[forky]

I keep reading that components should not be in between the speakers for better soundstage which makes sense. However if the stereo cabinet is 1-2' or more behind the speakers does it impact sound stage much?

We are moving in 3 weeks and I will have my own listening room  except it is open to the rest of the house w/ an open floor plan  .

I'm having an electrician install a dedicated line and just ordered some fancy outlets. I will need to treat the room but am thinking about where the speakers will go and the componants - and therefore the outlets which is why I'm asking.

The cabinet should be at least 1' behind the speakes, probably 2' so I'm wondering if I can leave it in the middle (but behind) the speakers or if I need to plan for it being located elsewhere - will will mean either longer $peaker cable$. Thanks.

[ssglx]

I pull my speakers well away from the back wall and I've always been able to achieve excellent soundstage, and each time with the component rack in between and behind the speakers.

Possibly the rack causes some amount of impact, but it also may add beneficial diffusion.

[Bingenito]

If you watch Acoustic Fields videos on this question it is very helpful. Dennis's conclusion from an acoustics perspective (not bro science found on forums) is that gear can be between speakers but ideally not more that 15" high or in that ballpark. So yes you can center gear between speakers, ideally set back a few feet but keep it low. The videos that I reference explain why so I will not rehash this.

Now I have heard a few systems with incredible gear and speakers that sounded awful and in all cases the common theme was double to triple wide equipment racks nearly 4ft high between the speakers. Looks super cool, sounded flat and dead.

I hope that my response does not offend anyone. If it does I recommend you try what Dennis (Acoustic Fields) recommends with an open mind and prepare for a free upgrade in performance.

[Mr. Big]

40 years of experience and from those days zip between the speakers, only a low-lying amp stands with your equipment rack on the other side of the room. I wanted to put my rack between my speakers for a change of looks in my room, that lasted one day, and back it went. Imaging suffered and seeing a tall rack between my speakers removed the illusion of the performers being in front of me. Of course, hurt the sound also. But then if you like a large screen TV behind the speakers and a nice equipment rack, well that is that matters, and you get used to that sound from day one and enjoy it, its all relative.



 

[catluck]

Forkey,
FWIW, I have Sapphire M3's and, yes, a large screen sitting approximately 38" behind the speaks' front baffles and sitting 40" high (up to 65" high). The speaks are 49" from the front wall (wall behind the speaks). I cover the TV with a heavy quilt when listening.  The rear of the sound stage does seem to "end" at the TV.  In fact, when I removed the TV (with my femme wondering if now was the right time for intervention) the "rear" of the sound stage seemed to end at the wall behind the TV.  Can't move the wall.  Not a huge difference to be sure but, yeah, a slightly deeper seeming soundstage.  Probably not worth obsessing over. And where else are you going to put the system or TV?  Concession to real life. Still sounds remarkable. Good luck.

[forky]

Great comments, thanks all.

The room is med-large but thinking more about this - one side wall is not a wall and is open which won't work and the other is a "wall" of 3 sliding glass doors (which I will hang curtains in front of but still need access there) so I am kinda stuck w/ the center of the room but - and I know I just need to experiment - the room is fairly deep so I can bring the speakers out quite a ways from that front wall. While I could put the rack in the corner (possibly) I'm not sure how well that will work - maybe.

I'm in VA and trying to manage the work in FL until we arrive 3 weeks from now. I'll probably just have the 2 new outlets in the center of the wall and if he has to come back out to move them that his what we'll do.

The TT and int amp is on the top level of my cabinet and the top of the int amp measures 40". Bummer. But the room is fairly wide so I could probably sell that rack and buy the ones that are per componant on the floor for the TT, Int amp, phonostage and cd player. I'll take a closer look when we're down there.

[Tyson]

The good news is that OB speakers are less sensitive to what's going on with the side walls than most other speaker types.

[Mariusz Uszynski]

https://www.vandersteen.com//media/files/Manuals/3asigmanual.pdf

This is good way to set up your speakers.Just read page #7,8,9.This set up works for all the speakers, at least worked for my Dynaudio/Bryston combo.There's bit of math involved, but it was worthed, trust me.

[DBT AUDIO]

The cabinet should be at least 1' behind the speakes, probably 2' so I'm wondering if I can leave it in the middle (but behind) the speakers or if I need to plan for it being located elsewhere - will will mean either longer $peaker cable$. Thanks.

I’ve debated the same thing while planning to build out my listening room in the basement.  My current balanced interconnects would be very expensive for a longer length to accommodate a sidewall setup for my components.  I’m going to take the advise from Dennis of Acoustic Fields YouTube channel, as mentioned by Benginito, by setting up my gear between the speakers, but several feet behind and no higher than the midrange woofer.  Most hifi guru's claim long cable runs should be limited to the interconnects and XLR specifically.  I wouldn’t use long speaker cables over long balanced interconnects.  I’m not an expert, so I’m just sharing what I plan to do.

[forky]

Thanks All. Right now the top of my top componant goes to almost the top of the midrange on the S M3 (pic looks like it is above but that is the angle of the pic). Because I don't have that many componants I'm going to look at possibly doing amp stands for each of them or look for a stand with less room between two shelves. The int amp and TT will be on top and the cd player and phonostage will be at the bottom since they don't make much heat (only the int amp does which is on top).

Or I might even ditch the top shelf and saw off the uprights for it. Howver that 2nd shelf is exactly 15" off the floor already.

Or just use the shelves as the stands and put Isoacoustics under then. The new floor is ceramic tile, not carpet.

The TV won't be there and the speakers will be further apart btw. They will also be further out into the room.




The electrician is there now and we move in about 3-4 weeks so will be intreresting to see how it sounds as-is but I know  I will have to put a lot more treatment there than I do here (which is almost none) but that's another issue.

I looked at Dennis's videos a while back but will take another look and try to stay as close to 15" max as possible but will probably go over that at least some.