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Speaker distance from corner wall

5K views 14 replies 4 participants last post by  bluewizard 
#1 ·
I know that if the walls are straight behind speakers like most people have, the recommended distance is 0.5m from speaker to wall. But what when the wall is like this:

i.imgur.com/2EUpTKG.png

Does it mean that because the speakers are now put differently that the reflections to the listener are gonna be much smaller and because of that the distance doesn't have to be 0.5m but something lesss(how much less)?
 
#3 ·
The system is place in the corner. If this is a new forum member, he may not be able to post a link yet.



How far away from the walls depends on the speakers. Bookshelf can usually be closer than floorstanding. Bass heavy speakers generally need more space. I had some JBL Stadium that were only marginally happy at 24" from the wall behind. I replaced them with some Wharfedale with the exact same size drivers in the same configuration, and they are happy at 10" to 12".

It would help to know exactly what speakers and amp you have.

Also, we are all slaves to our circumstances. No one has the ideal room. We do the best we can with what we have.

Curious, any chance there is a fireplace in this room?

Steve/bluewizard
 
#4 ·
I know that if the walls are straight behind speakers like most people have, the recommended distance is 0.5m from speaker to wall.
That's not the case. A speaker should be placed either close enough or far enough from the wall behind it so that the distance from the baffle to the wall is not 1/4 wavelength within its passband, as the reflected wave will meet the original wave 180 degrees out of phase, causing a response dip at that frequency. The technical term for this is Allison Effect. That means subs should usually be placed less than a meter away, mains more than a meter away, the exact requirement depending on the crossover frequency.
 
#5 ·
About the 0.5m distance, I read that exact number in manuals from B&W and Dynaudio floorstanding speakers so I assumed that was correct... Anyway, this isn't real system yet, I'm still just looking around what to buy, don't have anything yet.

But you guys haven't answered my main question "if the wall behind speakers doesn't look like "T" to speakers, does it mean the distance between speaker and wall can be less?" What changes in reflections when the wall behind speakers is a corner and not a straight wall? Do "bad reflections" go away?
 
#6 ·
About the 0.5m distance, I read that exact number in manuals from B&W and Dynaudio floorstanding speakers so I assumed that was correct...
That placement would result in a cancellation notch centered around 170Hz. The fact that you can't place a full range floorstander where there will be no cancellation notch is one of their inherent deficiencies.
" What changes in reflections when the wall behind speakers is a corner and not a straight wall? Do "bad reflections" go away
They do not, unless the listening position is on-axis to the speaker. You can realize that if the system is mono, but not if it's stereo, with speakers in two corners.
 
#8 ·
ok, so if I got B&W 684 S2 and if they are 25cm(10 inch) from the nearest wall like on the pic below, would I be OK? These are front ported speakers and don't have a lot of bass from what I've read about them.

i.imgur.com/MJpDk52.png



B&W 684 S2:
i.imgur.com/kdFeAFK.jpg
 
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