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HiFi in standard Victorian sitting rooms

gustav_errata said:
We're buying a late Victorian mid-terrace house and the hifi will end up in a standard sitting room of the era: 4.45m x 4.0m (14"7' x 13"1'), bay window, fireplace (disused) with recessed areas on either side, carpeted suspended wood floor. I can't remember the ceiling height, but fairly high compared to our current 1970s build. There is a radiator on the wall opposite the window, off-centre towards the door.

Given that many of you likely have or have had your hifi setups in such rooms, I was hoping there might be some acquired wisdom on layout, speaker size, etc, anything really.

Are you sat facing the fireplace, the bay window or one of the other walls? Are floorstanders ok or do they overwhelm the room? Is your sofa flush up against the wall? If so have you had success with acoustic panels on the rear wall?

For context, we have our hifi on a 120cm x 40cm AV stand (bespoke, so not being replaced) with the TV mounted on it. The stand has a cavity under it, so depending on the width it might fit over the raised hearth. My speakers are DALI Optikon 6 Mk2, but my long-term goal is some PMC floorstanders. I have also considered getting a subwoofer, but I will have to assess the space situation once we've moved in.
Click to expand...

I've gotten good results by pushing my speakers back into the alcoves and using EQ to compensate for the boundary gain, and I'm now considering adding subwoofers to improve on that.
My speakers are quite deep so the baffle stands proud of the chimney breast by some 200mm.
See link below:

pinkfishmedia.net

Pushing the speakers back for flatter bass

I was experiencing a somewhat 'hollow-sounding' bass with my new speakers – there was a lot of sub-bass but a chunk of the mid- and upper-bass was missing (see blue curve below, dip between 80Hz and 200Hz) – and after reading about the effects of boundary inteference (SBIR) and how the...
pinkfishmedia.net pinkfishmedia.net
 
Mine is of that age, similar to Tony's and others layouts although not as grand of a building and smaller alcoves. I have the speakers either side of the (long gone) fireplace/chimney breast. My chair isn't hard up to the opposing wall as that's where my radiator is and I like to give it some space.

I get around it being a smaller room by not needing any of the other typical living room paraphernalia like TVs, sofas etc. It would be a very tight squeeze if it were a family home and needed it to house all the usual junk.

Old pic

 
I have my speakers either side of a chimney breast about 30 CMS away from front wall. Mine is a 1940s house & I’ve subsequently found that the wall behind the speakers isn’t fully square so I have slightly more room behind one speaker than the other.

Can’t say I can tell any difference. I have wooden floors but two biggish rugs. My main challenge is an adjoining door to diner kitchen which is not as solid as I’d like. Always a danger you can massively over think it; ultimately it’s just a living space.

My system sounds great to me & that’s all that counts.
 
We live in a Victorian terrace, speakers either side of the fireplace…slight toe in listening seats about 8ft back… neighbours other side of party wall..who enjoy the beats ….😉
 
I'm in a Victorian terrace and I have my speakers either side of the fireplace on the slightly longer wall (the room is about 4m x 5m into a bay). Not much option as to where to put them given the room is our main living room but it seems to sound OK.

IMG-20240315-131158.jpg
 
Darkagesound said:
I'm in a Victorian terrace and I have my speakers either side of the fireplace on the slightly longer wall (the room is about 4m x 5m into a bay). Not much option as to where to put them given the room is our main living room but it seems to sound OK.

IMG-20240315-131158.jpg
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That looks quite a bit like ours, especially the hearth.
 
Out of pure curiosity why did the Victorians build their houses with high ceilings. I know they are cool in summer but they must have needed a lot of expensive coal to heat them up in winter and also it makes for very steep (dangerous?) stairs.

Does anyone know the reasons?
 
gustav_errata said:
We're buying a late Victorian mid-terrace house and the hifi will end up in a standard sitting room of the era: 4.45m x 4.0m (14"7' x 13"1'), bay window, fireplace (disused) with recessed areas on either side, carpeted suspended wood floor. I can't remember the ceiling height, but fairly high compared to our current 1970s build. There is a radiator on the wall opposite the window, off-centre towards the door.

Given that many of you likely have or have had your hifi setups in such rooms, I was hoping there might be some acquired wisdom on layout, speaker size, etc, anything really.

Are you sat facing the fireplace, the bay window or one of the other walls? Are floorstanders ok or do they overwhelm the room? Is your sofa flush up against the wall? If so have you had success with acoustic panels on the rear wall?

For context, we have our hifi on a 120cm x 40cm AV stand (bespoke, so not being replaced) with the TV mounted on it. The stand has a cavity under it, so depending on the width it might fit over the raised hearth. My speakers are DALI Optikon 6 Mk2, but my long-term goal is some PMC floorstanders. I have also considered getting a subwoofer, but I will have to assess the space situation once we've moved in.
Click to expand...


The biggest problem I have in this type of room is not where to put the speakers (either side of the fireplace works for me), but where to put the amp etc. Behind the speakers would make them a pain to access. I have mine a long way away, but that means that speaker wire is trailing across the bay.

Generally, that alcove space behind the speakers is a nuisance I think. Hard to get to, hard to clean, cables trailing. If I were buying hifi now for such a room, I would definitely look for speakers in corner cabinets, one in each alcove. I just think they will look so much better and good ones will sound great too. When my ESLs and subs finally give up the ghost that's what I may well do (anyone fancy a part exchange now?)
 
mandryka said:
The biggest problem I have in this type of room is not where to put the speakers (either side of the fireplace works for me), but where to put the amp etc. Behind the speakers would make them a pain to access. I have mine a long way away, but that means that speaker wire is trailing across the bay.
Click to expand...

I really dislike the hi-fi between the speakers, distracting lights etc. I much prefer it all over at one side of the room both for ease of use and aesthetically. It means a few quid more on speaker cable, but far preferable IMHO.

FWIW I always end up picking the same layout with this kind of room; records/books in alcoves, speakers in front, sofa on opposing wall, chair in the window bay and system table(s) on opposing wall. Works well and looks good to my eyes.

That said I feel my room is too small for ESLs. I’d want another metre in each dimension, maybe a little more. I just couldn’t get enough space behind them as-is. They actually break my ‘speakers on wide wall’ rule, I’d prefer a straight rectangle (no alcoves) with them close to side walls firing down the long dimension with a lot of space behind them.
 
Ideally I'd like Klipchorns, but then I'd also like a nice house, car, several holidays a year and a woman in every town.
 
matt j said:
but then I'd also like a nice house, car, several holidays a year and a woman in every town.
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You'd never remember where they are, let alone their names, Matt.

In my first house, I had Leak 2075 (the big 'Dalek' looking ones) in alcoves firing across but that was in '75 and I didn't know any better. There may be spkrs which excel in alcoves (folded horns?) but not many. ESLs of any type do need a metre or so behind but can go right up to a wall at the side, so really only for longish rooms.

In my experience, only certain I.B. (sealed box) spkrs like Briks, SBLs etc. can back up to a wall. Ported spkrs, rear esp., need some free space to image properly. To my mind, firing down a room, unless it's massively wide, is the best option for most types and the only one for some.

Some down-firing ported ones (ProAc, e.g.) are more easily positioned but I still wouldn't put them into alcoves or whatever
 
Mick P said:
Out of pure curiosity why did the Victorians build their houses with high ceilings. I know they are cool in summer but they must have needed a lot of expensive coal to heat them up in winter and also it makes for very steep (dangerous?) stairs.

Does anyone know the reasons?
Click to expand...
To give the illusion of space in smaller properties.
 
Mike Reed said:
You'd never remember where they are, let alone their names, Matt.

In my first house, I had Leak 2075 (the big 'Dalek' looking ones) in alcoves firing across but that was in '75 and I didn't know any better. There may be spkrs which excel in alcoves (folded horns?) but not many. ESLs of any type do need a metre or so behind but can go right up to a wall at the side, so really only for longish rooms.

In my experience, only certain I.B. (sealed box) spkrs like Briks, SBLs etc. can back up to a wall. Ported spkrs, rear esp., need some free space to image properly. To my mind, firing down a room, unless it's massively wide, is the best option for most types and the only one for some.

Some down-firing ported ones (ProAc, e.g.) are more easily positioned but I still wouldn't put them into alcoves or whatever
Click to expand...

The la scalas sound good in alcoves because even though they're big and have 15" drivers they aren't particularly bass heavy, the alcoves actually help. I agree though that regular rear ported monkey coffins don't do well in alcoves.
 
I don't understand how ESLs can go so close to the side walls yet need to be so far away from the front wall. The closer to the side walls they are, the more you need to toe them in to point at the listening position for satisfactory high-frequency response. The more you toe them in, the more the rear of the dipole is firing at the side wall and the less it's firing at the the front wall, so you've effectively traded one problem for another.
 
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