rig. It all comes down to just knowing your gear.

For my particular setup, I just got more joy-- a bit more focused low-end, broader stereo image, and a smoother high end-- w/ the ns10's on their side. It really all does come down to time alignment and small changes in phase. the Bx8's i'm not so worried about, I have them up higher, angled more, and just ready to rock.