Speakers lying on their sides? Any reason to really avoid?

[Kutusov]

I have a pair of Edifiers S1000 MkI and it has been a pain to find them a place on my small-living room/home office. They weigh 10Kg a piece and the front is tilted back. These might not be terrific speakers but they sound OK to me... if placed right. They are very unforgiving when it comes to placement

I ended up placing them on the worst sounding place possible, right on top of a 2m bookshelf. Sound terrible but I can't manage much better without having them and cables cluttering the place. Tilted them down by placing towels on the back just to try. Sound improves quite a lot but still not great.

So now I'm thinking about lying them on the side as that would get rid of the front tilt and get both drivers shooting more towards me. Also getting a pair of those foam isolation pads that have a 10º tilt down. Aside from the fact that the sides are wood with rounded corners and I'm afraid they might come crushing down, do you think this is a terrible idea?

 

[Chrispy]

How about upside down with those? (I am not familiar with them)

 

[Wes]

will the tweeter still be near ear level?

 

[Kutusov]

How about upside down with those? (I am not familiar with them)

Ah! That's a though that hadn't crossed my mind... I'm not sure that the tops are flat but I'll give that a try!

 

[andreasmaaan]

I have a pair of Edifiers S1000 MkI and it has been a pain to find them a place on my small-living room/home office. They weigh 10Kg a piece and the front is tilted back. These might not be terrific speakers but they sound OK to me... if placed right. They are very unforgiving when it comes to placement

I ended up placing them on the worst sounding place possible, right on top of a 2m bookshelf. Sound terrible but I can't manage much better without having them and cables cluttering the place. Tilted them down by placing towels on the back just to try. Sound improves quite a lot but still not great.

So now I'm thinking about lying them on the side as that would get rid of the front tilt and get both drivers shooting more towards me. Also getting a pair of those foam isolation pads that have a 10º tilt down. Aside from the fact that the sides are wood with rounded corners and I'm afraid they might come crushing down, do you think this is a terrible idea?

It is best not to lie conventional 2-way speakers on their sides, for two main reasons:

1. Their tonal balance will be very sensitive to left/right movements (we tend to move more from left to right, or there tend to be multiple listeners sitting side-by-side, than we tend to move up and down while listening).
2. The spectrum of lateral reflections tends to be more important in creating spatial effects (spaciousness, apparent source width, envelopment). Laying the speakers on their sides degrades the spectrum of these reflections.

Having said all that, if you try it and sounds fine to you in your room and with your listening habits, there's no problem

 

[Kutusov]

will the tweeter still be near ear level?

They are still too high, so I would be trying to get them pointing down where my ears are (I'm usually sitting down at my desk or walking around). Where they are now, and with their tilted face, tweeters are way high and probably hitting the ceiling after two or three meters.

That's why I was thinking about lying them and get something beneath to point them down.

 

[Chrispy]

Ah! That's a though that hadn't crossed my mind... I'm not sure that the tops are flat but I'll give that a try!

Sloping or shaped cabinets can be hard (or just poor balance for such). Brings tweeter closer to ear level in any case and perhaps that built-in tilt would alleviate further need of such is what I was thinking. When I've had to place speakers up high I generally invert....

 

[Kutusov]

It is best not to lie conventional 2-way speakers on their sides, for two main reasons:

1. Their tonal balance will be very sensitive to left/right movements (we tend to move more from left to right, or there tend to be multiple listeners sitting side-by-side, than we tend to move up and down while listening).
2. The spectrum of lateral reflections tends to be more important in creating spatial effects (spaciousness, apparent source width, envelopment). Laying the speakers on their sides degrades the spectrum of these reflections.

Having said all that, if you try it and sounds fine to you in your room and with your listening habits, there's no problem

Well, I can always burn the damn things and get a pair of passive speakers that I can sit on my table/desk without being afraid they'll break the whole thing

 

[Chrispy]

....or fall and impact your head let alone the speaker!

 

[Kutusov]

Sloping or shaped cabinets can be hard (or just poor balance for such). Brings tweeter closer to ear level in any case and perhaps that built-in tilt would alleviate further need of such is what I was thinking. When I've had to place speakers up high I generally invert....

Good news is that they do sit flat upside down. And they now point some 10º down. Center of gravity is scary high, with the amps now on top, so I don't dare tilt them forward even a little bit.

Can't really test them now without being evicted from the building but it's looking promising. I can clearly hear stuff now that I knew was hiding before.

 

[Chrispy]

Good news is that they do sit flat upside down. And they now point some 10º down. Center of gravity is scary high, with the amps now on top, so I don't dare tilting them forward even a little bit.

Can't really test them now without being evicted from the building but it's looking promising. I can clearly hear stuff now that I knew was hiding before.

If a good shake of the cabinet is likely to upset that might think about some way of restraint ? Little help from a lightweight guy wire?

ps or does the power cord/interconnect help out or hinder?

 

[Kutusov]

If a good shake of the cabinet is likely to upset that might think about some way of restraint ? Little help from a lightweight guy wire?

ps or does the power cord/interconnect help out or hinder?

No they seem stable. The tops are shorter and the front has a curve so I'll have to warn the cleaning lady. They'll stay put unless you deliberately pull them. The bookshelf itself is a big old lump of real wood, plus is filled with books. That thing is not moving.

I'll let you know how it really works tomorrow!

Oh, and I suspect sticking those felt pads for furniture will further prevent any move from going straight into that curve.

 

[raif71]

....or fall and impact your head let alone the speaker!

That's a lot hanging over one's head

 

[Chrispy]

That's a lot hanging over one's head

Damocles' speaker?

 

[Kutusov]

I can tell they are not quite there yet but the improvement is huge. Enough to give it back its base, lower the treble and remove an EQ setting. I can still probably improve things a little bit but they are good enough as they are now.

Thanks guys and especially @Chrispy, that was a big help!