Hi guys. I'm new at this, so please be kind. I recently bought a used pair of speakers + DVD player, and set it up at home. The speakers are Paradigm Focus bookshelf speakers, and the DVD player is a Denon 2910.

Because I don't have speaker stands, the speakers are placed on a wooden HT cabinet, about 3 ft apart. I hooked them up to a Yamaha HT receiver.

Stereo playback of music was very disappointing. It sounded muddy, and soundstage was very narrow. The speakers sounded better when I auditioned them. Its definitely not the fault of the DVD player because on headphones the music sounds much much better.

So what is the likely cause of the narrow soundstage and muddy music? Is it because the speakers are NOT on speaker stands? Are the speakers too close together? Or is it because the HT receiver is just crap at music? Do I need to get a dedicated stereo amplifier instead?

My wife won't let me get speaker stands because the kids may push them over and I can't put the speakers any further apart because there's no more space on the cabinet. I'm seated about 5 ft from the speakers.

Placing speakers on shelves muddies the sound, because it bounces around and reverberates there. Vibrations from the speakers might also be reverberating through the wood/cabinets.

And placing them only 3' apart means there's not much stereo separation.

Speakers all sound different, but the biggest part of the equation is the environment - the room, walls, furniture, placement and location of the speakers, seating location, etc.

Getting a better receiver isn't going to help much. One thing you can do is make sure the speakers are on the edge of the shelves, coming off the edge slightly if possible. You can also make sure you don't have the bass turned up on the receiver too much, because if the speakers are trying to play back too much bass that can make them sound muddy as well.

Hi guys. I'm new at this, so please be kind. I recently bought a used pair of speakers + DVD player, and set it up at home. The speakers are Paradigm Focus bookshelf speakers, and the DVD player is a Denon 2910.

Because I don't have speaker stands, the speakers are placed on a wooden HT cabinet, about 3 ft apart. I hooked them up to a Yamaha HT receiver.

Stereo playback of music was very disappointing. It sounded muddy, and soundstage was very narrow. The speakers sounded better when I auditioned them. Its definitely not the fault of the DVD player because on headphones the music sounds much much better.

So what is the likely cause of the narrow soundstage and muddy music? Is it because the speakers are NOT on speaker stands? Are the speakers too close together? Or is it because the HT receiver is just crap at music? Do I need to get a dedicated stereo amplifier instead?

My wife won't let me get speaker stands because the kids may push them over and I can't put the speakers any further apart because there's no more space on the cabinet. I'm seated about 5 ft from the speakers.

You probably need to calibrate the receivers and BTW lowes Carry's Flower stands which are hard to knock over nad they are about the size of a night stand you can velcro the speakers to these and you will not have to worry about kids knocking the speakers over.

Another thing...

What height are the speakers at? They should be at about ear level, or the tweeters at ear level. If they are above or below ear level, that will negatively affect the sound.

i use foam pads under my speakers, even the ones on stands. the pads 'acoustically decouple' the spkrs from the bldg/room so the volume doesnt bother my neighbors and it also keeps the vibrations from going thru the furniture, floor, etc and affecting the sound quality.
keeps everything clean, at least imo.
the fronts are about 9' apart.
in a pinch, magazines:eek: will work until u get or make some pads. and no one sees the pads or mags.

The speakers are placed at ear level when I'm seated on the couch. I also put blu-tack on the bottom but that doesn't seem to improve matters.

The speakers are placed at ear level when I'm seated on the couch. I also put blu-tack on the bottom but that doesn't seem to improve matters.

i have no idea what blu-tack is. unless its thick enuff to substantially seperate the spkr from whatever its on, it may not work.

I just don't understand what the problem is these days with regards to kids. Mine are 15 and 11. They were 8 and 4 when I spent ~$5K on my HT speaker system. All it took was about 30 minutes of "training" and they very quickly learned that the speakers and audio gear was NOT to be touched. It's called dicipline folks. You actually TEACH your children to respect things that don't belong to them.

As has already been suggested, the ONLY way your speakers are going to sound their best, is to get them OUT of the hutch or cabinet you have them placed in. They were not engineered to be placed within another enclosure. That's why they sound so bad.

As for the blue tac, you are only decoupling them from the shelf they sit on, not the rest of the enclosure which is resonating along with the speaker and cancelling some of the frequencies or muddying them up with reflections.

It's been discussed many, MANY times already on this forum, but once again.... the only way to get any improvement in this kind of situation, is to place the speakers on Aurelex Mopads, and stuff the rest of the cabinet with open cell foam to absorb any resonances. Open cell foam is the same as what is in furniture cushions and should be stuffed in, around and behind the speakers if you want any kind of improvement at all.

Finally, at 3' apart.... unless you are sitting only 3' away from the speakers, they are actually interferring with each OTHER. You are getting mixing and cancellation of the sound waves before they even reach your seating position (again, assuming you are sitting more than 3' away from them).

If you want them to sound their best, or even somewhat decent for that matter.... get out your *COUGH* Man Card *COUGH* put them on some nice stands, measure the distance to your seating position (from your display) and whatever distance away you are.... that's how far apart your speakers should be. If you are 7' away, then spread the speakers 7' apart and toe them in slightly - aiming them just either side of your seating position and voile`.... they will sound wonderful. Basically, an equilateral triangle.

Good luck....

Am I missing something, did the OP not list what reciever he is using? I see a model name for a dvd player, but not a receiver.

Am I missing something, did the OP not list what reciever he is using? I see a model name for a dvd player, but not a receiver.It is probably not relevant unless it is a real dog.

It is probably not relevant unless it is a real dog.

Or it is not setup properly, or based on his comment about the dvd player sounding OK via headphones, he could be trying to do something weird and connect the speakers directly to the dvd player and expecting it to work.

Or it is not setup properly, or based on his comment about the dvd player sounding OK via headphones

Dav.... with the speakers being 3' apart in a secondary enclosure, with the listening position probably being more than 3' away.... I don't think any kind of EQing - like distances from the listening position, crossover, and spl levels from the receiver (assuming that's what you mean by "set up"), are going to help very much.

he could be trying to do something weird and connect the speakers directly to the dvd player and expecting it to work

The DVD player doesn't have any speaker connections. Just digital (SPDF and toslink) and analog audio out and Component, SVHS and Composit video out.