I enjoy your videos so much for so many reasons. Great to hear that you have been a DJ for AFN in Germany. I am 59 yrs old and remeber fairly well enjoying AFN on my radio in my youth for the great speakers, reports, and the great music. Greetings from Germany!
Hello from San Luis Obispo. I've been here since '75. Still loving it. I am excited to have bought a new audio system (IOTASA3 & PA3 + Klipsch RP600M + R-120SW). The first since I got married in '85, I am assembling all the new miscellaneous "stuff" to get things set up properly and you channel is a joy to watch. I am learning a lot. Cheers and Happy Hol;idays
I saw sound once on acid pouring out my speaker also the vertical hold had gone on my TV years ago it looked like coronation St was coming out the screen and on to the floor like toilet paper coming off the roll. Shocking behaviour.
@@pauldavies8638 yes seeing sound coming out of my garbage desk top computer speaker 17 years ago in the form of color. Never heard music better in my entire life. That was until I got a klipsch setup and listened to it the first time tripping….
Speaker positioning is the single most important aspect in getting good sound. Most people get the concept of speaker placement wrong. You are tuning the speaker to the room NOT the room to the speaker ! Also once ideal speaker placement is achieved not only will you have the best overall frequency response across the whole spectrum you will also find you have virtually eliminated any need for acoustical room treatment. Why ? Because you have tuned out the coloration in the room ! Then you can fine tune the sound by playing with speaker toe in and Very Carefully use acoustical treatment to create a acoustical balance in reflections “if it’s needed at all “
I think it was the third rule that gave me best results but the best position would always be really impractical (in my medium sized rooms) and usually near doors or basically just in the way. A fun way to find the rooms sweet spot for me is to use a Bluetooth speaker on a plinth/stand, when placed correctly even a little speaker can have amazing stereo imaging. Speaker set up “discs” often use a mono signal and even mono out of phase to get best stereo results.
Did a cross country motorcycle trip in 2012 and wound up staying in Santa Maria in the Motel 6 down the block from the Harley dealer. I had a chance to ride around and really liked the area. Met an 88 year old motorcycle rider who was looking for another bike because he said he had about 10 good years of riding left, I thought wow it must be the water here.
Good advice Paul. I totally agree with starting with the 1/3 rule both in speaker placement and listening position. I strongly suggest playing with speaker placement with no acoustical treatment, only the furniture that must be in the room. Then once speaker placement is achieved one by one add your acoustical treatment to get the desired result. I find that when you get the speakers positioned correctly you will hear the least issues and effect of the rooms acoustics. I first thought play with the distance from the rear wall and concentrate on getting the bass right. Good bass extension and articulation. Once I get the bass right I then focus on the distance apart. Like you said the distance apart effects the midbass, imaging and focus. The key is getting the right overall balance across the bandwidth then play with toe in or not. Some speakers sound good with toe in ( most ) and some dont. From the gentlemens letter on mono, the key is if you set the up your speakers for stereo, you will have good mono content and imaging.
Manufacturers of loudspeakers and Hi-Fi experts: "Well, we know you have s huge room where nobody else goes and it's just for your listening pleasure; place our speakers 1/3 of the way between the opposing walls (!)), maybe in front of a book case (!)) (good one!)), place a chair the same way but from the other wall..." and I am like "what planet are you from, sir? On this planet EARTH, I have a tiny space for the left speaker at THIS side of the sofa, 5 INCHES away from the wall (!!!) and in THAT corner, 6 inches away from the wall; THAT'S IT!" I am exaggerating a little, but COME ON!
I have omnidirectional mini floor standing towers and they are quite close to me at the proportions paul first described. And they very much in middle of room . Amazing sound. I recently moved them bit further back for more space. They were still quite forward in the room but really lost a lot of the magic i was hearing so moved them back closer to me.
Mr Paul, your voice is sweet for my ears. I adore every clip that you are posting here on yt. I wish you be kind enough spending more time talking about engeenering details. There is a good reason. You are the best source in hifi audio world for a guy to understand what it is actualy happen behind his little electronic boxes. You are Ken Ishivata for America. Many thanks for your struggle to explain.
Thank you Paul, I've learned mid-bass coupling from you today. I have two speakers 1) horn-loaded with more mid-bass and 2) sealed with flatter response. I will try to experiment to put the horn- loaded speaker at the end most and see if that takes care of the boxiness and mid-bass bloat. keep rockin
Also try placing your horn speakers on milk crates (or whatever) that has air space, and get them off the floor (if they are on the floor). Even if they are lounge towers.
Not many listeners are blessed with the ability to place their speakers far out into the room and instead place them close to a wall which increases bass response but not in a good way, especially if they are rear ported.
I accidentally discovered my sweet spot which is 3 feet per side of the triangle. Best sound I ever heard. I have 3 sets of speakers stacked on each other of different size boxes with one 12 inch sub.
Hi -- I was stationed in Germany also ( Reitsheid : near Baumholder - : +/- 20 klicks ) . end of 74 --- spring of 76 . : stereo & quad , with joy sticks ! Reel to reel. -- vinyl -- 8 track & cassette ! We both knew , things would get smaller & more refined --- I'm still amazed with the sd micro cards & just how much material , can be imputed . Live long & be well , day & night ------ G.G.C.
If I was to design/build a room with optimum sound quality, I would go with the golden ratio principle. The optimum dimensions of the room should also adhere to the golden ratio. So for example if the ceiling is 2 meters then width could be 2*1.618=3.236 meters and the length of the room should be 3.236*1.618 = 5.236 meters. Then the speakers should be placed centered at 2/1.618=1.236 meters above the floor, 3.236 - 3.236/1.618 = 1.236 meters from the side walls and 5.236-5.236/1.618 = 2 meters in front of the back wall. Granted, the dimensions of this room and the placement of speakers is not very practical at all for most rooms, but a room shaped like this should still result in superior sound with flat frequency response and minimal distortion... at least according to some sources online.
Hi Paul, as a veteran myself I thank you for your service. Just stopping by to say I really enjoy your videos and how you explain things to the common folk!
You know, there I was. Just sittin' there wondering if I was one of common folk, and waddaya know! A superior person comes along and lets me (and other followers I guess) know my place.
I live in Lompoc just a few miles from Santa Maria n San Luis Obispo. Ever been to Lompoc or the Air Force bade here Paul . Never knew ps audio was in Santa Maria but that’s cool to know . You’re in a much better place now trust me . Luv you’re videos 👍
San LuisObispo....warehouse sound! We bought the components for our sound system from them...BGW 750... CROWN 150...JBL32 OHM..WOOFS...JBL tweets Soundcraft board...
I was taught to sit as far from the mid point between the speakers as they are apart. Same as Paul's equiateral triangle, but to me, easier to remember.
Must be nice to have the room flexibility to have options for speaker placement! Right now, for me, it's if they fit in the space, then that's just dandy. It's not ideal, I know, but I just don't have the freedom of space.
But you do. 'Im in a similar position and found that minor tweaks make a difference. Ok, so sometimes it gives me a crick in ma neck, but hey, its all about d'art..... Seriously though - ickle tweaks matter:)
Hi Paul, unfortunately in the Uk now , some stations on dab transmitt in mono, I thought I bring that up , your Hd radio in the states far better . Early days of dab the bit rate wher Hib ie up to 192kbs now much reduced, as you know we have dab+ even that it’s supposed to be better and still transmit low but rates, our vhf fm still sounding great. Finally a lot of station in uk and Europe closing down am low and mw transmitters down also . Great video regards mark
It is satisfying when you dial in your speakers. They really disappear. You just have a soundstage of music. Every instrument has its own pan and position in the soundstage image. Close your eyes, the speakers are gone...
Especially with time aligned point source speakers like the KEF Uni Q speakers. Drivers all across the board won't do it for me (after hearing my 3D point source coaxials). I can't understand why so many speaker manufacturers completely ignore this. I would never spend a fortune on speakers with drivers all across the board. But that's me.
My supposition is that when we play with distance between speakers at the same time we play with the distances from speakers to side room wslls. In room size 4x6 meters and distance 3 meters distances from side walls are ex 1,5 meter which is adequate to reflection positive phase at 100 Hz . For 50Hz it will be negative phase which will make 100 Hz even more noticeable. For less distances to walls frequencies grow. and reflection strength grow too. It applies to next harmonics too so to be tested with ears. Those frequencies are unlikely to dump with conditioning so I try to avoid at first any symmerical positining to side walls. Where one has "up" other has down At the mo,ment left speaker is 0,3 m from wall (position anligned by ear) and right 3 meters (just for stereo position) and both serve their bass. Just my 3 cents
I live in Santa Maria...I agree San Luis is way better. Thanks for the tips and tricks. Im new to the sq, spl worlds and im in love haha. Yet again another great vid from you.
Interesting perspective. I have two rooms with speakers, both have two speaker, two channel stereo with open archways. Dining room is 12X12X10' with a bay window and is open to living room. Living room is 12X15X10' with a bay window and open to dining room and front hall, both openings are arches. Living room has two solid walls and dining room has three solid walls. Suggestions for speaker placements????? A new house is NOT an option.
1:18 I think my dad & uncle (Among many others.) picked those oranges. I know they picked oranges when they were younger & we lived in Anaheim when I was a kid.
I like to start at 1/5, listen using a Stereophile test pressing, then move the speakers 2 or 3 feet toward me, listen, and usually find the best location somewhere in between.
Underrated comment! Yup my wife strongly believes in form over function. Solution after fighting this for years and giving up - the basement is all mine.
@@ericnortan9012 Maybe you'd be allowed to put aesthetically pleasing tape of some sort on the ground to mark where the speakers should go when you listen.
This is why Paul doesn't have a listening room at home. Try the Dynaudio method of pulling the speakers 1/5th from room boundaries. I just tried it , sitting 1/5th or 1/3d into the room. This gives smooth bass and avoids near field listening in anything but a huge room!
I would have them 3-5 meters apart, and then have them relatively close to the back and side walls and have some inside boxes made out of wood on the inside, that's makes the sound perfect for most people. Not having sidewalls and back walls relatively close, and not having the inside boxes seriously degrades the performance.
I am experimenting with this set up at the moment. As for inside boxes I am planning to put two small 8" subwoofers on either side of the rack in-between the speakers. Living in an apartment no other options. Depending on the measurements I may use DSP to augment the bass response, or just use the subs as flowerpot holders. Lol
@@karlcotleanu4144 Better than nothing next to the speakers. You can also just use a 5 dollar piece of wooden furniture on each side or 2 dollar wooden LP IKEA boxes,
Mono works much better than stereo in large uneven areas. Like hidden speakers in a large backyard. Most Subwoofer systems are mono. Otherwise Stereo almost always gives the best sound quality all things being equal.
When I finally can aford to get serious on vinyl back in the early 1990s, I've noticed that all of my veteran (over 40 at the time) audiobuddies kept telling me that vinyl's bass frequencies - even on modern stereo vinyl - below 100 Hz tends to "get squeezed" into mono due to the limitations of pressing technology. Any truth to this given I've also notoiced the somewhat eery vinyl bass frequencies below 100 Hz sounding mono-ish soundstage wise even with serious vinyl replay gear like Linn Sondek.
When Were you in Anaheim? I was stationed there (Los Alamitos) briefly (1970) before my squadron was transferred me to Pt. Mugu. I only remember that you could see two or three McDonalds driving down Katella or Ball Road.
MrLizardisle I have one of those myself, sounds awesome...and thanks. UK first pressings in mono from all 60's UK bands, not just The Beatles, are much sought after and can be a bit on the pricey side.
Ironically, in my room, with the weird arrangements of furniture and room dimensions, placing my speakers closer resulted in wider soundstage and better dispersion of treble. Then again, I'm using 3 inch driver cube speakers!
Paul, thank you for bringing your knowledge to us! Question...I understand general placement, but will an object between my speakers degrade overall SQ(imaging, etc.)? My placement will be as such that I have a fireplace that projects 24" off the back wall into the room and my speakers will flank each side so that the front face of my speakers will be flush with the front face of the fireplace, but the back side of the speaker will be 'behind' the fireplace, therefore having no direct line of sight between the speakers. I cannot test my this placement yet as this system will be in our new construction home that is not yet complete, just trying to plan ahead. Thanks again and I hope this made sense!
Thank you so much! This really helped my sound stage with my budget/getto stereo setup. By the way, maybe you've covered this on a video that I haven't seen yet, but i heard from an audio show that, when it comes to selecting which wall is the front/back wall, one should start with the widest wall. What is your take on that? Is it better to choose the shortest walls as front/back walls and leave more space behind the listener and the speakers?
Would 4ft speaker cables be long enough on each side? Since my stereo power amplifier is in the middle on a rack system. One thing I've learned about cable length. Is to only use the minimal length that is necessary in your system. In an audiophile system. A good rule of thumb would be to keep all your cables under 10ft. That's what I have done in my system. Except my speaker cables that are 10ft. Im hoping to upgrade my speaker cables soon to something better that wont be so long and messy looking. Compared to my other cables that are short, separated and ran neatly.
Love your videos! I have Klipsch Forte 4’s that have passive radiators. They sit less than a foot from the wall, as Klipsch recommends. Would there be a sound stAge improvement by moving them further out? The room isn’t set up to do that so it would be a project .
Does it make a difference if you are using surround sound as well say a 5.1 or 5.2 system and wanting the best from movie soundtrack such as the beautiful music in The Gladiator or Schindlers List, taking into account the centre speaker, especially as in my case I don't have a lot of space to have the two mains widely separated, I am looking at buying Arendal Sounds 1723 range and the accompanying centre channel is nearly as wide as my tv, at 27.5H x 63.5W x 40D cm its an absolute monster of a centre speaker, is this going to effect the distance that I should have between the two towers? Also, can speakers be too large for a given area or seating distance from speakers? Most of my seating would be 3-4 meters away from the screen and speakers.
@@mathschueler Thanks I've been wanting to change the room around for a long time now so I can have much better speaker placement but will need to get permission from the wife😋
Fantastic information. I always get compliments about how my setup sounds, but never really dove into how it works. I've got a medicore 10k setup (powered sub , soundbar and and operating 5mq Kenwood.) in a small space 15x20 , which makes it challenging to balance. Any advice?
Not correct... setting your listening position at the triangle vertex is not correct. I'm tired of everyone saying this and not really thinking about it. The Stereo Vertex Point (the focused point where the speakers are aimed behind your head) should be 14" min. to 16" max. from your Listening Position (ear line).
Is there any general rule of thumb for the MINIMUM distance between the 2 speakers? Basement set up, so not much space to spread them apart, wondering if both speakers really close to each other will be okay. Thank you!!
Steven Forde if you’ve heard the (lack of) stereo separation from a boom box, that’s akin to what will happen. One solution, if you have a flat front wall, is to turn the speakers about face,and point them at the wall (not you). Experiment with having their toes outward. You will lose some of your treble, but gain a sense of filling the room. If needed, use your treble control or EQ to restore that lost brightness. Happy listening!
This guy is just so easy to listen.
Thank you!
He reminds me of my grandfather with Alzheimer's he don't know what the hell he's talking about but he's very sweet😂😂
@@TheNLHAZElol. Wish mine was alive
thank you so much for explaining WHY speakers have to be placed the way they do. This is why I love this channel.
I enjoy your videos so much for so many reasons. Great to hear that you have been a DJ for AFN in Germany. I am 59 yrs old and remeber fairly well enjoying AFN on my radio in my youth for the great speakers, reports, and the great music.
Greetings from Germany!
You are like the Mr Rogers of audio....with the music and opening of letters and stories!
The way you're presenting things is exceptional Mister
Answer starts at 02:52
We are lucky the letter did not say anything about blondes and guns)))
Hello from San Luis Obispo. I've been here since '75. Still loving it. I am excited to have bought a new audio system (IOTASA3 & PA3 + Klipsch RP600M + R-120SW). The first since I got married in '85, I am assembling all the new miscellaneous "stuff" to get things set up properly and you channel is a joy to watch. I am learning a lot. Cheers and Happy Hol;idays
Thanks for this. I never knew that having the speakers too close together causes that chestiness/ boomieness in the mid bass.
LSD works GREAT for stereo imaging
I saw sound once on acid pouring out my speaker also the vertical hold had gone on my TV years ago it looked like coronation St was coming out the screen and on to the floor like toilet paper coming off the roll. Shocking behaviour.
Tasting colors & seeing sounds...
@@paganrythyms mushrooms does this or can. And certain rc chemicals.
@@pauldavies8638 yes seeing sound coming out of my garbage desk top computer speaker 17 years ago in the form of color. Never heard music better in my entire life. That was until I got a klipsch setup and listened to it the first time tripping….
I once saw when people speak rainbow vibrations came out of their mouth on LSD
Speaker positioning is the single most important aspect in getting good sound. Most people get the concept of speaker placement wrong. You are tuning the speaker to the room NOT the room to the speaker ! Also once ideal speaker placement is achieved not only will you have the best overall frequency response across the whole spectrum you will also find you have virtually eliminated any need for acoustical room treatment. Why ? Because you have tuned out the coloration in the room ! Then you can fine tune the sound by playing with speaker toe in and Very Carefully use acoustical treatment to create a acoustical balance in reflections “if it’s needed at all “
I think it was the third rule that gave me best results but the best position would always be really impractical (in my medium sized rooms) and usually near doors or basically just in the way. A fun way to find the rooms sweet spot for me is to use a Bluetooth speaker on a plinth/stand, when placed correctly even a little speaker can have amazing stereo imaging. Speaker set up “discs” often use a mono signal and even mono out of phase to get best stereo results.
you always cheer me up Paul been watching your videos for a number of years now .😊😊😊
Did a cross country motorcycle trip in 2012 and wound up staying in Santa Maria in the Motel 6 down the block from the Harley dealer. I had a chance to ride around and really liked the area. Met an 88 year old motorcycle rider who was looking for another bike because he said he had about 10 good years of riding left, I thought wow it must be the water here.
Good advice Paul. I totally agree with starting with the 1/3 rule both in speaker placement and listening position. I strongly suggest playing with speaker placement with no acoustical treatment, only the furniture that must be in the room. Then once speaker placement is achieved one by one add your acoustical treatment to get the desired result. I find that when you get the speakers positioned correctly you will hear the least issues and effect of the rooms acoustics.
I first thought play with the distance from the rear wall and concentrate on getting the bass right. Good bass extension and articulation. Once I get the bass right I then focus on the distance apart. Like you said the distance apart effects the midbass, imaging and focus. The key is getting the right overall balance across the bandwidth then play with toe in or not. Some speakers sound good with toe in ( most ) and some dont.
From the gentlemens letter on mono, the key is if you set the up your speakers for stereo, you will have good mono content and imaging.
Manufacturers of loudspeakers and Hi-Fi experts: "Well, we know you have s huge room where nobody else goes and it's just for your listening pleasure; place our speakers 1/3 of the way between the opposing walls (!)), maybe in front of a book case (!)) (good one!)), place a chair the same way but from the other wall..." and I am like "what planet are you from, sir? On this planet EARTH, I have a tiny space for the left speaker at THIS side of the sofa, 5 INCHES away from the wall (!!!) and in THAT corner, 6 inches away from the wall; THAT'S IT!" I am exaggerating a little, but COME ON!
Hi Paul, I learn something every time I watch one of your videos.
Thanks.
Paul I think I've watched all of your videos...you are one of my heroes
I wanna visit PS audio next time I'm in Colorado
I have omnidirectional mini floor standing towers and they are quite close to me at the proportions paul first described. And they very much in middle of room . Amazing sound. I recently moved them bit further back for more space. They were still quite forward in the room but really lost a lot of the magic i was hearing so moved them back closer to me.
The quality of the video and the sound in Paul's videos is superior to anything else out here.
Anything?mwhat a list of thousands of thing that are as good if not way better. ..? Don't be so dramatic. Fans...
We really enjoy your videos. They have been very helpful with my 2 channel journey. Thank you.
My pleasure. Thanks for watching!
Mr Paul, your voice is sweet for my ears. I adore every clip that you are posting here on yt. I wish you be kind enough spending more time talking about engeenering details. There is a good reason. You are the best source in hifi audio world for a guy to understand what it is actualy happen behind his little electronic boxes. You are Ken Ishivata for America. Many thanks for your struggle to explain.
Mr. McGowan, thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with us!!! ☮️🖖🏽
Indeed we thank him for that!
Thank you Paul, I've learned mid-bass coupling from you today.
I have two speakers 1) horn-loaded with more mid-bass and 2) sealed with flatter response. I will try to experiment to put the horn- loaded speaker at the end most and see if that takes care of the boxiness and mid-bass bloat. keep rockin
Also try placing your horn speakers on milk crates (or whatever) that has air space, and get them off the floor (if they are on the floor). Even if they are lounge towers.
🤭 I love how all these flawlessly white envelopes without stamps or destination arrive just fine.
"Is it indeed unblemished? ... Yes that's Paul's"
Thanks for all your info….I am in complete agreement with your thoughts…
LOL - moved from Santa Maria about a year and half ago - absolutely love the central coast. Very sad to move away.
Very informative video!
Not many listeners are blessed with the ability to place their speakers far out into the room and instead place them close to a wall which increases bass response but not in a good way, especially if they are rear ported.
I hear ya i like my town to stay the same as what i always remembered
hi
in the 50s 60s 70s
AFN was heaven for us kids in wiesbaden, frankfurt
a slightly late danke schoen
might be listening to you for 40 years
alessandra Benz Very cool my friend. Very cool indeed.
I accidentally discovered my sweet spot which is 3 feet per side of the triangle. Best sound I ever heard. I have 3 sets of speakers stacked on each other of different size boxes with one 12 inch sub.
Hi -- I was stationed in Germany also ( Reitsheid : near Baumholder - : +/- 20 klicks ) . end of 74 --- spring of 76 . : stereo & quad , with joy sticks ! Reel to reel. -- vinyl -- 8 track & cassette ! We both knew , things would get smaller & more refined --- I'm still amazed with the sd micro cards & just how much material , can be imputed . Live long & be well , day & night ------ G.G.C.
If I was to design/build a room with optimum sound quality, I would go with the golden ratio principle. The optimum dimensions of the room should also adhere to the golden ratio. So for example if the ceiling is 2 meters then width could be 2*1.618=3.236 meters and the length of the room should be 3.236*1.618 = 5.236 meters. Then the speakers should be placed centered at 2/1.618=1.236 meters above the floor, 3.236 - 3.236/1.618 = 1.236 meters from the side walls and 5.236-5.236/1.618 = 2 meters in front of the back wall. Granted, the dimensions of this room and the placement of speakers is not very practical at all for most rooms, but a room shaped like this should still result in superior sound with flat frequency response and minimal distortion... at least according to some sources online.
Im unable to visualize your room dimensions. Meters are foreign to me
Hi Paul, as a veteran myself I thank you for your service. Just stopping by to say I really enjoy your videos and how you explain things to the common folk!
You know, there I was. Just sittin' there wondering if I was one of common folk, and waddaya know! A superior person comes along and lets me (and other followers I guess) know my place.
Very sorry if my comment came across as a wise crack, it was not meant that way and I was serious that you have a way of explaining the subjects.
I didn't take it the wrong way at all. I knew what you meant. Some folk are very touchy!
John Jacobs Yea no doubt man. You were fine. I felt as though you were talking about yourself really. This dude obviously has some very thin skin.
thank you for sharing your wisdom with us
I live in Lompoc just a few miles from Santa Maria n San Luis Obispo. Ever been to Lompoc or the Air Force bade here Paul . Never knew ps audio was in Santa Maria but that’s cool to know . You’re in a much better place now trust me . Luv you’re videos 👍
Gotta love Paul's stories, he's like jackanory haha
San LuisObispo....warehouse sound! We bought the components for our sound system from them...BGW 750... CROWN 150...JBL32 OHM..WOOFS...JBL tweets Soundcraft board...
I like your equilateral triangle method. Perhaps it could be perfected by adjusting triangle size to match a golden ratio of room dimensions.
I was taught to sit as far from the mid point between the speakers as they are apart. Same as Paul's equiateral triangle, but to me, easier to remember.
Must be nice to have the room flexibility to have options for speaker placement! Right now, for me, it's if they fit in the space, then that's just dandy. It's not ideal, I know, but I just don't have the freedom of space.
But you do. 'Im in a similar position and found that minor tweaks make a difference. Ok, so sometimes it gives me a crick in ma neck, but hey, its all about d'art..... Seriously though - ickle tweaks matter:)
You are the Mr Rogers of Audiophile.
Stereo is the way to go Bob for sure.
From Solvang, best wishes!
Hi Paul, unfortunately in the Uk now , some stations on dab transmitt in mono, I thought I bring that up , your Hd radio in the states far better . Early days of dab the bit rate wher Hib ie up to 192kbs now much reduced, as you know we have dab+ even that it’s supposed to be better and still transmit low but rates, our vhf fm still sounding great. Finally a lot of station in uk and Europe closing down am low and mw transmitters down also . Great video regards mark
It is satisfying when you dial in your speakers. They really disappear. You just have a soundstage of music. Every instrument has its own pan and position in the soundstage image. Close your eyes, the speakers are gone...
Especially with time aligned point source speakers like the KEF Uni Q speakers. Drivers all across the board won't do it for me (after hearing my 3D point source coaxials). I can't understand why so many speaker manufacturers completely ignore this. I would never spend a fortune on speakers with drivers all across the board. But that's me.
My supposition is that when we play with distance between speakers at the same time we play with the distances from speakers to side room wslls. In room size 4x6 meters and distance 3 meters distances from side walls are ex 1,5 meter which is adequate to reflection positive phase at 100 Hz . For 50Hz it will be negative phase which will make 100 Hz even more noticeable. For less distances to walls frequencies grow. and reflection strength grow too. It applies to next harmonics too so to be tested with ears. Those frequencies are unlikely to dump with conditioning so I try to avoid at first any symmerical positining to side walls. Where one has "up" other has down At the mo,ment left speaker is 0,3 m from wall (position anligned by ear) and right 3 meters (just for stereo position) and both serve their bass. Just my 3 cents
I live in Santa Maria...I agree San Luis is way better. Thanks for the tips and tricks. Im new to the sq, spl worlds and im in love haha. Yet again another great vid from you.
Interesting perspective. I have two rooms with speakers, both have two speaker, two channel stereo with open archways. Dining room is 12X12X10' with a bay window and is open to living room. Living room is 12X15X10' with a bay window and open to dining room and front hall, both openings are arches. Living room has two solid walls and dining room has three solid walls. Suggestions for speaker placements????? A new house is NOT an option.
1:18 I think my dad & uncle (Among many others.) picked those oranges. I know they picked oranges when they were younger & we lived in Anaheim when I was a kid.
Great info. Kinda like Mr. Rogers for audiophiles.
If you can’t do 1/3 then try the 1/5 setup. It’s a bit more wife friendly ;)
Love it
I like to start at 1/5, listen using a Stereophile test pressing, then move the speakers 2 or 3 feet toward me, listen, and usually find the best location somewhere in between.
Underrated comment! Yup my wife strongly believes in form over function. Solution after fighting this for years and giving up - the basement is all mine.
I do the "I pull em' out she nudges them in" set up.
@@ericnortan9012 Maybe you'd be allowed to put aesthetically pleasing tape of some sort on the ground to mark where the speakers should go when you listen.
Be a AFN DJ in Germany sounds like a cool Job in the Army ;)
Aprendo un monton gracias!! Saludos desde argentina
0:23 Mr. Rogers 'How to open an envelope'.
The answer starts at 3:00.
I feel a min/max distance between speakers should be provided by the manufacturer for optimum mid bass coupling. Any thoughts @paul?
What does diffusion behind the speaker do exactly?
A true gentleman!
did he say a whole cult of people into mono? 😂🤣🤣
HIFI WAS MONO BEFORE STEREO CAME AROUND. THE SOUND WAS AWESOME WITH JUST TWO SPEAKERS. A BIG ADVANCE FROM OUR TRANSISTER RADIOS.
No, you lie??.. and all caps too!
This is why Paul doesn't have a listening room at home.
Try the Dynaudio method of pulling the speakers 1/5th from room boundaries. I just tried it , sitting 1/5th or 1/3d into the room. This gives smooth bass and avoids near field listening in anything but a huge room!
Brilliant brother
I would have them 3-5 meters apart, and then have them relatively close to the back and side walls and have some inside boxes made out of wood on the inside, that's makes the sound perfect for most people. Not having sidewalls and back walls relatively close, and not having the inside boxes seriously degrades the performance.
I am experimenting with this set up at the moment. As for inside boxes I am planning to put two small 8" subwoofers on either side of the rack in-between the speakers. Living in an apartment no other options. Depending on the measurements I may use DSP to augment the bass response, or just use the subs as flowerpot holders. Lol
@@karlcotleanu4144 Better than nothing next to the speakers. You can also just use a 5 dollar piece of wooden furniture on each side or 2 dollar wooden LP IKEA boxes,
San Luis Obispo...home of Ernie Ball Music Man! Also, I was stationed at Ft Ord and spent many nights in the field at Ft Hunter Liggett.
I used to live and grow up in san luis Obispo California.
Wish you had covered the distance from Sidewalls?
Mono works much better than stereo in large uneven areas. Like hidden speakers in a large backyard. Most Subwoofer systems are mono. Otherwise Stereo almost always gives the best sound quality all things being equal.
When I finally can aford to get serious on vinyl back in the early 1990s, I've noticed that all of my veteran (over 40 at the time) audiobuddies kept telling me that vinyl's bass frequencies - even on modern stereo vinyl - below 100 Hz tends to "get squeezed" into mono due to the limitations of pressing technology. Any truth to this given I've also notoiced the somewhat eery vinyl bass frequencies below 100 Hz sounding mono-ish soundstage wise even with serious vinyl replay gear like Linn Sondek.
San this, San that.........it's all Old Mexico
Give it a break.
Absolutely!
So all Mexico is old Spain?
When Were you in Anaheim? I was stationed there (Los Alamitos) briefly (1970) before my squadron was transferred me to Pt. Mugu. I only remember that you could see two or three McDonalds driving down Katella or Ball Road.
Good explain about audio.
Old Beatles, Stones, Who records sound great in the original mono, imho.
MrLizardisle love Sgt. Pepper in mono. And am looking for a UK first pressing that isn’t too crazy expensive.
MrLizardisle I have one of those myself, sounds awesome...and thanks. UK first pressings in mono from all 60's UK bands, not just The Beatles, are much sought after and can be a bit on the pricey side.
Ironically, in my room, with the weird arrangements of furniture and room dimensions, placing my speakers closer resulted in wider soundstage and better dispersion of treble. Then again, I'm using 3 inch driver cube speakers!
Starts at 2:48
Paul, thank you for bringing your knowledge to us! Question...I understand general placement, but will an object between my speakers degrade overall SQ(imaging, etc.)? My placement will be as such that I have a fireplace that projects 24" off the back wall into the room and my speakers will flank each side so that the front face of my speakers will be flush with the front face of the fireplace, but the back side of the speaker will be 'behind' the fireplace, therefore having no direct line of sight between the speakers. I cannot test my this placement yet as this system will be in our new construction home that is not yet complete, just trying to plan ahead. Thanks again and I hope this made sense!
Another rule is to have nothing on the sound stage. What you are doing is affecting your image.
yes it will
Thank you so much! This really helped my sound stage with my budget/getto stereo setup. By the way, maybe you've covered this on a video that I haven't seen yet, but i heard from an audio show that, when it comes to selecting which wall is the front/back wall, one should start with the widest wall. What is your take on that? Is it better to choose the shortest walls as front/back walls and leave more space behind the listener and the speakers?
update for you, check his latest videos, he just recently did a video on this topic
SOund bounces, so wide gives, ahem, wider sound. I think:)
Play at 1.75 speed. Gets to the point quicker.
Would 4ft speaker cables be long enough on each side? Since my stereo power amplifier is in the middle on a rack system. One thing I've learned about cable length. Is to only use the minimal length that is necessary in your system. In an audiophile system. A good rule of thumb would be to keep all your cables under 10ft. That's what I have done in my system. Except my speaker cables that are 10ft. Im hoping to upgrade my speaker cables soon to something better that wont be so long and messy looking. Compared to my other cables that are short, separated and ran neatly.
Oh your in san luis obispo?
Tuning for best tonal balance would be only goal for mono setup.
Love your videos! I have Klipsch Forte 4’s that have passive radiators. They sit less than a foot from the wall, as Klipsch recommends. Would there be a sound stAge improvement by moving them further out? The room isn’t set up to do that so it would be a project .
Does it make a difference if you are using surround sound as well say a 5.1 or 5.2 system and wanting the best from movie soundtrack such as the beautiful music in The Gladiator or Schindlers List, taking into account the centre speaker, especially as in my case I don't have a lot of space to have the two mains widely separated, I am looking at buying Arendal Sounds 1723 range and the accompanying centre channel is nearly as wide as my tv, at 27.5H x 63.5W x 40D cm its an absolute monster of a centre speaker, is this going to effect the distance that I should have between the two towers? Also, can speakers be too large for a given area or seating distance from speakers? Most of my seating would be 3-4 meters away from the screen and speakers.
answer starts at 2:49
Thanks. Lovely guy, but sometimes you just want to get to the answer.
and I also been to santa maria ca too.
That third behind and in front would be great in a studio but won't work for anyone else.
My room's back wall has empty square space on right side only any suggestions? Other rooms are just too small
Make a closet, or hang a carpet or tapestry. Also, bass trap on the other side of the back corner.
Nobody talks about speaker distance from side walls. Should it be similar?
Any help?
@@mathschueler Thanks I've been wanting to change the room around for a long time now so I can have much better speaker placement but will need to get permission from the wife😋
Same for side walls with low frequencies.
Wow. Grew up in Lompoc.
Lompoc? Yep, spent a month there but the winds got us to move to Santa Maria instead.
@@Paulmcgowanpsaudio did you ever eat at Tom's in Lompoc?
@@davidsteckley8846 Not that I remember. It's been a long, long time ago. We used to eat at Pappy's in Orcutt just outside of Santa Maria.
@@Paulmcgowanpsaudio toms was a burger joint on college ave. You can't forget that place. Burgers A-Z to on the menu
Fantastic information.
I always get compliments about how my setup sounds, but never really dove into how it works.
I've got a medicore 10k setup (powered sub , soundbar and and operating 5mq Kenwood.)
in a small space 15x20 , which makes it challenging to balance.
Any advice?
Headphones, my room is 20x22 and I still don't have enough room for 5.4.3 HT Setup
Good advice! The 1/3rd concept is one I need to adhere to more. Maybe the 2nd question was regarding stereo/mono compatible mixing?
Thanks...
2:50
Its easier in mono!
first 3 minutes...... cmon Paul! yer not Paul Barton eh, lol kidding
I wish I could even play the keyboard! Paul Barton I am not.
I think he meant one speaker that has two drivers as stereo.
Not correct... setting your listening position at the triangle vertex is not correct. I'm tired of everyone saying this and not really thinking about it. The Stereo Vertex Point (the focused point where the speakers are aimed behind your head) should be 14" min. to 16" max. from your Listening Position (ear line).
1/3 .. 1/3 ouch perhaps I should have only purchased headphones 🎧 🤔
Is there any general rule of thumb for the MINIMUM distance between the 2 speakers? Basement set up, so not much space to spread them apart, wondering if both speakers really close to each other will be okay. Thank you!!
Steven Forde if you’ve heard the (lack of) stereo separation from a boom box, that’s akin to what will happen. One solution, if you have a flat front wall, is to turn the speakers about face,and point them at the wall (not you). Experiment with having their toes outward. You will lose some of your treble, but gain a sense of filling the room. If needed, use your treble control or EQ to restore that lost brightness. Happy listening!
Thank you!!
2:47 😂
This guy acts like we got 5000 SF rooms to work with. Unreasonable 🤦🏼
Not true
skip to @2:50