| Distance to side wall and back wall. Most speakers | | | | Tilt is also crucial. Depending on the make of the |
| need to be a minimum of a foot or two away from | | | | speakers, most speakers are meant to be level set, |
| the side and back walls to reduce early reflections. | | | | but some might require tilting and in most cases, the tilt |
| Differences among speakers can also influence | | | | is rear high. If you have to have the speakers tilted |
| positioning, so you must always read the | | | | then start off level and work from there. Personally I |
| manufacturer’s specifics before starting to position | | | | prefer a level speaker setup. |
| the speakers. | | | | Listening height. |
| A figure-of-eight pattern may be less critical of a | | | | You will find that the optimum listening height is that of |
| nearby side wall, but very critical of the distance to the | | | | the speaker’s centre being at exactly ear height. |
| back wall. | | | | However, certain speakers have their own specific |
| The reverse is true for dynamic speakers that exhibit | | | | height recommendations. You will find that with 3-way |
| cardioid patterns. In general, the further away from | | | | systems that incorporate top, mid and sub woofers, |
| reflective surfaces, the better. It is also crucial to | | | | the listening height is more customized to account for |
| keep the distances from the back wall and side walls | | | | the woofer placements in the speaker cabin or |
| mismatched. | | | | housing. |
| If your speakers are set 3 feet from the back wall, do | | | | Seating location. |
| NOT place them 3 feet from the side walls, place | | | | I find that keeping the seating position 1-3 feet from the |
| them at a different distance. | | | | boundary wall gives me the best bass response, and |
| Another crucial aspect of the listening position and | | | | because the distance is too short for the brain to |
| speaker placement is that the distance from your | | | | measure the time delay and thus locate the source of |
| listening position to each speaker be absolutely | | | | the reflection. |
| identical. | | | | Please look at the figure below (Fig 1) |
| It has been calculated that an error of less than | | | | The listening position is at the rear of the room with the |
| ½” can affect the speaker sound imaging, so get | | | | speakers facing and forming the equilateral triangle |
| this absolutely correct. | | | | setup, and the listening position forming the apex of the |
| Distance to speakers from listening position. | | | | triangle. The elliptical shape denotes the soundstage |
| | | | and as you can plainly see, the side and rear walls do |
| Once you have established the above, you now need | | | | not interfere with the soundstage. |
| to sort out the distance from the listener to the | | | | As you can see, I have created this soundstage using |
| speakers. | | | | the longer walls as the back and front walls, instead of |
| I work off an equilateral triangle with the seating | | | | creating the soundstage with the listening position on |
| position being at the apex of this triangle. The | | | | the shorter walls. This allows me to position the |
| distances must all be equal. | | | | speakers as wide as is sonically possible and thus |
| The other factor to consider is the distance between | | | | affording me a wider stereo field. |
| the speakers. Too close and you will get a narrow | | | | Place the listening chair near the rear wall, because the |
| soundstage with the focus being very central. | | | | distance (1 to 3 feet) is too short for the brain to |
| Widening the distance between the speakers will | | | | measure the time delay and locate the source of the |
| afford you a wider stereo width, but too far and you | | | | reflection. Also, it places you at the room boundary |
| will lose the integrity of the soundstage. | | | | where the perception of bass is greatest. |
| Toe-in. | | | | Fig 1 |
| This is the angle of the speakers facing the listener. | | | | |
| There are a number of factors that influence the angle | | | | Please make sure to take care in optimizing your |
| of the speakers. The room, the speakers themselves, | | | | listening environment. |
| and your preferable listening angle I always start at an | | | | Once this has been achieved, you can mix far more |
| excessive toe-in and work outwards until I can hear | | | | accurately and truthfully. |
| the soundstage perfectly. | | | | Excerpt taken from Mixing Simplified. |
| Tilt. | | | | |