Ideal position for speakers

[MonkeysAteMe]

I have two fairly large speakers, and I was wondering what the ideal positioning of them would be.

I will be setting them up at my desk. One on either side. Would they be better lower to the ground, midway(even to my head), or above my head.

Or does it not really matter?

Thanks.

[GreatDane]

Same height as your head. Experiment with toe(angle).

[Brian_the_King]

Tweeter at ear level is the general rule.

Edit: You win Great Dane ; )

[cotdt]

far away from walls is the most important for generic speakers, or you get boomy bass.

[indelibo]

And angle them so that they point directly at you.

[Pibborando]

Play with the distance from the wall first of all. Put them real close, listen to how they sound. Pull them away a few feet (so there's a few feet between the wall and the back of the speaker cabinet) and listen again. Adjust the distance until the sound is to your liking. Farther from the wall will make things clearer and give more depth to the soundstage. Close to the wall will reinforce the bass response but it'll muddy the sound a bit and flatten the "image" as it were.

Then play with their distance from one another. Some people like their speakers far apart to give a real wide soundstage. Others like them closer together so the performance is more together. If you separate them too much, you may lose good center imaging (most vocals come from the center), but too close together and music may sound "congested" and it's harder to pick out and locate individual instruments and sounds.

Then play with toe-in, or angling the speakers toward the listening position. You will also want to adjust how close or far you listen to your speakers. I generally like to make an equallateral triangle with my speakers and I. Too far away and I don't feel connected with the music, too close and I can't hear everything at once how I'd like (like sitting too close to a big screen TV and having to look left and right constantly to see everything that's going on).

Hope that helps some.

edit: Oh. As far as elevation: I personally like to have the tweeter a bit higher than my head. Not WAY higher, just a bit above ear level. This makes it feel more like you're at a performance, sitting or standing down in the crowd with the performer up on stage. This is just a personal thing so it's by no means mandatory or the norm. Just mess with it.

[terrymx]

depend on how bassful the speakers it and how you like the sound. even if you follow the ideal instruction from an audiophile but you prefer the sound of your own setup, then its better to go with what you like.

for me, the room is as important as the speakers. if the speaker is a large tower, then it can sound boomy in a very small room. but then again sometimes its circumstances you cant change. too close to the wall can be muddle sound, but too far isnt necesary good either then it can sound thin if its a smaller speaker. let the speakers toe in toward your ears. the distance between you and the two speaker should form a triangle. i prefer to put it in a symmertrical room as well.

another thing is if you have a speaker stand with spikes, it will seperate the vibration of the speaker to the floor. i don't actaully think it do much for performance. unless you can perfectly hold still the cabinet and or the speakers driver from vibration (iso speakers).

it is possible spend a lot of money on the speakers and ruin the sound through positioning. some people dont acknowledge this fact and miss out some potential of the speakers. imagine listening to grado with it closed in on the side.

[MontanaJustin]

I'm trying to juggle this same issue at my home set-up.

At work last week I reevaluated my "crappy" computer=>small speakers, and by placing them 18" up from the desk (ear level) and max allowable distance apart (forming an equilateral triangle with my head, about 5 ft per side), the whole system has gone from sounding like a $40 rig to a $300 rig, no exaggeration.

Now I'm trying to replicate that at home, only I have aesthetics (and more importantly, my wife's aesthetic sense) to deal with...that means no speaker stands, no tweeter at ear level, no speaker out away from the wall - basically, conceal the speakers as much as possible(!). Any ideas on how to walk this fine line? I've got two big/heavy Leak loudspeakers (Leak 3020, with maybe a 1 1/2 inch tweeter and two 9 inch drivers each) in a rectangular room...


Hope I'm not side-tracking this thread(!)...let me know if I am.

[Dept_of_Alchemy]

Originally Posted by MontanaJustin

I'm trying to juggle this same issue at my home set-up.

At work last week I reevaluated my "crappy" computer=>small speakers, and by placing them 18" up from the desk (ear level) and max allowable distance apart (forming an equilateral triangle with my head, about 5 ft per side), the whole system has gone from sounding like a $40 rig to a $300 rig, no exaggeration.

Now I'm trying to replicate that at home, only I have aesthetics (and more importantly, my wife's aesthetic sense) to deal with...that means no speaker stands, no tweeter at ear level, no speaker out away from the wall - basically, conceal the speakers as much as possible(!). Any ideas on how to walk this fine line?

A new wife, perhaps?

[MontanaJustin]

Hah, no I don't think that's what I'll do. Perhaps next time we move I'll stake out some space for a dedicated listening room...

[Dimitris]

Try to explain to her that this is your home too. There are nice looking speakers out there so you can try that. In general women are weird so before you buy show them to her. There have been occasions where they dumped really nice speakers and other when they would go for big ones that they thought they were ok.