[chrislittle]

Hi,
I have searched the internet for speaker placement methods. I have found a lot of formulas like the Cardas, and a couple experimental types like WASP, but I haven't had very much luck with them, so I invented one of my own:
Start with the speakers in the corners, and move them out in somewhat equal proportions. At some point you will arrive at the most room amplification of the bass frequencies, with all bass frequencies of equal perceived loudness. From there you measure the distance from the sidewalls, and divide it in half. You then add this half to the existing sidewall distance, and move the speakers in accordingly. After this move, in my room, I was a little bit surprised that the speakers were suddenly in the location of least bass amplification by the room, but the balance between the bass notes was still equal.

I think I went from a location of exciting the most room modes to a location of exciting the least amount of room modes, and I did it with a relatively simple calculation/manipulation. Can anybody explain this?

At first I did not like being in the "null", but after extended listening, and experimentation with the other location again, I decided it was the best sound overall. I like it now better than any other method I have come up with.

There also seems to be a lot of play before you fall out of the null. I can move the speakers a couple inches in each direction and still keep the overall balance. This seems kind of strange to me because most audiophiles will tell you that, in acoustics, even a quarter of an inch can make a big difference.

I would like to fine tune this location, but it seems like simple movements front/back or side/side, are not yielding very much audible information to me. Does anybody think this location can be improved with more precision?

Also, I figure with all the audiophiles out there, there should be tons of self invented procedures like mine. Does anyone want to share any of theirs?

Thanks,

Chris



For numbers guys: Room=12x18x8 , speakers=40" from sidewalls to Centerline of drivers, 30" from backwall to front of drivers, 28" from floor to space between woofer and tweeter ( simple sealed 2 way on a stand).

[ACHiPo]

I decided I needed a new pre-amp.  Then the bass and top end from my Greybeard speakers just weren't cutting it, so I needed some new speakers.  Things sounded good, but I was wondering if it couldn't get better? 

I picked up Jim Smith's book
Get Better Sound

A few inches to the left, a few more back--no forward--and things fell into focus...

And got pretty good sound using my ears and StudioSix on my iPad.  I then picked up a calibrated mic feeding a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 USB preamp and REW shareware, and took it to a whole new frustrating level.  A few thousand dollars in acoustic treatments and many many hours later I have better sound, and better looking waterfall and frequency response graphs.  Except I need subwoofers (yes that's plural) to round out the bottom end.  Then some more tweaking of speaker and listening positions.  And so on...

Anyway, I'm really enjoying Freddie Hubbard at my desk, not in the sweet spot, but still sounding oh so sweet, so good luck and enjoy the ride...

[JLM]

Chris, welcome aboard.

What is your listening position in the room?

Do you have any room treatments?

Are you listening for anything beyond just bass response?

What is the rated F3 for your speakers?

Are you basing this on any measurements?

Your room dimensions are not ideal for bass echo as height is 2/3rds of the width and the width is 2/3rds of the length (simple ratios are to be avoided).  This could explain why published formulas aren't working for you and could be alleviated by narrowing the width by a few inches (how does a wall of enclosed bookcases sound?).

(I've also seen published non-symmetrical speaker layouts that improve imaging and bass response.)