[twodeko]

I am in a college dorm and am trying to make good use of my desk space. So far, good use has involved having both my bookshelf speakers (B&W DM601's) pointed towards me but this has been taking up a considerable amount of space and my laptop tends to cover up a speaker while open.

I have a shelf that is about a half foot above my ears where I sit, and was thinking about placing my speakers on their sides on the shelf. I suspect that speakers are designed to be vertical, but is there anything else that would make me not want to do this? Thanks!

 

[dknightd]

Try it. I suspect you'll find that the tweeter is placed above the woofer for a good reason. But you may not notice the difference. Can't hurt to try I suppose. I had to go with b&w 600 for my computer speakers due to limited space.

 

[twodeko]

I just tried it and the soundstage isn't as pronounced as it was before. The spectrum of sound is still there and the difference is not huge, but there is more of a reason to form a triangle between you and the speakers rather than putting them in a small shelf above you

The sound is still fairly good, and I like the desk space so I think it will stay for now.

 

[dknightd]

If after a couple of weeks you change your mind let us know.

 

[bigshot]

The problem isn't whether the speakers are horizontal or vertical... it sounds like you are sitting too close to them. Put them five feet apart and sit six feet away from them. That's how you get soundstage.

See ya
Steve

 

[twodeko]

Steve,

The speakers were about 5 feet apart but it is impossible for me to sit six feet from them. The difference is that they were too spread out before, and are now fairly close together but i am the same distance. It is fairly hard to get a decent sound stage in a small apartment/dorm room, but I am trying to make good use of my speakers and space

 

[GreatDane]

I own a pair of 602s3 that I use as main speakers. I just wanted to mention a very inexpensive tweak that you might want to try.

It involves puting felt around the tweeters to lessen edge diffraction. On another forum you can read about it and comments - link

It may not look pretty but to me it made enough of an improvement to leave it.

 

[lini]

td: Did you already try both orientations (i.e. woofers outside/tweeters outside)?

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini

 

[twodeko]

GreatDane,

I will definitely give that a shot when I get around to acquiring some felt. That is a real neat idea and sounds like it would not be a pain to setup.

lini,

I have tried both orientations (and alternating the orientations between speakers for giggles) and found that tweeters inside was the most natural sound. Placing the tweeters on the outside produced a more defined seperation and was not as enjoyable to listen to music that had more of a upper/high range. Tested it with The Black Key's and then with some songs that had heavy panning, and the difference was huge.

 

[GreatDane]

Quote:

Originally Posted by twodeko /img/forum/go_quote.gif GreatDane, I will definitely give that a shot when I get around to acquiring some felt. That is a real neat idea and sounds like it would not be a pain to setup. lini, I have tried both orientations (and alternating the orientations between speakers for giggles) and found that tweeters inside was the most natural sound. Placing the tweeters on the outside produced a more defined seperation and was not as enjoyable to listen to music that had more of a upper/high range. Tested it with The Black Key's and then with some songs that had heavy panning, and the difference was huge.

If you ever do get around to trying the felt thing you can just use some light duty tape to position it temporarily. Only after you give it a listen and decide it's a keeper should you commit to sticking it, that Velcro tape is not easy to get back off.

At one time I was using a pair of Paradigm Atoms for center channel(wired in series/ 12 Ohm +/-), which I know is sort of a no-no but it sounded better than using just one. I experimented with "tweeters in" vs. "tweeters out". The first method sounded best, better focus it seemed.

I can see where you would prefer the tweeters to the inside.