How far apart do I place my front speakers? (1 Viewer)

[Scott Stephens]

I recently moved into a larger room and have a bit more space to use for my front speakers.

I sit about 8-9' from the TV (a 32" tube), and currently I've got my front speakers placed about 3 feet from each side of the TV.

Is this too far? Is there any set formula for placing the fronts? Any input would be appreciated.

 

[Phil Iturralde]

Read over Dolby Labs recommendation HERE!

Have fun,
Phil

 

[Aaron_Mum]

Get a buddy to come over to move speakers while you sit in the sweet spot. With a familiar piece of music playing pull them apart until they are too far apart (the soundstage will change) then put them too close together. Do that a bunch of times to figure out where they sound the best. Do the same with toe in as that will change the soundstage dramatically as well.

I recently widened my soundstage dramatically by just toeing my speakers out a little. It made a huge difference. You are never going to tell what is best unless you mess around with placement.

An audiophile buddy of mine said, "get ready to get really sick of one song when you are doing speaker positioning." You just have to use trial and error as every room is different.

 

[Garrett Lundy]

I've found that to sound best 5.1 and 2.0 set-ups have to have the mains in seperate locations. Assuming you have a 'triangular' stereo set-up (with a speaker or your listening position in each corner), for best 5.1 results you'll need to move your L/R speakers further apart, and slightly less towed-in. The center will fill-in the front soundstage.

If I leave my L/R speakers in the "stereo" location, I don't get nearly as wide a soundstage. I may as well be using a 'phantom center' set up like that.


The Compromise?: I now have seperate stereo and 5.1 systems! Not bad for my budget

 

[Kurt Charnoski]

That sounds like a good start. Now just play around with the placement . Find some of you favorite music tracks and move them until you hear the best sound from them and there you go. Have fun