Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site uscvax.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!bellcore!decvax!ittvax!dcdwest!sdcsvax!sdcrdcf!uscvax!tli From: tli@uscvax.UUCP (Tony Li) Newsgroups: net.audio Subject: Re: speaker placement Message-ID: <1365@uscvax.UUCP> Date: Fri, 4-Jan-85 05:14:14 EST Article-I.D.: uscvax.1365 Posted: Fri Jan 4 05:14:14 1985 Date-Received: Mon, 7-Jan-85 02:39:19 EST References: <234@harvard.ARPA> Distribution: net Organization: CS&CE Depts, U.S.C., Los Angeles, CA Lines: 41 > This brings up my next question, what about speaker placement? It used > to be that you made sure the speaker was not in the corner of a room and > not resting on the floor. Some speaker manufacturers even recommended > that bookshelf speakers be placed in bookshelves. After these > recommendations it was all trial and error. Unfortunately, speaker placement is a messy subject. Optimal placement depends on the size of the room, the contents, the material in the wall, and the price of rice in China ;-). Fortunately there are a couple of good heuristics. Speakers should be roughly 6-12 feet apart. You should have them far enough apart that you image well, but close enough so that the sources aren't distinct. (That's redundant, isn't it, isn't it?) > Bookshelf speakers all seem to be placed on stands now (at least in the > audiophile stores). The height of the stands seems to place the drivers > at the same height as a seated listeners ears. Is there anything more to > this? Nope. Conventional drivers tend to radiate spherically, so if your ear isn't level with the middle of your speaker, you get more of one driver than another. I had an opportunity to put my speakers (some trashy towers with lots of drivers) up on some dressers. Their sound improved considerably. > I will probably settle on bookshelf speakers and plan on building stands > with tiptoes built into the stands. Do I need to attach the speakers to > the stands, or will their weight be enough to couple the speakers to the > stands? > sasaki@harvard.{arpa,uucp} Depends on the weight of the speakers, how much energy you put into them, etc. Try it and find out. If you don't get enough coupling, some friction tape on the stands should do the trick. Cheers, Tony ;-) -- Tony Li ;-) Usc Computer Science Uucp: {sdcrdcf,randvax}!uscvax!tli Csnet: tli@usc-cse.csnet Arpa: tli@usc-ecl