Why is the wall behind our speakers so often called the rear wall?

[Hear Here]

If the back wall is in front, then the left wall is on the right and the right wall is on the left?

Who says the back wall is in front? No, the back / rear wall is behind (not in front of) the speakers and likewise the side walls are beside the speakers and not beside the listener. Simples!

 

[jeffaegrim]

While the discussion does seem mostly semantic, from what I remember, on the „early reflections“ graph, the „rear wall bounce“ refers to the wall behind the speaker. Is that correct? Important to know imo, as it provides you with information irt which wall to use absorption on

 

[Multicore]

Why is the wall behind our speakers called the rear wall?

Is it?

Oops.

/me tiptoes away looking guilty

 

[sceptical1]

If this is a question of perspective I would choose the thing that is actually capable of a point of view and not the inanimate thing made from wood and metal with no opinion at all as the reference.
The wall I face is the front wall because it is in front of me. Unless one listens doing a headstand the reason for this thread to exist has run its course.

I still can't believe that the OP would claim the wall in front of you is "often called the rear wall" when the opposite is far more common.

If the OP is British then I can give you an example of what makes sense to them, and why Americans are not the crazy ones,

Centre
Centred
Centreing

Do the British listen standing on their head?

 

[MattHooper]

I’ve always considered the rear wall to be the wall behind me and the front wall to be the wall in front of me. I automatically take a listener position orientation because that is by far the most natural. Trying to think from the perspective of the loudspeaker just muddy things for me.

Also, my stereo speakers share the room with my home theatre system, and my screen is on my front wall and my rear surround speakers are on the rear wall behind me.
It would feel very strange switching perspectives just because I’m talking about stereo versus surround speakers.

 

[a4eaudio]

I suspect the convention may vary as much from country to country as to individual choice.

Until I started reading audio forums with a large US membership, the rear / back wall was always considered as the wall behind the speakers. The US membership seem to be the ones that think more self-centredly and chose to use their own position as how to determine which is the rear wall!

...

Well, Kimmo is European and the VituixCAD measuring guides refer to the wall behind the speakers and in front of the listener as the front wall.

 

[NTK]

Well, Kimmo is European and the VituixCAD measuring guides refer to the wall behind the speakers and in front of the listener as the front wall.

View attachment 473479

Interesting. The direction of Z follows the left-hand rule, and is counter to standard convention, which follows the right-hand rule.

Cartesian coordinate system - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[EJ3]

I suspect the convention may vary as much from country to country as to individual choice.

Until I started reading audio forums with a large US membership, the rear / back wall was always considered as the wall behind the speakers. The US membership seem to be the ones that think more self-centredly and chose to use their own position as how to determine which is the rear wall!

In the 1970's the rear wall was the wall behind the speakers in brick & mortar Audio stores. What happened in the interim, I have no idea.

 

[Hear Here]

In the 1970's the rear wall was the wall behind the speakers in brick & mortar Audio stores. What happened in the interim, I have no idea.

It still is to most people (many less so Americans), in the same wat the "side walls" are those beside the speakers and not those beside the listener.

 

[-Matt-]

This is all about "frame of reference".

If you are struggling to understand why someone would ever use the opposite term (front/rear) to the one you prefer, then it probably indicates that you have a very fixed view of the world. (A bit stuck in your ways? )

In discussions where the topic is how the listener receives sound (especially in multi-channel systems) it makes sense to use the listener frame of reference. Front speakers are near the front wall, rear speakers near the rear wall etc.

If the discussion is about how sound is emitted from the speaker (for example in relation to speaker boundary interference) it can make sense to think of the wall behind the speaker as the rear or back wall. The drivers face forwards and project the sound forwards to the listener. In such a discussion the wall behind the listener is far enough away that it probably doesn't need to be referred to. (However, IMO, it would be a bit confusing to refer to it as the front wall).

Hopefully most of us can manage to mentally switch between these frames of reference, and if it is critical to the discussion we just have to put up with extra words such as... "the wall behind the speakers".

 

[EJ3]

It still is to most people (many less so Americans), in the same wat the "side walls" are those beside the speakers and not those beside the listener.

It still stuns me when I hear a fellow American tell me that the wall behind the seating area is the back wall. I always answer: "Not to the speakers. The rear wall to them is the rear wall that matters the most. As far as they are concerned, the wall behind our listening are is their front wall. If you want to improve your sound, that is a concept that you will need to understand. All walls are as referenced from the front stereo or stereo & center speaker positions".
Some apparently made it through life not understanding basic geometry, however...
They also (more often than not) seem to be people that you are not comfortable with when you are a passenger in their car.

 

[Alannn]

It still stuns me when I hear a fellow American tell me that the wall behind the seating area is the back wall. I always answer: "Not to the speakers. The rear wall to them is the rear wall that matters the most. As far as they are concerned, the wall behind our listening are is their front wall...

My speakers have no concern. Anthropomorphists still stun me.

 

[NTK]

Therefore, all 4 walls are rear walls. When the room has ceiling speakers, the ceiling is also a rear wall

 

[EJ3]

Therefore, all 4 walls are rear walls. When the room has ceiling speakers, the ceiling is also a rear wall

I agree that any wall behind a speaker or with a speaker in it is that speakers rear wall.
Since I only run 2.2 or 4.2, the amount of rear walls is limited.
At one time, a certain place that I was in (in the late 1970's) had a pair of 18" woofer's built into the bottom (but flush with) the floor. So that was a rear wall.

 

[Alannn]

For my outdoor patio speakers the rear wall of my house is the front wall. Calling it rear wall or front wall are both correct.

 

[Alannn]

I agree that any wall behind a speaker or with a speaker in it is that speakers rear wall.
Since I only run 2.2 or 4.2, the amount of rear walls is limited.
At one time, a certain place that I was in (in the late 1970's) had a pair of 18" woofer's built into the bottom (but flush with) the floor. So that was a rear wall.

If I turn my sub 180 degrees to face the wall instead of the listening position, then the front wall transforms into the rear wall. OMG, with a downward firing sub, the floor becomes the front wall.
Or perhaps the wall description should be referencing the listener orientation...

 

[EJ3]

For my outdoor patio speakers the rear wall of my house is the front wall. Calling it rear wall or front wall are both correct.

I just bring my speakers out through one of the sliding glass doors & set them on the concrete patio. Then the rear brick wall of my house is the rear wall to my patio (when I blast 110 DB at 1 meter) toward my dock which I have to use 150' of electrical cord to get to the end of.
So it's the outside rear/rear wall, I guess.

 

[DVDdoug]

I never realized it was ambiguous! What I've learned is that we need to be more specific and use more words. Just as in the theater they say stage left and stage right (from the performer's point of view.) Most people in the audience would say left or right from the audience's point of view and someone from the theater business might ask you to clarify.

I think the average American sitting on the couch would say that the speakers and TV are in front. If I said I was going to mount the TV on the back (or rear) wall they'd assume I'd have to turn the couch around.

"One man's ceiling is another man's floor", Paul Simon.

 

[EJ3]

If I turn my sub 180 degrees to face the wall instead of the listening position, then the front wall transforms into the rear wall. OMG, with a downward firing sub, the floor becomes the front wall.
Or perhaps the wall description should be referencing the listener orientation...

I use a pair of home built floor firing subs (12" dual 4 ohm voice coils, ported, tuned to 29 Hz) with a little over watts RMS a channel (4 OHM, 95 SINAD) & about the same for the mains. Of course, firing at the concrete floor, with a brick wall behind and eaves above, does a good job of sending the bass toward the dock.
I never actually measured it, but you have pretty good, fairly full range music at the dock.

 

[boxerfan88]

Therefore, all 4 walls are rear walls. When the room has ceiling speakers, the ceiling is also a rear wall

OMG!! Good one