What to do with a corner?

[NicC]

Hi guys. While I wait for a back order of Ascend ELX speakers, I'm learning what I can about music in the home. What you see in the image is the living room (Australian architecture in the 70s wasn't really audio friendly) with Dali Zensor 7 speakers, Emotiva XPA 5 under a Marantz SR5011, psb centre speaker with a Definitive sub-woofer to the left. We typically stream Spotify through the Marantz for music (and watch our shows at night). When I sit in the middle, there is definitely a singer in the centre, with a flat line of instruments assembled from left to right from speaker to speaker. That's about it And it sounds... 'good'.
My question is, when the ELX speakers arrive, will the room negate - none, a little, or a lot - of the higher quality 'sound' I'm expecting? I'm particularly curious about a 'wider soundstage' considering there is a 3-4 foot wall next to the speaker in the corner. And before anybody asks about the off-centre rug, it's covering cables leading to some rear speakers - my wife hates those I'm not scientifically oriented, but I will try and understanding all replies. And yes, there is a large bank of windows behind where we sit - it's not a large room - and reasonably open. Thank you everyone.

PS I was kind of hoping there would be no issue, and the speakers would sound FANTASTIC if I just pointed them toward me. But a guy on Youtube informs that 'direct sound accounts for about 12% of what we hear' - according to a Harmon(???) study.

 

[Chrispy]

What guy on youtube?

 

[JPA]

Well, as you suspected the right speaker position is not good. But better speakers should still sound better even with that setup.

 

[Doodski]

Your right speaker is too close to the walls and corner and that makes the left one need to be brought out more too. I realize you have a entertainment center to align with but I'm just saying.

 

[NicC]

What guy on youtube?

I believe it was 'A British Audiophile': Hifi Myths & Misconceptions - Placing Speakers Close To Walls

Thanks for the input. It will be really interesting to hear them - especially if I get 'better' than just a straight line of LR instruments.

 

[Chrispy]

I believe it was 'A British Audiophile': Hifi Myths & Misconceptions - Placing Speakers Close To Walls

Thanks for the input. It will be really interesting to hear them - especially if I get 'better' than just a straight line of LR instruments.

I don't trust most of the youtubers myself, never heard of this one and a british audiophile isn't promising particularly. How about other orientations for placement in the room or is that against WAF or something?

 

[NTK]

PS I was kind of hoping there would be no issue, and the speakers would sound FANTASTIC if I just pointed them toward me. But a guy on Youtube informs that 'direct sound accounts for about 12% of what we hear' - according to a Harmon(???) study.

I don't know about a Harman study, but the direct-sound-to-reverberant-sound ratio depends on a number of factors. The most important one is of course listening distance, then room size, amount of room absorption, and loudspeaker directivity (i.e. wide dispersion vs narrow dispersion).

To give some examples, below is from Genelec (link: correct monitors). These numbers are representative of well treated professional studios (as indicated by the given room reverberation times, RT60). You can see that the "critical distances" for the 8330A and 8331A in a 75 m^3 room are ~1.9 and ~2.1 m. The critical distance is where the amount of direct sound equals to the reverberant sound. The slightly shorter critical distance for the 8330A is likely due to its wider dispersion than the 8331A (the off-axis sound of 8330A drops off slower with angle).

The 75 m^3 room volume may be representative of your room. So therefore, if your listening distance is significantly over 2 m, you will be hearing more reflected sound than direct sound.

 

[NicC]

The 75 m^3 room volume may be representative of your room. So therefore, if your listening distance is significantly over 2 m, you will be hearing more reflected sound than direct sound.

Now that's interesting. We're at 4m, and it's funny, but I 'can't tell' if I'm heairng reflections, probably because we've sat 10 years in that spot, and had no other real reference. Sounds okay to us. Nothing makes me cringe. So, I guess I can expect to have Dave Fabrikant's work 'put a smile on my face' as some people say about their various upgraded speakers.

or is that against WAF or something?

Oh, most definitely

 

[boxerfan88]

While there isn’t much that can be done with room structure… if it was me… i would toe-in the new speakers toward MLP so as to increase direct/reflected sound ratio, as a start… then tweak from there.

You’ve placed the subwoofer at the left (no corner) side, that should help even out the bass a little bit.

 

[DonH56]

If possible, buy or build a little stand to go on top of your TV stand so the center speaker can go on top of the shelf and move the electronics onto the bottom shelf where the center is now. Then move the right speaker near the TV, and swap the sub and left speaker positions so the speakers are on each side of the TV. Then add some absorption (you can get white or off-white panels to better blend into the walls) on the walls behind and beside the right speaker to help better match the dispersion of the left speaker (which is firing into an opening).

If moving the center is not possible, you could swap the sub and left speaker, and electronics and right hand speaker, and then add absorption as above.

Might help a little....

 

[Bjorn]

You should treat the side wall reflections from the right wall. Also pull the speaker out some.

Installing the TV on the wall would also be beneficial.

 

[caught gesture]

I’d try moving the speakers nearer to the tv by just swapping position with the electronics and sub. You could move them slightly more forward from the front wall as well. If you really want to make positive changes then taking measurements is the best way ahead although if you “believe” that something sounds better then that can also be a win! Just don’t apply that principle to expensive cables!