Riyazi
Prominent Member
I am so sorry this is so long but I wanted to give as much info as possible
Hi guys. Really getting in to all the science of audio/sound reproduction and have been reading quite a lot on these forums and other sites about speakers, subs, positioning, crossovers, etc etc. Fascinating.
Have a few things that I am not sure of and would love to get your thoughts on. I have/will have a very modest Diamond 10 system (not BW 800 S or MK system ) so trying to optimise performance by getting all the placements as perfect as possible.
What I have learnt
Listening Area
Current setup
Possible future setup
Issues
Having recently upgraded to the Diamond 10.1, I [-]see[/-] hear a great improvement in sound quality. This is also down to improved speaker placement as earlier I had all 3 fronts on top of the AV cabinet. However, when viewing movies I don't hear the fronts come in to play with some directional sound at the higher frequencies (assume they are wired correctly) with most of it coming from the centre. This could be for 2 reasons:
Once again apologies for the long post and if you've read this far, thank you very much! Any thoughts or comments will be most welcome.
Hi guys. Really getting in to all the science of audio/sound reproduction and have been reading quite a lot on these forums and other sites about speakers, subs, positioning, crossovers, etc etc. Fascinating.
Have a few things that I am not sure of and would love to get your thoughts on. I have/will have a very modest Diamond 10 system (not BW 800 S or MK system ) so trying to optimise performance by getting all the placements as perfect as possible.
What I have learnt
- Front L + R should have tweeters at or around ear level
- Front L + R should be turned 45deg towards listening position
- Centre just below or above TV in line with L + R position
- Surround L + R should have tweeters about 2 feet (60 cm) above ear level
- Surround L + R should be positioned at 90 or 110 deg towards listening position
Source: THX
Listening Area
- is the Lounge which is approximately 12 feet (365 cm) square with a wall behind front speakers, a wall behind rear speakers, windows on the right and on left open to dining area which is approximately the same size as lounge (therefore room is actually 24 feet by 12 feet).
- Couch is right against the back wall.
- Listening position - centre of couch in normal upright sitting posture
- Ear height at Listening position - 3.3 feet (100 cm) - it's a high couch
Current setup
- Front L+R - Diamond 10.1s on 1.8 feet (55 cm) stands positioned at 45 deg angle. Distance to listening position - 10 feet (300 cm)
- Distance between L and R is about 8 feet (245 cm)
- Centre - Diamond 10.CC placed on AV cabinet which is about 2 feet (60 cm) height. Distance to listening position - 10 feet (300 cm)
- Surrounds - Tannoy EFX sats hung on rear wall about 5 feet (150 cm) away from listening position and 2 feet (60 cm) above ear height. Pointing down and angled towards listening position.
- No sub at the moment but have plans to get a Gemini soon but for this discussion assume no sub with Fronts being set as Large
Possible future setup
- Front L+R - Diamond 10.3s
- Centre - Diamond 10.CS
- Surrounds - Diamond 10.1s on 3.3 feet (100 cm) stands
- Positions will be same as current setup for L+R and Centre
- Position for surround will be 10.1s on stands as close to the rear wall as possible with speakers turned towards listening position at approximately 110 deg angle (speaker side will be against the wall - rear port won't be covered by wall)
Issues
Having recently upgraded to the Diamond 10.1, I [-]see[/-] hear a great improvement in sound quality. This is also down to improved speaker placement as earlier I had all 3 fronts on top of the AV cabinet. However, when viewing movies I don't hear the fronts come in to play with some directional sound at the higher frequencies (assume they are wired correctly) with most of it coming from the centre. This could be for 2 reasons:
- the fact that I don't have a sub and the fronts being set as large (as well as being bi amped) means that the woofers are working more and the higher frequencies are getting distorted/lost (I am not sure whether I am right in this assumption). The bass is really good and I can hear some nice thuds and booms and feel the couch vibrating at normal volumes (at about 40-45 level). I keep lowering the volume during action scenes because I am afraid the downstairs neighbour is going to complain!
- the front tweeters come to about 2.6 feet (80 cm) above floor level while ear height at listening position is 3.3 feet (100 cm). The difference coupled with the close sitting position would mean that I might be missing out on some directional higher frequencies coming from the fronts
- I have seen several hi spec setups (like this one) where the fronts are nowhere near ear height and they seem pretty happy with the setup
- speakers have been angled towards the middle of the couch but we sit either on the left or right sides (in order to use the recliners) - could this be an issue?
- some times I would sink further in to a deeper reclining position. This would bring my ears to about the tweeter height (reduction of 0.66 feet [20 cm]). However, I don't hear a difference with the current setup and if I did get new stands to raise the fronts, would there be an effect because of the disparity between the higher tweeter and lower ear level. From what I've read, this is less of a problem than having the tweeters lower than ear level
- I plan on getting the 10.3s for the fronts. The height of these with spikes comes to 2.8 feet (85 cm). Again a disparity of about 20cm between tweeter and normal ear height. Should I actually get stands for the floor standers (!!! ) to bridge the 20 cm gap?
- When I upgrade the fronts, I wont be able to mount the 10.1s on the wall as rears (rented property) so they will be on stands. The highest stand I can find is 3.3 feet (100 cm) which would put the rear tweeters about 0.8 feet (25 cm) above ear level which is considerably less than the 2 feet (60 cm) recommended by THX. I am not even sure the 100 cm stands can support the weight of the 10.1s! What do I do?
Once again apologies for the long post and if you've read this far, thank you very much! Any thoughts or comments will be most welcome.