Speaker Width?


Hello all,

Currently my speakers are 12' apart and each speaker is about 10' from my listening position. Picture here: https://imgur.com/a/etiV2q8

Would it make sense for me to move them closer together? (switching with my amp and subwoofer on each side). Curious on thoughts and how people typically space their speakers!
bclark8923
Oh man. Oh man.


So you have Be tweeter speakers, and you have then up against a bare wall and ..... << sigh >>


There’s so much here.


You space and turn the speakers for the best image. That is, you have the illusion of specific instrument and vocalist locations being in specific places. The image should be precise at the extremes, center and all points in between.


I’d start by spacing your speaker about half the distance they are now and in front of that cabinet. Throw a blanket across it. Move them as wide as you can before you sacrifice the center image. Also experiment with toe-in. Sometimes they like to fire straight, sometimes at you, sometimes cross in front of you.  Pay attention to the imaging between the center and sides. Sometimes you get a Left, Center and Right image, and nothing else. That's also not good.


Talk to GIK acoustics. They will give you great advice and have inexpensive and very good products to tune your room.



So one principle you are not aware of is avoiding early reflections. You have the speakers too close to the rear wall and the cabinet. The rear wall will make them boomy. The wall and cabinet will mess with the frequency response and imaging. Usually about 2’ out from the rear wall is a good starting distance, and far from side walls. That’s one reason room treatments help. They can reduce these early reflections, and give you more placement flexibility, as can thick blackout curtains.

Your speakers are probably too far to produce a good image, but moving them in further with that cabinet is also not optimal because you are getting closer to those reflective surfaces. This is why I'm recommending you find out, at least as an experiment, how good your speakers can sound. The blanket is a test. Listen to my suggestions, see how good you can get it, and then that will help you decide what to fix.
So it's not that I'm not aware of those aspects, its that I can't pull them any further into the room because my girlfriend doesn't like how that would look. (maybe a couple inches which I'll figure after I figure whch width). Just looking for advice on closer to the cabinet or closer to the walls which is most likely to give the best effects for being in a room that is wider than it is deep (best I can work with)