[bluemike]

My room is very irregular as you will see in the pictures curently I have my speakers along the long wall which works but I feel the opposite wall would be a better spot for my system
Up until now this was not possible however removing the tv from this space has made it possible to do a bit of re arranging
I also got the green light from the wife so here goes nothing
I now need some input from the experts if this change is worthwhile as there are a few snag points that need to be address

The back wall  appears to have less obstructions except for a fairly low ceiling at the listening chair (see pic below check out the funky duct work)
gone will be the televison the L shaped sofa opening up the back wall to place my speakers and flat screen Tv
the space is 13 feet in depth close to the wall and opens up the lenght of hte room to 30 feet  width is 14 feet
My speakers need 36" from the side walls to work their magic

See pics of the current setup in the first two pictures and the wall i'm thinking of moving my speakers and system to





Opinions very much appreciated !~

[Ethan Winer]

curently I have my speakers along the long wall which works but I feel the opposite wall would be a better spot for my system

It's better to have the speakers in front of a short wall. This puts the rear wall behind you farther back, which in turn reduces the inevitable peaks and nulls you get when a wall is close behind you. This article explains the principles in detail:

How to set up a room

--Ethan

[bluemike]

curently I have my speakers along the long wall which works but I feel the opposite wall would be a better spot for my system

It's better to have the speakers in front of a short wall. This puts the rear wall behind you farther back, which in turn reduces the inevitable peaks and nulls you get when a wall is close behind you. This article explains the principles in detail:

How to set up a room

--Ethan

Thanks ! Can't do it the speakers need at least 3 ft from side walls as per the owners manual
The front wall is 10ft in length also the coved area loads the room un evenely I found

[AB]

curently I have my speakers along the long wall which works but I feel the opposite wall would be a better spot for my system

It's better to have the speakers in front of a short wall. This puts the rear wall behind you farther back, which in turn reduces the inevitable peaks and nulls you get when a wall is close behind you. This article explains the principles in detail:

How to set up a room

--Ethan

Thanks ! Can't do it the speakers need at least 3 ft from side walls as per the owners manual
The front wall is 10ft in length also the coved area loads the room un evenely I found

Without treatments, 3 feet is probably best but with treatments you might be fine going closer. You have lots of panels there - enough to play around. I would try the speakers on the short wall. You can always put them back if it's worse. Right?

[bluemike]

I agree  but it's worth a try again this time with the panels in place
wish me luck these speakers are heavy 180 lbs each ..is there a docter in the house....

I'm also worried about the sloping staircase wall that would be underneath my listening position  not sure how this effects things

[AB]

I agree however these speakers are heavy 180lbs each

I'm also worried about the sloping staircase wall that would be underneath my listening position  not sure how this effects things

I use furniture sliders when positioning my speakers...
http://www.ezmoves.com/products/prodMain.html
I push my 215 pound speakers around easily with these things.

Can the speakers be positioned beneath the sloping staircase? Looks like you'd be walking between them to get to your seat. Not ideal.

How about a diagonal set up? Place the speakers where the L couch is now but facing diagonally with your seat nearabouts where the left speaker is.

 

[bluemike]

I agree however these speakers are heavy 180lbs each

I'm also worried about the sloping staircase wall that would be underneath my listening position  not sure how this effects things

I use furniture sliders when positioning my speakers...
http://www.ezmoves.com/products/prodMain.html
I push my 215 pound speakers around easily with these things.

Can the speakers be positioned beneath the sloping staircase? Looks like you'd be walking between them to get to your seat. Not ideal.

How about a diagonal set up? Place the speakers where the L couch is now but facing diagonally with your seat nearabouts where the left speaker is.

the speakers would be positioned along the angled cove (top of picture 1) AB am I reading your question correctly I assume this is what you're asking
the sloping staircase would effect the listening position as my chair would be underneath it
Since this room also acts as my living area a diagonal setup would not be in the cards. I also will be putting a 47" tv on the wall where my L shaped couch is
Thanks for the sliders idea my speakers come with these already
and they've come in quite handy 

I appreciate all the input 
I want to research this thoroughly before I begin to move things hence all my questions
Keep the feedback coming !

Pat

[bluemike]

Anyone else care to add their 2 cents
The crt televison is on it's way out 
Let the re configuring begin

[JackD201]

Hi Bluemike,

It's hard to make any suggestions based solely on the pics provided. If you can post scans of your floor and ceiling plans it will be much easier.

Jack

[bluemike]

Here's a scan of my room to scale



Treatments are GIK acoustics and Real Traps
The eight nerve treatments have been removed
The ceiling height varies from 7-8 feet depending on the duct work

[Ethan Winer]

Without treatments, 3 feet is probably best but with treatments you might be fine going closer.

Exactly. Most such recommendations assume an untreated room. When you have plenty of bass traps a lot of those positional problems go away, or are at least reduced greatly.

--Ethan

[bluemike]

Ok I wil give the short wall a try

A few things before I start
How far back should I place my chair the room is 22 feet long
I also have an angled staircase wall which will probably fall under my listening position - is it best to place my chair before the angled wall ahead or after ?
what treatments would work well above the listening position

Bryan I would love to hear your thoughts as well if you have time seeing  most of my treatements are from GIK Acoustics and you helped me with the room layout
Thanks Ethan I have some of your traps as well and could be looking to add a few more 

Cheers
Pat

[AB]

I would first try to maintain your current speaker distances - speaker to speaker and speaker to you - as much as possible. A few less variables in the equation would help you get an idea of what the new room orientation sounds like.
Once you hear your "new" room you can start moving your panels around to fix its new problems.

[ted_b]

Nice speakers Pat!    

I'll try to absorb the dialog here and add my $.02.  But overall I concur with AB's post prior to mine...and of course, Ethan is Da Man!! (20+ RealTrap products makes me have to say that!!  )

[bluemike]

Thanks AB
Ted good to hear from you again you've really out done yourself with that room-i'm just getting my feet wet per se 

I appreciate all the input thus far i'm hoping there is a bit more to come

Cheers
Pat

[doug s.]

damn - that's a tough room!     i would seriously consider trying an asymmetrical layout, aligned with the dimension line shown on your diagram, between listening chair and right speaker.   see the red triangle i super-imposed on your room.  new sitting position is close to where your left speaker is presently located; speakers at the other triangle points...  slight shifting of this basic triangle layout would likely be necessary...  mebbe moving it to the left and up a little bit, like in the blue triangle...



doug s.

[Browntrout]

I have a suggestion. Put your stereo where the red corner sofa is, in the half circle. With the components in the middle and the speakers either side with them angled pointing directly towards the seat which would be in the middle of the mouth of the half circle opening.
  The panels could cover the whole of the half circle wall and the large butting out wall ceiling bit. The brown listening chair would be facing into the half cirlce pointing toward the middle flat which has the silver uplighter and brown panel on it in the first picture.
  What do you guys reckon?

[Ethan Winer]

How far back should I place my chair the room is 22 feet long

About 8 feet from either the front or rear wall. Full explanation here:

How to set up a room

I also have an angled staircase wall which will probably fall under my listening position - is it best to place my chair before the angled wall ahead or after ?

It depends where that is in relation to the reflection points.

what treatments would work well above the listening position

Absorption works best IMO, but that's at the reflection points which are forward of where you sit. Not directly overhead.

--Ethan

[doug s.]

I have a suggestion. Put your stereo where the red corner sofa is, in the half circle. With the components in the middle and the speakers either side with them angled pointing directly towards the seat which would be in the middle of the mouth of the half circle opening.
  The panels could cover the whole of the half circle wall and the large butting out wall ceiling bit. The brown listening chair would be facing into the half cirlce pointing toward the middle flat which has the silver uplighter and brown panel on it in the first picture.
  What do you guys reckon?

your layout would be the pink triangle shown below.  i added what i believe to be approx location of the angled staircase, indicated by dashed grey lines.  due to this, and to close proximity of the right wall, i still think an off-set asymmetrical layout would work better, but it would certainly be worth a try - this is a difficult room.  i also added a couple other triangles, which may (or may not?) help deal with the staircase.  i would recommend placing sound absorption on the face of the staircase that faces the speakers...



finally, here's another wariation - some brown triangles, w/suggested extra absorption on the walls/staircase, also indicated in brown:


doug s.

[bluemike]

I have a suggestion. Put your stereo where the red corner sofa is, in the half circle. With the components in the middle and the speakers either side with them angled pointing directly towards the seat which would be in the middle of the mouth of the half circle opening.
  The panels could cover the whole of the half circle wall and the large butting out wall ceiling bit. The brown listening chair would be facing into the half cirlce pointing toward the middle flat which has the silver uplighter and brown panel on it in the first picture.
  What do you guys reckon?

your layout would be the pink triangle shown below.  i added what i believe to be approx location of the angled staircase, indicated by dashed grey lines.  due to this, and to close proximity of the right wall, i still think an off-set asymmetrical layout would work better, but it would certainly be worth a try - this is a difficult room.  i also added a couple other triangles, which may (or may not?) help deal with the staircase.  i would recommend placing sound absorption on the face of the staircase that faces the speakers...



finally, here's another wariation - some brown triangles, w/suggested extra absorption on the walls/staircase, also indicated in brown:


doug s.

Doug Thanks for all your help here
I'm not sure I can spread out my speakers on an angle like the way you described as the room needs to also act as our living room
Wife approval will be needed to move further but it doesn't hurt to ask or move them in this configuration when critical listening
In your diagram where would the listening chair be situated