Question Angling speakers upwards from low speaker stands

Westovski

Established Member
Joined
Mar 29, 2008
Messages
143
Reaction score
4
Points
74
Age
40
Is there any real detriment to angling speakers upwards from low speaker stands rather than having them at ear level on taller stands?

The missus is concerned about aesthetics and it would be a compromise - but one I can live with if it's not going to vastly affect the sound.

Thanks in advance :)
 
What speakers do you have? How low will the stands be? Is this for the fronts or rears?
How far from the speakers will you be sitting? How high is the TV compared to the speakers?
 
What speakers do you have? How low will the stands be? Is this for the fronts or rears?
How far from the speakers will you be sitting? How high is the TV compared to the speakers?
Wot he said.....
In principle it could be fine, just need a bit more detail.
 
Depends heavily on how much you want to angle them, since the bigger the angle the more you move the drivers out of alignment and so the bass and treble will arrive at slightly different times.
 
Depends heavily on how much you want to angle them, since the bigger the angle the more you move the drivers out of alignment and so the bass and treble will arrive at slightly different times.
Not sure I follow as the drivers will still be in the same plane within that speaker arrangement?
 
I am not sure if I am being silly here, possibly.

My logic is because you are not leaning forward, the treble driver will be further away from your ears than the bass. Whether this is then offset by the fact that if the speaker is too low your probably achieving the same thing I don't know.

Only one way to find out and it is to listen and see what sounds better or as I suspect you won't notice much difference, since sound isn't a beam but more a arc and so you don't need to be exactly level
 
I am not sure if I am being silly here, possibly.

My logic is because you are not leaning forward, the treble driver will be further away from your ears than the bass. Whether this is then offset by the fact that if the speaker is too low your probably achieving the same thing I don't know.

Only one way to find out and it is to listen and see what sounds better or as I suspect you won't notice much difference, since sound isn't a beam but more a arc and so you don't need to be exactly level
I think that if the speaker is tilted upwards at an angle that matches ear level at the MLP then all should be OK, you can check this by line of sight in the seated position, the sound dispersement from the speaker should then be the same and arrive at the same time................I'm thinking, as if the speaker was horizontal to your listening position.
There is an argument I guess that says, the dispersement field will not necessarily be even around (above and below) your MLP as it would be if it were horizontal.............but I would counter this by suggesting it is moot and you would need to be truly golden ears to notice anything significant.
I have had my Apex A40 angled up and my KEF R600C the same, with no issue, but as they always say, try it and see, try it horizontal temporarily and then angled and see/hear the result, your ears will tell you...
 
I have my centre speaker tilted up, but as the 3 drivers are on a equal vertical plane, none of them are moved further from my ears. However it sounds clearer to me having it this way than effectively pointed at my legs.
 
I have my centre speaker tilted up, but as the 3 drivers are on a equal vertical plane, none of them are moved further from my ears. However it sounds clearer to me having it this way than effectively pointed at my legs.
You do mean horizontal plane....................then I agree?
 
My logic is because you are not leaning forward, the treble driver will be further away from your ears than the bass. Whether this is then offset by the fact that if the speaker is too low your probably achieving the same thing I don't know.
rotating the speaker changes the relative positions of the acoustic centres of each driver, in particular it would push the woofer ahead relative to the tweeter. This will change the phase relationship so the functioning of the crossover will be impacted, it is impossible to say exactly how it will be impacted (could be a small difference, could be large).

On the other hand, you will now be back on axis with the drivers so you will be on the design in that regard. Being substantially off the vertical axis has an impact on both the crossover and the HF response so tilting the speaker is almost certainly the better solution.
 
You do mean horizontal plane....................then I agree?

Yeah good point, they have the same vertical height but on the same horizontal plane.
 
I'm sorry for my late response on this but i've been away, glad to have triggered an interesting discussion though! :)

In answer to the questions posted above.

What speakers do you have?
Monitor Audio BX1s

How low will the stands be?
I'm intending to use hairpin legs which are 30cm & 36cm & 40cm respectively, so the front legs would be high and the back legs low - based on the legs available this could be 4cm or 6cm difference from front to back. I'm going to sit a piece of oak approx 1 inch thick which the speaker will sit on so I would say the front of the speaker is somewhere between 43cm and 39cm high depending which legs I go for.

Is this for the fronts or rears?
Fronts (not centre)

How far from the speakers will you be sitting?
We sit approx 1.5m-2m away from the screen

How high is the TV compared to the speakers?
It's actually a projector - the bottom of it is at approx 1m high

I'll grab some pics if necessary, thanks for the help so far!
 
At 43cm high I would suggest not angling then up at all as not that low really.
 
OK, that's interesting thanks. I guess that's about knee height (for the start of the speaker) - I though that would be far too low. That's actually really good news, thank you!
 
Ideally you are aiming to get the tweeter at about ear level when you are seated. Hence knee level would not be that far off especially considering there is space between the speaker and your location for the sound to expand out as well.
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom