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Experimenting with Speaker Room Placement

Hi - was having troubles with my room, which is 12 wide by 20 long, so logically I was thinking put the speakers on the shorter 12ft wall and sit back about 11-12 feet so I'd have more room between listener and the speakers. But tried my PSB towers, PSB bookshelfs, Bose Bookshelves, JBL bookshelves (and tried PSB sub with each) and that placement was always boomy bass and fatiguing sound. Just didn't sound right. 

So I tried setting up speakers on the long wall, the 20FT wall. It looks odd since I'm sitting pretty close to the speakers, about 7-8 Ft vs. 12 Ft, and the speakers are right up against the wall, and my listening chair is right up against the opposite wall. But it's more listenable, and bass seems tighter. Both the floorstanders and the bookshelves sound better. 

I'm still trying to purchase a new pair of speakers for this room (the other speakers mentioned were just borrowed from other rooms and from my home theatre setup). 

So wondering if others have experimented and found the long wall is better? It's more of a near field listening experience and looks odd having large towers that close to the listener. Would this position get fatiguing after a while? Should I treat the back wall with something since that wall is right behind my ears? What speakers are you using that seem to work well in this type of close listening setup?  If I place the speakers back on the shorter wall, is my issue that I need bass traps along the shorter wall to tighten the bass? 

Thanks very much for any guidance!  

kansas400

Showing 2 responses by newbee

newbee
4,093 posts
 
FWIW, your bass problems are likely a problem with placement of the speakers in a bass node. Or your listening chair is placed in a bass node, or both.

I have a 13x19 ft room, have the speakers on the short wall out about 66 inches and about 96 inches apart. My chair is about 48 inches from the back wall. If I move either my chair or speakers back towards the wall behind them I get a bass increase that can be very noticible. I also have noticed that toe in as well as placement affects the potentially  'fatiguing'  issues you refer to. I have side walls well damped with bookcases, drapes etc to kill sidewall first reflections. IMHO getting those speakers well out from that back wall is a major issue. 

I also tried the long wall. I found the sound rather sterile. I think it killed the natural room acoustics.

I found this with several sets of speakers, none of which were yours.
newbee
4,093 posts
 
Something to try to minimize the sidewall reflections. Toe in the speakers until the axis of the speakers cross well in front of your listening position. If that doesn't effect a reduction in sidewall reflections, your problem might just not be sidewall reflections at all. If it does help you might consider what you might do, acoustically speaking, to reduce the reflections. 
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