Tweeter placement on Mains (1 Viewer)

[Tom McGary]

I have noticed that a number of floorstanding speakers from 5-8 years ago (ie. Infinity's RS-5s) and a few from today (ie PSB's Stratus Silver(i)) use a vertical MTM (mid, tweeter, mid) alignment. All of the speakers I have seen at the local Circuit City are in a vertical TMM (tweeter above two mids). I know with a center channel/horizontal MTM there are imaging problems that can occur. Can this happen in a vertical MTM? Are there any advantages/disadvantages with the respective alignments?

 

[Frank Zimkas]

Every speaker manufacturer has their own theory on how to design and build a speaker, but in the end it really is up to the consumer to determine which configuration works the best in their home. My Polk Lsi15's and 9's have the tweeters between and slightly to the side of the drivers. The imaging is unbelievable! The center speaker has the tweeters between and slightly above the drivers, again the performance is fantastic. Is there a right way or wrong way to place/locate tweeters, I don't think so. Each configuration has it's Pro's and Con's.

 

[Michael R Price]

It's about the off axis response... in a vertical MTM the response problems are on the vertical axis (whereas if you put that sideways, you can get horizontal off axis errors which is kind of what center channels try to prevent). If you make the MTM asymmetrical by putting the tweeter to the side a little bit, the woofers can be moved closer together to decrease these problems. Doesn't look so pretty to me, but I guess it works.

I haven't really figured whether there's any one 'best' arrangement, but I'm sure they are just tailored to the other aspects of the design... and aesthetics. (Hard to make an MTM with 12" woofers!)