Front speaker placement (1 Viewer)

[Joe Maiurro]

Hey guys, just wondering where the ideal place is for your front speakers (Main). Should they be right beside the TV (one on each side) or should I space them both about 4-5 feet on each side of the tv? Any help would be great!

Thanks

 

[ChrisWiggles]

How big is your TV?

And how far are you from it?

You'll wanna place the speakers separated by a distance something like 3/4 the distance they are from you. Something like an isosceles(sp?) triangle, and fiddle around for the best placement, but that's a ballpark start.

Unless you've got a screen that really big, or you sit REALLY close to your TV, they'll probably be out quite a bit from your set.

Also keep in mind that with CRT-based displays (especially direct view CRTs), that putting magnetic fields(like speakers) right next to them can screw up the TV, so that might or might not be a concern.

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

The distance between the two speakers should be the same as your seating distance from the TV. That’s the generally accepted standard; personally I prefer mine to be a bit further apart, for a wider front soundstage.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[Ted Lee]

also, try to keep the tweeters right about ear-level to your sitting position.

i like my speakers spread out a bit. that really helps with panning/location sound effects. if the speakers are right next to the tv, the effect is diminished.

 

[Bob McElfresh]

Ideally:

Distance from your ears to the tweeter on your center speaker should match the distance to the tweeters on the L/R speakers.

The L/R speakers should be about 45 degrees out from the line from your head to the center speaker. (This is a rough starting point. Mine have been as little as 25 degrees out and it sounds great).

You should then toe-in your L/R speakers to create a nice sound-stage as sound effects pan across your front speakers. There are 3 rough amounts of toe in you should try. These are each "try it and see" to determine for your spaceing, distance and speakers, which works best:

A) So the L/R speakers focus about 2 ft in front of the central listening position. (The traditional music alignment)

B) So the L/R speakers focus exactly on the central listening position.

C) So the L/R speakers focus about 2 ft behind the central listening position.

Some hints while playing with this:

- Use a laser pointer to see where the L/R speakers are pointing

- Turn the TV off when listening. This will help you focus on the sound.

You want the sound effects to pull your attention to the L/R as they move around. But you dont want a "hole" in the sound field between the Center and the L/R speaker. It takes a few minutes to get this, but you will soon understand.

Hope this helps.

 

[Ted Lee]

i always thought toe-in wasn't necessary? since most speakers do (or at least are supposed to do) a decent job of dispersing the sound???

 

[ChrisWiggles]

Toe in will definitely change your imaging, though the effects will be more noticeable with nicer speakers that can image will to begin with in a good setup. Toe in will tend to make your soundstage smaller, but more defined. so experiment and find placement that sounds best to you in your situation.

edit: this is more important with 2-channel music. I don't really worry much about toe-in when it comes to movies.

 

[Bob McElfresh]

Toe-in IS much more important when trying to create a phantom image with 2-channel music as Chris pointed out.

But you WANT your L/R speakers several feet out from the TV to give you sense of something moving left or right. But you dont want the sound to 'jump' a gap.

Just remember that all those promo-pictures of the speakers butted up to the sides of the television are trying to get the speakers into the picture. This is NOT the way a good sounding system tends to have speakers placed.

 

[Joe Maiurro]

Thanks for all the input! I will try to get some pics of my HT soon so you guys can tell me what you think.. Right now I have the fronts about 2-3 feet on each side of the TV.

 

[JohnDG]

I curious as to the use of an "off-center" center channel speaker and its effect on the soundstage for Dolby Surround and DD movies. This is due to an oldly shaped room that requires the screen to not be in the center of the front of the room. Assume that music listening is the front L/R speakers only.

I've noticed that DD movie soundtracks have music out of all front speakers, not just the L/R speakers. However, if one then moves the CC to a equidistant spot from the L/R speakers, then the voices are not in the center of the screen.

Comments and suggestions?

jdg