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Is a 2m/6 feet listening distance ok for the use of 3-way tower speakers?

Is a 2m/6 feet listening distance ok for the use of 3-way tower speakers?


  • Total voters
    12
  • Poll closed .

ironhorse128

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I am considering to upgrade from bookshelves to my first pair of tower speaker (3-way, e.g. Revel f206, Kef R7). I am sitting 2m away from my speakers. I would like to keep this listening distance.

Would the short listening distance raise any problems? I might have heard/ read that 3-way tower speakers need a larger listing distance for the different drivers to converge (or is this bullshit).

Thanks for your comments.

Please do not make this a bookshelves vs. tower discussion.
 

wasnotwasnotwas

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I am considering to upgrade from bookshelves to my first pair of tower speaker (3-way, e.g. Revel f206, Kef R7). I am sitting 2m away from my speakers. I would like to keep this listening distance.

Would the short listening distance raise any problems? I might have heard/ read that 3-way tower speakers need a larger listing distance for the different drivers to converge (or is this bullshit).

Thanks for your comments.

Please do not make this a bookshelves vs. tower discussion.
I think you need to state room measurements and relative placement to get meaningful responses.
 

thewas

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The loudspeakers you mention are in their mid/tweeter setup (drive sizes, driver distances and crossover frequencies) not really different to their smaller standmount siblings, so they usually work fine at 2 meters.
Personally for me that is actually almost the upper distance limit of typical hifi loudspeakers as I prefer listening to more direct sound and rather nearfield conditions. A friend of mine is even more extreme there listening to his huge Neumann KH420 and Geithain 921K also at 2 meters distance.
 
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Vini darko

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I'd go for it. Just make sure you're ears are near the tweeter referance axis and it should be fun. Best to avoid towers with boosted treble or be handy with eq.
 

andreasmaaan

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A 3-way like the F206 will be fine. The space occupied by the drivers is not too large, the crossover frequencies are low relative to the distances between drivers, and the filter slopes are relatively steep.

(The only reason I'm not answering your poll is that this advice wouldn't necessarily hold for all 3-way tower speakers.)
 
OP
ironhorse128

ironhorse128

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Thanks for your input and response.

I guess I will have to find a good deal on the r7 or f206 then .

I am very curious about the difference between a bookshelf and a nice mid size tower.
 

Hipper

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Ask the manufacturers.
 

valerianf

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At home I am listening my 3 ways tower speaker at 3m.
Only real issue is that the tweeter should be at the same height that your head when you are sitting in the couch: make some measurement before buying your speakers.
 
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ironhorse128

ironhorse128

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I asked Revel specifically about the f206 and a 2 meters listening distance.
This was the response:

"The listening distance is a little close, but I can tell you that I have been closer than 2m when testing speakers so you'll just want to try it out and see if it works for you. If it doesn't, then change your position as needed. 6 feet is close for floor speakers but book shelves are smaller and provide a different response. Are your speakers only 6 feet apart from each other? If they are then the recommendation is 6-8 feet listening distance. A good rule of thumb is to take the distance between the speakers and apply it to your listening position. I can tell you that my speakers are 10 feet apart so they have to be 10 feet from my listening position for proper sound distribution to the listening level. "

So Revel does not seem to recommend it but they would not rule out that it might sound good, though.
In summary I am a bit puzzled by the argument. If it is really only the integration between the tweeter and mid-woofer, then I would not see any physical difference between the m16s and the f206s.
 
OP
ironhorse128

ironhorse128

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I asked KEF specifically about the R7 and a 2 meters listening distance.
This was the response (translated from German):

"The listening distance of 2 meter is no problem.
But your speakers should then also only be 2m apart from each other. More important is a minimal distance of the speakers to the rear wall (at least 15 cm, more is better). "

Thus, KEF seems to be quite confident that their uni-Q drivers would work well for the 2m listening distance.
 

vavan

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My f208s ~2m apart each other and about 2.40 from mlp
 
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ironhorse128

ironhorse128

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I also asked KEF for the tweeter height of the R7 as I think the tweeter is pretty low (e.g. compared to the f206). From pictures I assume it is at about 65 cm of floor. Unfortunately KEF customer service does not know the height of the tweeter :facepalm:.

This was the response (translated from German):
"
The UNI-Q driver of the R Series is at the same height for all floorstanding loudspeakers. Unfortunately we do not have the exact value available.
The big advantage of the UNI-Q is that the high frequency range is also radiated over a wide area by the waveguide and the speakers only need to be angled slightly. In addition, listeners sitting next to each other (sofa), for example, receive the same high sound quality.
For this reason, the actual position of the tweeter is not decisive, but it has been optimized for listening while seated (sofa, armchair).
"
 
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