Positioning and Listening distance

Speaker placement & listening position is always a matter of your personal taste. While there are many suggestions by all the different formulas, they are only starting points. I subscribe to the Cardas formula myself, as supplied on their web site. After doing your math, and applying it, then you are ready to start. It is just like a visit to your local Baskin Robbins Ice Creme store. They are all good quality, but there is always one or maybe two that are our favorites. Now if we could only decide which one? Good luck and let your ears be your finial judge. Choose the one that sounds best to you.

Good Listening and above all, enjoy the music!

I'm working the same speaker placement and listening distance issues. My problem is that my room is relatively small (12 feet x 12 feet), so it forces me to more closely position the speakers (Harbeth 7ES's), which tends to diminish the soundstage.

Does anyone have any recommendations on cheap, effective and not-ugly ways to dampen the sound reflection on the walls? This way Sean and I can place our speakers a little closer to the wall boundry. Next week, I'm going to test 4 inch foam squares on the wall. I'm going to frame them and cover them with canvas (e.g. like a sound absorbing picture). I'll keep you posted on the results.

I suspect one of the reasons that simple equations seem to under estimate the distance to sit from speakers is because the calculations assume a point source for the speakers. The larger the speaker or the speaker array then the less accurate the calculations will be.

For Dds_hifi: be sure that you use open cell foam for acoustical absorption. The problem with small rooms is that since they are small there isn't much space for absorbing materials. In a 12x12 room I would expect that you will experinece a strong resonance at about 45Hz at the walls if your speakers go that low or if you have a subwoofer. Absorption will not solve that problem if it exists.

My room is aproximately 14x15 with an average 9.5ft ceiling with a sitting position against the wall. The resonance at 37-42Hz is unbearable. Playing something like Clapton's "Unplugged" is an instant headache. The only reasonable solutions are to use a notch filter(1/3 ovtave or parametric equalizer) for the subwoofer input signal or turn the sub off for music. I chose the equalizer and it works fine. Good luck!