Speakers within alcove

[gregory lynch]

20230502_101453 having a nightmare placing speakers, the record cubes can be moved but no other place to set up my system in the room, I sit roughly 8 feet away and the speakers are about 6.5 feet apart, the back wall of the alcove is not level so do I pull one speaker further into the room for better time alignment, any help greatly appreciated.
https://ibb.co/4N2djgt https://ibb.co/pdSXNWg

 

[Moonbuggy]

What is the issue/problem you are finding? Bass boom, soundstage?

 

[kernow]

I would pull them apart a bit more and move the record storage, and then pull them into the room a bit more.

I have different distances to wall behind my speakers but I tend not to worry about it. There's more bass in the corner with the wall that's closer, no doubt - but oh well!

Can always experiment with toe-in also.

 

[gregory lynch]

Balance seems off, I have to shift in my seat to get a more centered image, bass is fine, not boomy or overblown, strange thing is, is that if I move to the left the right channel comes into focus and vice versa with the left I just want to sit back and listen without fidgeting, I have checked all connections, swapped speakers over and cables and all is good, I feel I may have to move one speaker into the room to account for the uneven wall.

 

[graystoke4]

Hi, you need to move the record cubes, they are just reinforcing the wall and sides, can you move them out a bit, and try towing them in to your hot seat, they look like they are firing past you not at you,

 

[gregory lynch]

Looks like the cubes will have to be moved and a bit of toe in, going to be busy over the next few days, thank you all.

 

[ABCaudio]

Perhaps additional toe-in, so the speakers 'cross' just in front or at the listening position? This will likely result in a more diffuse image, but a more even spread as regards balance.

Just a stab in the dark! - best of luck.

(I doubt your problem is extreme, but I remember I once had to run one of the loudspeakers out of phase to compensate for a room issue in a temporary let. It still wasn't right but it resulted in the lesser of two evils - and it was useful to learn how speakers - and indeed a pair of speakers - interact with an acoustic space / each other.)

 

[gregory lynch]

Perhaps additional toe-in, so the speakers 'cross' just in front or at the listening position? This will likely result in a more diffuse image, but a more even spread as regards balance.

Just a stab in the dark! - best of luck.

(I doubt your problem is extreme, but I remember I once had to run one of the loudspeakers out of phase to compensate for a room issue in a temporary let. It still wasn't right but it resulted in the lesser of two evils - and it was useful to learn how speakers - and indeed a pair of speakers - interact with an acoustic space / each other.)

I've just toed them in and already have noticed a difference, going to keep playing as is and will report back in a day or two. Thank you.

 

[Mr Pig]

Balance seems off, I have to shift in my seat to get a more centered image.

Ignore it? This sort of imagery doesn't exist in real life anyway. Do you insist on sitting dead center at concerts?

 

[kernow]

Ignore it? This sort of imagery doesn't exist in real life anyway. Do you insist on sitting dead center at concerts?

Replicating live performances in one's living room is a fools errand

 

[Rug Doc]

If you’re busy, find a little time and watch a couple of videos on setting up speakers using the ‘Sumiko method’

I’ll find one.

 

[gregory lynch]

Thank you, I'll have a look later.

 

[Mike Reed]

Couple of things; make sure there's space (a foot plus) behind your listening position (i.e., ears). If the speakers are rear-ported, bring them out into the room. If front-ported, not so critical. Basically, suck it 'n' see with speaker toe-in and placement.

 

[Tony L]

Klipschorns, obviously.

 

[Sonority]

That coffee table is not helping you at all, apart from giving a place to put stuff on.
Big reflective area right in front of you, which will quite possibly be part of the reason moving one speaker has the opposite effect you expect.
Probably difficult to overcome that I guess, but certainly worth trying without it if possible.
As noted - the storage cubes will not be helping much, but once removed, then the corners of the alcove will join in instead, but less so.

 

[EIffel]

Besides what has already been said (some degree of toe in, space behind your listening position, reflection from the coffee table, etc.), one issue with your room (and mine) is that it is asymmetrical. The right wall is providing some boost / reflexion which will be especially strong for the right speaker. Some sound absorbing material at the point of reflection might help, as will some degree of toe in (Horn speakers, Klipsch or otherwise, with their narrow diffusion pattern, are another way of tackling this problem)

 

[camverton]

Ignore it? This sort of imagery doesn't exist in real life anyway. Do you insist on sitting dead center at concerts?

Ah, but at a concert we have our eyes to guide us to where the sound is coming from. At home we don’t, so the artefact of imaging, helped by a central listening position, compensates. A central listening position at home is also good as it keeps the sound from each speaker in phase. This isn’t needed in the concert hall as the sound source is from a particular place rather than constructed from two sound sources at home.

 

[camverton]

Replicating live performances in one's living room is a fools errand

Depends on what sort of music you listen to and whether you have suitable speakers. It is possible to create a very convincing illusion of a live performance in one’s home, particularly for acoustic chamber music although this does, of course, depend to a degree on the recording.

 

[Mr Pig]

A central listening position at home is also good as it keeps the sound from each speaker in phase. This isn’t needed in the concert hall as the sound source is from a particular place rather than constructed from two sound sources at home.

This is only true for acoustic music, and even then you only get a vague over there-ish idea of where something is coming from. Most live music is amplified and almost always uses speakers either side of the stage. The pinpoint accuracy that a domestic stereo can create does not exist in the real world. It's a hi-fi trick easily achieved by screwing up the treble dispersal.

 

[camverton]

This is only true for acoustic music, and even then you only get a vague over there-ish idea of where something is coming from. Most live music is amplified and almost always uses speakers either side of the stage. The pinpoint accuracy that a domestic stereo can create does not exist in the real world. It's a hi-fi trick easily achieved by screwing up the treble dispersal.

It does, of course, depend on the type of music you are listening to. Even when live music is amplified our eyes will “tell” our ears where the soloist is and that is where we will perceive the sound as coming from. Of course, of you close your eyes at a concert you won’t get this visual/aural effect.

I think that pinpoint imaging, whilst useful to compensate for not having a visual cue, can be overdone. As ever with hifi it is a case of finding the right balance for the individual listener and with reference to the type of music they listen to. When I tried out cardioid speakers they were too “pinpoint” for me to the extent that the type of music that I mostly listen to, classical chamber music, no longer sounded much like an original performance so much as very impressive hifi.