nOrh 4.0 to wall placement? (1 Viewer)

[Vasanth B]

Hello...after lurking for several months I'm posting my first question.
I'm ready to build my first home theater. I've pretty much settled on a Denon 1802. Now for speakers...I'm considering seriously the nOrh 4.0s for a 5.1 setup paired with a Adire Rava sub. The challenging part is that I live in a 1 bedroom apartment with a fairly small living room. It's about 12' x 15' and I have to place the couch along the long wall. My TV and HT setup will be against the opposite long wall directly in front of the fireplace. I am pretty challenged for depth. I'm concerned about various nOrh owners I've read about here and at Harmonic Discord who suggest the nOrh's sound best when placed at leat 9" from the wall. I'm pretty strapped for depth (have only about 5-6 feet between couch and TV) so I can't afford to move the speakers far from the wall. Will the nOrh's really improve that much with distance from the wall such that I am better off with more conventional speakers if I have to place close to the wall? Any nOrh owner's comments?

 

[DonnyD]

A few years back I had your same predicament. Although My LR was kinda long, it was only 12 feet accross and I was forced to place my couch/viewing seat across the short span from the tv and actually ended up only about 6-7 feet from the tv .... and it was a 55" RPTV. Now the speakers were large JBLs that really needed more room but I thoroughly enjoyed the setup cause at least I could space them fairly well against the walls and a good deal apart. Actually the 9 ft that some noRh owners are suggesting is the distance from the speaker to you. They are reported to have a large sweet spot so I don't think you'll have any problems. Placed along the opposite wall from your couch should give you just about that distance.
Your distance situation certainly gives you a in your face type of thing but I really enjoyed it. I too am considering the 4.0 norh setup so I suggest that you just go for it.
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"I am part of all that I have met, yet all experience is an arch wherethru gleams that untraveled world whose margin fades forever and forever...."

 

[Ben Reierson]

I am in a very simliar situation, though I already have my nOrh 4.0s. I am in a dorm room and am forced to put my speakers on the long wall also.
Before I moved back into the dorms I had the nOrhs setup in a larger room with plenty of space behind the speakers. They sounded great, of course, I love these speakers. Now that I've moved into the dorms I have had to place the speakers about 5-6" away from the wall and a little above ear level. This definitely affected the sound, but I am still very happy. The biggest problem I have is just room acoustics. I had to buy an equalizer to get my SVS 20-39PC to sound good again. But the nOrhs seem happy with relatively little space behind them. The soundstage shrunk a little, and they don't sound quite as light and feathery on strings and voices, but they still blow me away.

 

[Saurav]

Will the nOrh's really improve that much with distance from the wall such that I am better off with more conventional speakers

Some speakers sound pretty bad close to a wall, while some speakers are designed to sound good close to a wall. However, almost all speakers will improve when you pull them out from the wall. So the question isn't whether the nOrh's will improve (they will), but how much are they hampered by being close to a wall.
If you're planning to keep your speakers longer than you think your current domestic situation will last, get the best speakers you can (within limits, of course - a really big speaker will overpower a really small room and sound horrible). If aesthetics isn't a problem, there are other things you can do to get around the wall-to-speaker distance. For instance, you could put sound absorbing materials behind your speakers, these absorbe the reflected wave and have a similar effect to increasing the distance between the speaker and the wall. The only downside is that AFAIK, most such materials look pretty ugly.

 

[Shanthi]

Hi Vasanth,
I would also look at the low end of B&W. There is a "Home Theater store" on Burnett road. I would strongly suggest you take a look at those before you make a decision.
Good luck.
Shanthi

 

[John Gates]

Vasanth,
I have had my 4.0's 4 feet from the back wall and 3 inches from the back wall (in different rooms). I can say that I didn't bother to a/b the wall spacing, but to my uneducated ears, they sounded great in both arrangements. There might be minor differences in things like imaging or bass response, but the sweet spot was equally huge in both arrangements.
The 4.0's are short and deep, so be sure to take the dimensions of the 4.0's into consideration when figuring out your placement.
BTW, I've also had my 4's set up outside in a back yard with no wall boundaries. Surprisingly, they sound very good in that environment too. I expected soundstage to do funny things with no walls, but it was all still there.
These are very unusual speaks. You will almost certainly feel very good about your purchase if you decide to go with nOrh.
John

 

[Vasanth B]

Thanks to all for the great responses! Based on your input, I think I would be very happy with the nOrhs no matter what the placement.
I also think I may be able to put my speakers on the short wall to maximize distance between the couch and speakers.
Shanthi, I did in fact, take a look at the B&W 303s at the HT store. I was very impressed with the detail and imaging of the speakers (seemed much better than the Def. Tech ProSound 80s, but they were in different rooms) I'm more inclined to order from the Internet, though because I think I can get a better value there.