Re: Speaker Placement

doctorfish wrote on 4/12/2002, 11:00 AM

I apologize if any of you have previously read this
post in the Video Forum, and certainly to those who
responded, but since a separate "Audio" forum was just created,
I decided to repost here again.

"In the course of setting up a very small studio,
I have two options regarding placement of the
speakers in the control room.

I can place them along the long wall and get a little better
spread and set up my equipment in a more comfortable manner,
but if I do this my back touches the wall behind me if I lean back.
(Yes, it's a narrow room.) There is material on the walls to prevent
reflections, but I still wondered if I should worry about being so close
to the back wall.

My other option is to place my speakers along the shorter wall,
but if I do this they'll be quite close together, about 3 1/2 feet.
Does this seem too close to get a accurate idea of the stereo image?
Along the other wall the speakers are about 5 1/2 feet apart, and in
both cases I'm a little over an arm's length away.

Any thoughts or suggestions are appreciated.
Thanks

Dave
Sound English Studio"

Comments

Rednroll wrote on 4/12/2002, 9:52 PM

Neither is Ideal, From my experience I would put them along the short wall. Those phase problems are harder to deal with. To get stereo seperation the speakers could be 6 inches apart if you sit close enough (ie your head is appox. 6 inches thick). The point is to have the speakers spread apart and then pointed at your head as a vocal point. My monitors on my home work station, where I sometimes do mastering on are only 3 1/2 feet apart and I have no problem with stereo seperation.

doctorfish wrote on 4/13/2002, 3:33 AM

Thanks for the response.

Yeah. I'm thinking of going that route
(along the short wall) as being so
close to the back wall may create problems with reflections
and it would be very tight with a client or two in there
with me.

Thanks again.

Dave
Sound English Studio

VU-1 wrote on 4/13/2002, 11:53 AM

The key element here is being able to position the speakers AND yourself (ears) so that the two source points (speakers) and the listening point (ears) form an equilateral triangle. In other words, if your speakers are 3 1/2 ft. apart, then the listening position (your ears) should be 3 1/2 ft from each speaker.

The reason for this is so that you can properly hear the freq. response of your system. If you (ears) are too close, you will not hear the bass freqs. at their proper level. Vice versa, if you are too far away, you will hear the bass freqs. emphasized. Also, if you are too close to a wall, the bass freqs. will be emphasized as well (they tend to build up against the back wall a bit).

Another consideration is the distance from the speakers to the wall behind them. If the cabs are ported in the rear, the bass response of the speakers varies directly proportionately to the distance from the wall (the closer, the less bass; the further, the more bass). If your cabs are ported in the front, this is not as much of an issue.

As for stereo separation, in my set-up, my monitors are approx. 4 1/2 ft. apart & I have no trouble at all with seperation.

Jeff Lowes
On-Track Recording