• WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!

Multiple left and right speakers in a stereo setup?

jensgk

Active Member
Forum Donor
Joined
Mar 21, 2020
Messages
256
Likes
564
Location
Denmark
Just a theoretical question :)

Would you gain anything by have a setup using 4 speakers for a stereo setup ?

For example having 2 Genelec "Ones" for the left channel, and 2 Genelec "Ones" for the right channel. How should they be placed ?

Would it be possible to get better sweet spot coverage or would there be destructive interference resulting in worse sound?
 

dshreter

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
Dec 31, 2019
Messages
794
Likes
1,226
Just a theoretical question :)

Would you gain anything by have a setup using 4 speakers for a stereo setup ?

For example having 2 Genelec "Ones" for the left channel, and 2 Genelec "Ones" for the right channel. How should they be placed ?

Would it be possible to get better sweet spot coverage or would there be destructive interference resulting in worse sound?
More SPL handling but that’s about it. I think you would mostly cause problems with comb filtering
 

ELberto

Member
Forum Donor
Joined
Nov 4, 2020
Messages
87
Likes
79
Doing this now for my office (semi-close listening setup) with a sub and no matter where I place a single pair it's not even close to as pleasing as with 2 pairs. It's just not even close. I'll attach a basic diagram. The distance from the speakers to me is just under 2m and all 4 are on stands so they're at ear-height.
That said, it's a pia to get it working well in terms of speaker placement. I've gotten close to as good as possible with a MiniDSP 2x4HD and REW (and a measuring tape) but the big limitation is the 2 pairs of speakers have to be exactly the same distance from the listening position. With that done, and good crossovers set, some peq work and the subwoofer (with small timing delay) blended in-- the sweet spot is large and the listening experience is truly immersive.
The path is PC (my collection and Tidal) to the MiniDSP 2x4HD and from there 2 channels go to a Marantz PM-7200 amp (feeds 2 pairs of Rogerssound Labs CG-25s)) and 2 channels to the RSL subwoofer. This way the dsp software gets to do all the crossover, gain, timing and peq work. I wish there was a better way to do it- that's what I'm searching for now but I'm not having much luck.
speaker setup.jpg
 

DVDdoug

Major Contributor
Joined
May 27, 2021
Messages
2,917
Likes
3,831
Would it be possible to get better sweet spot coverage or would there be destructive interference resulting in worse sound?
You can get phase effects (comb filtering) when the sound waves combine in & out of phase at different distances and different locations as you move around the room.

It could sound OK but it destroys the whole concept of the "point source" (coaxial) design.

To minimize the effect you'd stack the speakers (the same reason woofers, midranges, and tweeters). You can still get some "weirdness" when you stand-up or sit-down but everything will remain in-phase as you move left-to-right.

Or if you just want to "have fun" you can do some kind of surround orientation!
 

Sancus

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Nov 30, 2018
Messages
2,923
Likes
7,616
Location
Canada
This is basically just poor man's surround upmixing.

For it to work well you would want to do something like Front Wides placement and then send a lower SPL signal delayed a few milliseconds and maybe add a little reverb. That will also eliminate the comb filtering issue as the signals won't be the same anymore. Basically you will be generating artificial first reflections instead of relying on your room.

Or build an Auro3D system with front wides for the best version of this.
 

Offler

Senior Member
Joined
May 27, 2021
Messages
414
Likes
399
Just a theoretical question :)

Would you gain anything by have a setup using 4 speakers for a stereo setup ?

For example having 2 Genelec "Ones" for the left channel, and 2 Genelec "Ones" for the right channel. How should they be placed ?

Would it be possible to get better sweet spot coverage or would there be destructive interference resulting in worse sound?
I have seen stereo setup with 6 different speakers, but the purpose was different. It was a computer system designed for composing music and mastering, and different set of 2 speakers was used for different scenarios.
 

izeek

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 3, 2020
Messages
386
Likes
193
Location
maryland
ive been trying it for a couple weeks now.
it took a while but i began to hear the comb filtering.
i play one or the other instead.
 
Top Bottom