If tweeters are slightly below ear level will audio suffer? (1 Viewer)

[AlexanderS]

Here's my problem. I was looking for 35"+ stands but found out that Ill only need about 30 or 31". The thing is that Ive got this nice pair of 24" stands from parts express and my tweeters are about 6" up so Im about 4-6" short on this. I do have recliners in my room so I would probably recline back into the proper level but for sitting straight up Im going to be too tall. Also Ill have shorter people with me which might make the height an advantage. Basically my question is will it hurt the audio to have the shorter stands with my speakers?

 

[JamesCB]

Generally you want the tweeters at or above ear level. If that can't be done, try angling the speaker up, so the tweets point up towards your head. Just keep experimenting with locations and angles. Small changes in speaker positioning (location and angle) can have huge results.

 

[Kevin C Brown]

I disagree. To some degree. (It's a pun, see below)

If you can find a set of freq response measurements, *that* will tell you if it's better to be on axis, or slightly above or below. (For example, Mirage Omnipolar speakers were just reviewed in HT Mag, and their measurements say that you want to be slightly above axis.)

Plus you can do the following, calculate the angle that is created between how far you are away from the speakers vs how much higher than your ears they are. If that angle is less than 15 deg, I wouldn't worry about it anyway.

 

[AlexanderS]

Well it will be practically level with the recliners all the way back. Its just a big pain in the ass to have to buy new stands just for a few inches.

 

[Kevin C Brown]

Oops. Was SGHT for the Mirage review.

 

[AlexanderS]

Well I have the acoustic research HC6 speaker set. The mains are basically satellite surrounds. With the 24" stands the tweeters would be about 6" too low.

 

[Chu Gai]

Why don't you play around with it a bit by doing something like temporarily adding a couple of yellow page phone books to bring the levels up. Then, if in your opinion, the difference is significant, you can think about a more permanent solution which doesn't necessarily have to involve purchacing new stands.

 

[Matt_Doug]

From my personal experience the answer is a resounding YES!!!!!. In general, a direct radiator's on axis response is always better than its off axis response. Try 2x4's from Home Depot appropriately, cut, jointed, stained and footed with some self adhesive felt pads as a new base for your stands.

 

[Ted Lee]

i'm normally not a big fan of tweaks, but i gotta admit i think those few inches may make a difference.

when i first had my polk speakers, they sat on the floor or a cardboard box. they sounded okay.

then i finally got some stands and brought them up to ear-height. they absolutely sounded better.

so, i like chu's idea. just put something under them, then do some experimenting. if you really want to be fair, blindfold yourself and have someone else do the positioning. that way, you won't know where the speakers are.

see (for yourself) if you hear a diff.

 

[AlexanderS]

The thing is that nothing is hooked up yet. Im trying to get everything together and then hook it all up. I want it to look nice so the phone books and 2x4's don't really sound all that appealing to me.

I was just looking at these Metal Tech 31" stands and realized that these were exactly like the stands I have, right down to the gold nut on bottom and rubber isolation balls on top (sorry for the references, it couldn't be helped). I really don't want to spend $100 on new stands to get something just as good as I have except 6" taller. I think I'd be better off putting the money towards my upcoming cable purchase.

Here's the link to the Metal Tech stands Metal Tech Stands

And here is the Parts Express stand I have just for comparison Parts Express Stand Mine is the one at the top.

 

[Ted Lee]

I want it to look nice so the phone books and 2x4's don't really sound all that appealing to me.

no...we're not saying to use that as a perm solution.

we're saying to use that (phone books, etc.) to test to see if you hear a difference between the two heights. if you hear a difference, it may be worth it to you to "go the extra mile" to get the speaker to the right height.

if you don't hear a diff, then don't worry about the height discrepancy and use the stands you already have.

 

[AlexanderS]

Well Im sure there will be a difference because the speakers are currently aimed at my shoulders. I can't imagine that would provide the proper clarity and imaging. I do appreciate the suggestions though. I found the 30" Metal Tech stands at Amazon for only 72 so Im going to go with them. Hey, if I every get bigger speakers, I can trade out stands and nobody will even notice since they are identical.

By the way, I emailed Wood-Tech and they replied that they don't sell to Parts Express and the stands they sell are fakes. Just thought I'd pass this along.

 

[Kevin C Brown]

Did you ever calculate the angle?

 

[AlexanderS]

Not really but I did put together a stand and tested it out. I would probably estimate anywhere from 10 to 30 degrees depending on recliner position with 10 being the fully reclined position.