rear speaker's tweeter height (1 Viewer)

[Takosan]

I know I'm being too paranoid but ... for rear surrounds is it better to line-up the tweeter with the listener's ears? Or is it that the ear should line up between the tweeter & the bass driver?

Takosan

 

[Ted Lee]

i believe the usual convention is to line up the tweeter to the ear.

the hi-frequencies are more "directed" and therefore more noticeable to the human ear. in other words, you can pin-point the audio source easier. this should translate into better sound if the speaker is correctly positioned.

with lo-freq's, the sound is more "diffused" and you'll have a harder time localizing the sound.

 

[Tom Morgan]

I think for surrounds you want it to be non-localizable, doesn't Dolby say they should be a few feet above ear level?

 

[Ted Lee]

good point tom. i was thinking more "usual" convention than rear speaker placement.

yes, dolby does recommend above the listener.

 

[Bob McElfresh]

I tend to favor putting the tweeters of the rears at the same height as the fronts, roughly at ear level.

Dolby recommends putting the rear speakers a few feet above ear height. But this recomendation has not changed since the ProLogic days when they also recommended that all studios put only "diffuse/ambient" sounds on the rear channels. Modern movies are doing a lot more with the rear sounds these days. Frankly, it sounds funny when a bus/car moves to one side and suddenly shoots up over my head.

But for every movie that sends specific sounds to a rear speaker, there are thousands of others that send only ambient sounds to the rears and assume that you have your rear speakers 2-3 feet above your head. Thats why there is no clear answer to this question.

Good Luck.

 

[Takosan]

Thanx all. FWIW ... I got a 24" & put my 602s2 on them. I think my ear is between tweeter & woofer. Probably 20" might have been better but oh well.

Takosan