Best way to align speakers alongside a 55" LCD monitor (in front, behind, parallel?) And Room treatment?

[Robert394]

My speakers are set up as the diagram indicates. Due to the limitations of my room/space, there isn't much flexibility to move them other than (slightly) further in front of, or further behind, the LCD flat screen they are beside. I can't move them closer to the right wall which I realize would be helpful.

Right now, I have them essentially parallel/aligned to the flat screen in the vertical plane, just slightly in front of the LCD panel. Is this optimal? According to a post on Gearslutz, if you're forced to have a monitor in between speakers, it's better to align them as I have done here, with the front of the speaker parallel to the front of the LCD. Is that accurate?

Further, how much do you think I'd benefit from treating the left wall? I would need something both aesthetically appealing (no taped on acoustic foam) and reasonably affordable, and preferably, something that won't damage the wall too much. I haven't found a good solution yet. My speakers are the Hedd Type 20s, tweeter on inside (near LCD), woofer outside.

Here is the current setup. Thanks for any tips.

 

[m_u]

The distance from the back wall as well as the distance from the corner matters more than keeping them aligned with the lcd. My speakers have a woofer hole at the back and I had to move them forward. Curently they are technically back aligned with lcd

 

[Robert394]

Thank you. I'll note these speakers are front ported.

 

[Kouioui]

I'm using a 55" OLED as a monitor with flanking JBL LSR305Ps. I place them so there's 55" between tweeter centers, which moves the cabinets 4" forward of the display without blocking it and sit 55" from the center of the baffles. They're angled to the point where I'm getting a solid center and still enough sidewall reflections to widen the stereo image. The room is 24x14x8 and everything is placed at the middle of the shorter wall and about 1 foot in front of it. I'm using room EQ to deal with the bass peaks from the rear ported enclosures.

 

[andreasmaaan]

According to a post on Gearslutz, if you're forced to have a monitor in between speakers, it's better to align them as I have done here, with the front of the speaker parallel to the front of the LCD. Is that accurate?

Yes, this is excellent advice. By aligning the speakers flush with the front of the panel, you are effectively extending the baffles to include the surface of the panel. This will minimise destructive interference from sound bouncing off the panel and recombining with direct sound from the speakers. Try to place the speakers as close as possible to the sides of the panel, without actually touching.

 

[andreasmaaan]

Further, how much do you think I'd benefit from treating the left wall? I would need something both aesthetically appealing (no taped on acoustic foam) and reasonably affordable, and preferably, something that won't damage the wall too much.

I think this would be worth trying, as atm you have lateral reflections arriving at very different times due to the asymmetry. Also, 1.5' is not very far, so destructive interference from the reflection is going to be significant.

Therefore, what you need there really IMHO is as much absorption as possible there. You could have a look at products like these decorative acoustic panels, for example. The website lets you upload a design that they then print onto the panel. I would go for the maximum thickness that you can afford/tolerate.

 

[Senior NEET Engineer]

The monitor is the least of your problems...

Can you make it left/right symmetrical, move couch further from rear wall, and move speakers close to wall? Those are very important for sound quality.

 

[thewas]

Yes, this is excellent advice. By aligning the speakers flush with the front of the panel, you are effectively extending the baffles to include the surface of the panel. This will minimise destructive interference from sound bouncing off the panel and recombining with direct sound from the speakers. Try to place the speakers as close as possible to the sides of the panel, without actually touching.

On the other hand by extending the baffle you change also the baffle step and will possibly need some EQ there, but since EQing is actually always quite necessary at such desktop setups, its not a big issue.

 

[andreasmaaan]

On the other hand by extending the baffle you change also the baffle step and will possibly need some EQ there, but since EQing is actually always quite necessary at such desktop setups, its not a big issue.

Exactly. And the changes in effective baffle step will be a lot easier to deal with using EQ than the effects of SBIR from the panel.

 

[Robert394]

Yes, this is excellent advice. By aligning the speakers flush with the front of the panel, you are effectively extending the baffles to include the surface of the panel. This will minimise destructive interference from sound bouncing off the panel and recombining with direct sound from the speakers. Try to place the speakers as close as possible to the sides of the panel, without actually touching.

Thanks, very helpful. I did just that.

 

[Robert394]

@andreasmaaan Thanks, I think the sound and imaging sharpened up a bit since I did that, and there seems to be less reverb.

For the sub on the floor in front of the left speaker, is there any reason why the most sensible placement wouldn't be as close as possible in front of the left speaker -- in other words, I can move the sub forward or backward (towards the speaker)? So the timing is more closely aligned? Eventually I will try to get the sub to the other side, out of the corner, but I'll need some longer cabling first as my computer will have to go where the sub is now.