Stereo speaker placement for optimum sound
- Thread starter Analogous
- Start date
Sure will consider
Probably, I would go for first Stereo setup with a FS / BS with IA [ Marantz PM 8006 + DAC ]
Later , when I go for HT setup, I would consider either the above setup or HT Bypass [ If it doesn't affect my music listening to a greater extent ]
Yes Raghu,
I'm considering that route too, but Covid is a big hindrance till now
Passive_audio_enthusiast
Well-Known Member
Most of the time the edge of cabinets are stable but the middle non supportive portions “sing” with bass and act as a new source although quite lower in loudness, yet annoying us. I had acoustic foams on top of mine and it solved this issue to some extent but dedicated inert stands transforms the experience to another level
Fiftyfifty
Well-Known Member
Does it make a difference if the spikes are placed upside down? Then they poke into the base of the speaker not into the stand.
Yelamanchili manohar
Well-Known Member
Haha..I never tried that
But there is a logical explanation why it might not be the best thing to do. A conventional spike is screwed into the base of the speaker to make a rigid point of contact to pass the vibrations. And when placed on the floor, the weight of the speaker, will ensure a rigid coupling of the spike to the floor. ( the point to bear here is the sharp point of the cone, where the weight is getting concentrated . It is theory of infinite presuure acting through a infintely small area )
When we invert the spike, since the cone is not screwed into the floor, it will not be as rigid as the above combination. As the weight of the speaker is getting distributed over a larger area of the cone.
A cup under the spike does something similar. These cups were designed to protect the non carpeted floorings. But when used on a solid flooring, they reduce the coupling of the spike to the floor. Some people like the sonic effects of this lowered coupling. And prefer this method ( i use cups under my speaker plinths to stop my down stairs tenant's false ceiling from vibrating
). But since we are still talking hifi, there will always be that guy, who claims that a cup of gold, sounds superior to a cup of steel I have seen cones under components like nordost cones etc, placed upside down. But these cones are made of wood and other non metallic composites, which do not transmit vibrations, and act as isolators. And not like the usual metal spikes, which are used as couplers.
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Yelamanchili manohar
Well-Known Member
Hi SiR
Haha..you should really read about SBIR on Google. The distance of the center of the bass driver from all boundaries ( back and side walls + floor and ceiling will result in bass cancellations). The closer the boundary is, the higher up the bass frequency range the cancellation is. By elevating a speaker from the cabinet, we are changing the cancellation frequency. Now depending on the other distances from walls etc, the shift in cancellation frequency in the bass due to increased height from the cabinet might be desirable or it might not be.
The above side, the stand will still either couple to the cabinet or will isolate the speaker from the cabinet, depending on what footers it has
P.S : but there are other benefits these stands can add as per their design. So I didn't include that part in my above reply, as it is again dependent on the design of the speaker. A stand designed for rigid cabinets will not work under lossy cabinets like harbeths etc. So some thinking has to go into deciding the stands as well.
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Vineethkumar01
Well-Known Member
Classic papers on effect of room boundaries on speaker frequency response: http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/BOOKSHELF-1/RoyAllison.pdf
(Has a lot of illustrations of how each room/desk boundary affects frequency response especially at lower frequencies and useful thumb rules)
Useful SBIR calculators here: http://tripp.com.au/sbir.htm
VituixCAD can also do similar calculations in more detail
(Has a lot of illustrations of how each room/desk boundary affects frequency response especially at lower frequencies and useful thumb rules)
Useful SBIR calculators here: http://tripp.com.au/sbir.htm
VituixCAD can also do similar calculations in more detail
It's usually done with components not speakers. The idea of a spike is to couple to the floor and invsrting it will not do that. With a sharp one you might damage the speaker
Yelamanchili manohar
Well-Known Member
My above reply seems to have come across as condescending speaker stands
But I honestly didn't mean it to come out that way
I have very poor and extremely data limited network access, so I can't see the video you had shared. And that is why all my recent replies seem to be typed in haste, without the usuall exchange of pleasantries
So I have to type and post my reply before I loose connection
But if you are keen on using stands, then get heavy, sand fillable stands with a custom top plate that you can bolt into the bottom of your speakers. ( provided the speakers have threaded nuts in the bottom ) - I got custom steel plinths from sound foundations for my speakers. The size and height were suggested by me as per my requirements. And they are very heavy at 30 kgs each, with solid steel footers with internal vibration damping via silica granules. They made a massive improvement in my case.
1. Now bolt the elacs tightly to the stand :
- this will increase the structural strength of the speaker. And reduce cabinet vibrations.
- since the speaker is tightly coupled to the stand, this will increase the mass of the speaker. There by lowering its resonant frequency. ( not all speakers might like the addition of lowered resonance, and might actually lead to loss of low bass )
- play with filling the stands with sand to increase the mass further and see how that goes. This will depend to how the speakers respond to bolting of the stand. If you loose low bass, then don't add any sand. As this will agrreviate the loss of bass further.
Now you can try playing with spikes or isolators under the stand. All the best
My above reply seems to have come across as condescending speaker stands
But I honestly didn't mean it to come out that way
I have very poor and extremely data limited network access, so I can't see the video you had shared. And that is why all my recent replies seem to be typed in haste, without the usuall exchange of pleasantries
But if you are keen on using stands, then get heavy, sand fillable stands with a custom top plate that you can bolt into the bottom of your speakers. ( provided the speakers have threaded nuts in the bottom ).
1. Now bolt the elacs tightly to the stand :
- this will increase the structural strength of the speaker. And reduce cabinet vibrations.
- since the speaker is tightly coupled to the stand, this will increase the mass of the speaker. There by lowering its resonant frequency. ( not all speakers might like the addition of lowered resonance, and might actually lead to loss of low bass )
- play with filling the stands with sand to increase the mass further and see how that goes. This will depend to how the speakers respond to bolting of the stand. If you loose low bass, then don't add any sand. As this will agrreviate the loss of bass further.
Now you can try playing with spikes or isolators under the stand. All the best
Chaala Santhoosham for the info
My understanding and reason for selecting a BS, with a Desktop Stand / Acoustic Foam on a rigid Console for HT is, the BS on the console will not get much Low frequency as LFE is managed by SUB by the settings in the AVR
I think when there is less possibility of Low Frequency to BS in a HT setup, more of High and Mid range freq are to be at the LCR speakers
So, the vibration / resonance will be less I believe
Pls correct me, if I'm not correct
Yelamanchili manohar
Well-Known Member
Haha..I missed the AVR part. You are spot onChaala Santhoosham for the info
My understanding and reason for selecting a BS, with a Desktop Stand / Acoustic Foam on a rigid Console for HT is, the BS on the console will not get much Low frequency as LFE is managed by SUB by the settings in the AVR
I think when there is less possibility of Low Frequency to BS in a HT setup, more of High and Mid range freq are to be at the LCR speakers
So, the vibration / resonance will be less I believe
Pls correct me, if I'm not correct
You don't really need the stands in that case
Yelamanchili manohar
Well-Known Member
Correct. I was referring to the absence of room correction in stereo systems and also taking into consideration, the placement in your room having taken a look at the pics you have posted. Your right speaker will be very close to the wall and in a corner, if I am not mistaken. The amp you have chosen has tone controls, so that might help to an extent.
IIRC the layout of the living room is sympathetic to left speaker (no corner), but not the right speaker (corner).
So depending on the number of LF drivers, geometry and size, you may experience some room boundaries.
Some towers have the LF driver at a lower position than others. So it'll be closer to the corner.
You may be able to get away with side wall reflection because of window/balcony door on the right.
But corner may still interfere. It is very hard to guess if it will happen, how bad, etc theoretically.
Tone controls may mitigate this, but not solve the issue.
If possible, try to borrow some local FMs setup and try it out.
Even if they are stand-mount speakers, different positions will give you a fair idea of how benign or troublesome the corner can be.
Cheers,
Raghu
So depending on the number of LF drivers, geometry and size, you may experience some room boundaries.
Some towers have the LF driver at a lower position than others. So it'll be closer to the corner.
You may be able to get away with side wall reflection because of window/balcony door on the right.
But corner may still interfere. It is very hard to guess if it will happen, how bad, etc theoretically.
Tone controls may mitigate this, but not solve the issue.
If possible, try to borrow some local FMs setup and try it out.
Even if they are stand-mount speakers, different positions will give you a fair idea of how benign or troublesome the corner can be.
Cheers,
Raghu
For a tower, booming could occur. The distance might not be sufficient.
In the unfortunate event you have a booming issue, dialing down the Bass Control to mitigate it will end up fading the entire low frequency spectrum. Tone controls, controls a group of frequency bands together.
To tame this issue manually, your best bet is a 31 band graphic equaliser. This way you can only kill the suspecting frequency and not the entire low frequency range, like the Bass Tone Control would.
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