sponnie said:
I understand what you're saying but it doesn't explain why Hi Fi magazines advise setting speaker tweeters at ear height and don't mention why floorstanders don't go to that height, unless you're sitting quite low down. Also, most people have the same chairs in their living rooms so the listening position would generally always be the same.
I'm just curious as to whether sitting at tweeter height really does make a difference and if anyone has ever experimented with it.
I realise that extreme postition can affect what you might hear. Like if you had speakers on the ceiling that would sound different or on the floor. But at a general height I would imagine there wouldn't be a noticable difference.
most people dont have the same chairs actually.....going round all my friends and families houses i often find sometimes i'm practically on the floor, other times i feel more like i'm sitting bolt upright and halfway to the ceiling....lol
to expand on what i was saying in my first post, when you have floorstanders you probably have a bigger room....so are sitting further away.....this gives more chance for the soundwaves to meld together from teh different drivers before it hits your ears, so the tweeter in the floorstander doesnt HAVE to be at ear level, it can be a bit above it but still work out well.........whereas you are more likely to be using standmounts in a smaller room, the sound gets to you quicker as you are likely to be seated closer, so there is less time for integration, so its better to have the tweeter at ear level because the tweeter is the most important speaker for making the majority of sounds you hear accurate.....the mid and bass drivers actually provide very basic sounds in comparison.....you try hooking a biwireable speaker up to an A/B switchable integrated amp (or i guess biamped with a power amp) and then turn off the mid/bass (ie turn off B or the power amp)....then listen to what comes out of that tweeter.....it will hurt your ear a little btw if you do this too loud..lol...without the mid/bass to integrate its quite caustic........however, now listen to just the mid/bass.....its very dull sounding usually, no energy or pace........hence aligning the tweeter to your ear is generally more important if you are sitting closer......
of course all that i've just said is a general rule of thumb, and isnt the strict accurate truth as speaker designs vary in many ways and so of course do room acoustics and your own ear......but hopefully it explains why the magazines usually harp on about it as for the majority of people its likely to work best....just possibly not everyone...(but of course they dont like to say that bit if they can because it makes them sound less all-knowing...lol)
