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Speaker Placement Question

Rottmannash

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I've read that placing L/R speakers to either side of a TV degrades sound. Truth? And how badly am I screwing up SQ with this alignment? I try to keep the speakers as far fwd as possible but my room isn't very deep. 20210722_165003.jpg20210722_164928.jpg
 

AdamG

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You want to form an equidistant triangle with your MLP. Can’t see, are there ports in those speakers, if so where are they. Front firing, rear firing? If rear you might want to experiment with pulling them out a few more inches.
 
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Rottmannash

Rottmannash

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They're Revel F208s with front firing ports. The TV screen is so thin it may not be visible unless looking for it. I'm concerned about how close in alignment the TV screen is to the fronts of the speakers.
 

AdamG

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They're Revel F208s with front firing ports. The TV screen is so thin it may not be visible unless looking for it. I'm concerned about how close in alignment the TV screen is to the fronts of the speakers.
Give me a picture of this from your MLP. Can’t really see much with the first two pics. The tv is between and the front of the speakers looks to be forward enough to reduce early reflections from the tv screen.
 
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Rottmannash

Rottmannash

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K. Good to know. I assumed the screen needed to be behind the front of the speakers but didn't know how far. Thanks. 20210722_170950.jpg
 

AdamG

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K. Good to know. I assumed the screen needed to be behind the front of the speakers but didn't know how far. Thanks. View attachment 143003
So, what is the distance between the left and right speaker? Then what is the distance from the middle of the left and right speaker to your main listening position? Another words if you sit say 10 feet back. The distance between the two front speakers should be 10 feet apart.

One more observation. Hate me if you wish, but that center channel shelving is very depressed. Put a straight edge on that and you will see the reverse bow/sagging happening. You may be overloading that glass shelf. I would remove all that heavy stuff from the second shelf and see if that helps. Otherwise I foresee a shattering moment in your future. :oops:
 
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Rottmannash

Rottmannash

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It actually has metal bars underneath stabilizing it.
 
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Rottmannash

Rottmannash

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So, what is the distance between the left and right speaker? Then what is the distance from the middle of the left and right speaker to your main listening position? Another words if you sit say 10 feet back. The distance between the two front speakers should be 10 feet apart.

One more observation. Hate me if you wish, but that center channel shelving is very depressed. Put a straight edge on that and you will see the reverse bow/sagging happening. You may be overloading that glass shelf. I would remove all that heavy stuff from the second shelf and see if that helps. Otherwise I foresee a shattering moment in your future. :oops:
Speakers are 6 ft apart and I'm sitting around 8ft away. I think the shelf issue is an optical illusion. There's a metal frame under each tempered glass shelf so there's no sag. The top shelf is rated to hold up to 155 lbs and the middle 50 lbs. The RC263 only weighs 33 lbs. Should be no problem.
 

Helicopter

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You generally want to avoid stuff between the speakers, like a coffee table. Where your media stand and TV are I don't think you should have a problem, especially from the TV. If you can get a little more distance between the speakers, move them toward the listening positiom, or mive the listening position toward the speakers, and then point them in toward the listening position, you might get better soundstage. Maybe play around with it and see what works.

Those F208s are pretty. I like the glossy finish. They were #2 on my list when I got my Focal Aria 948s.
 
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Rottmannash

Rottmannash

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Thank you! I love them. HiFi Buys had a pair of your Focals and I drooled over them while auditioning the Revels but they were too pricey for me. My room is such that I'm stuck with the speakers where they are. I can maybe get them 6 inches farther apart but the left one will block the side door from opening onto the side porch.
 

kiwifi

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Unless you can move your speakers more than 3m into the room, then the front of the speaker should be less than 1m from the front wall. This raises the frequency of boundary interference effects, so that they are easier to control with absorbing material placed on the wall behind the front speakers.

The front of the TV screen should be in line with the front of the speakers. This emulates an infinite baffle which doesn't suffer from speaker boundary interference (SBIR)

Toe in your front speakers so that you cannot see the sides of the cabinets from your primary listening position. Try to form an equalateral triangle between you and your L/R speakers.

Do what you can to absorb first reflections from the back wall, side walls and ceiling.
 
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Hipper

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Different room set ups and speakers mean there are no exact rules, just guidelines.

I suggest you experiment by listening as you have it now and then when placing a duvet or other thick material over the screen. If there is a difference and you don't like it then consider some of the suggested solutions.

I used to have my Hi-Fi gear in between my speakers but set back and found that this caused reflections that I could hear at my listening position. The cause could have been two reasons: reflections off the back wall then reflecting off the gear; my speakers have rounded edges and I understood the high frequencies could bend round them and go to the gear. My solution was to put the gear to one side and use absorbent panels to absorb some frequencies on back and front walls.

Of course you can't do this with a TV screen and I don't know if different shaped speaker edges behave differently.
 
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Rottmannash

Rottmannash

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Unless you can move your speakers more than 3m into the room, then the front of the speaker should be less than 1m from the front wall. This raises the frequency of boundary interference effects, so that they are easier to control with absorbing material placed on the wall behind the front speakers.

The front of the TV screen should be in line with the front of the speakers. This emulates an infinite baffle which doesn't suffer from speaker boundary interference (SBIR)

Toe in your front speakers so that you cannot see the sides of the cabinets from your primary listening position. Try to form an equalateral triangle between you and your L/R speakers.

Do what you can to absorb first reflections from the back wall, side walls and ceiling.
Thank you-this is the type of answer I was looking for! So the plaster walls behind the speakers isn't good?
 

escape2

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One more observation. Hate me if you wish, but that center channel shelving is very depressed. Put a straight edge on that and you will see the reverse bow/sagging happening. You may be overloading that glass shelf. I would remove all that heavy stuff from the second shelf and see if that helps. Otherwise I foresee a shattering moment in your future. :oops:
To me, it is just curved glass, not a depression.
 

puppet

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Yes, it's an optical allusion. Glass won't deflect to that degree without snapping.
 

FeddyLost

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The front of the TV screen should be in line with the front of the speakers. This emulates an infinite baffle which doesn't suffer from speaker boundary interference (SBIR)
Infinite baffle approximation or soffit mounting emulation is not very valid in case of modern tv screens without weight and rigidity.
In fact having big and light (per square meter) plastic and glass panel between speakers is not a good idea in my opinion.
I'd hang it on wall as close as it gets and make some heavy curtains for listening when tv is not required. Or some kind of motorized foam diffsorber panel.
To check out audibility of this tv screen, thread starter can cover it with some kind of thick blanket and try to make blind test at main LP. This will reveal if this matters or not.
Plasterboard walls can be very good or horrible for sound depending on exact construction, framing and wall cavity filling.
 

AdamG

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Yes, it's an optical allusion. Glass won't deflect to that degree without snapping.
It’s an optical illusion until he lays a straight edge on it. :cool:
 

Thomas_A

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There should be no problem with the TV if the speaker drivers are flush or just in front of the TV panel. The angle of reflection will approach an infinite baffle.
However the space behind the speaker-wall and any distance between speaker and TV should have damping. Ie the yellow wall. I suggest to experiment with 60 mm wedged foam and listen.
 
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