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Dynaudio LYD Series
Personal Reference Monitor
Positioning the speakers
Acoustic
Axis
Acoustic
Axis
Positioning
the
speakers
In order to get the best performance from your Dynaudio speakers,
care must be taken in positioning them in the listening environment. The
room greatly affects the sound so the position and angle of the speakers
relative to the walls, ceiling and floor is critical in any listening environment.
Acoustic axis
The acoustic axis is an imaginary line passing
through the center point on the speaker and
is used for positioning. This point, shown in
Figure 3, should be used for measuring the
distance and angle to the listener. The point is
positioned half the distance between the
boundary of the tweeter and the boundary of
the woofer or midrange driver. LYD 5, 7 & 8 are
designed to be positioned vertically and pointed
directly at the listener, while the LYD 48 is
designed to be used horizontally.
Figure 3 : The acoustic axis
Room boundaries
Each surface in the room constitutes a boundary
for sound; floor, walls, and ceiling. Room
boundaries will reflect sound to one degree
or another depending on what their surface is
made of; hardwood, drywall, carpet etc. Placing
speakers very close to any boundary should
be avoided. The closer a speaker is to a room
boundary, the more anomalies there can be in the
low frequency response of the system. Placing
a speaker close to more than one boundary
(e.g. in a corner) creates even worse problems
in many cases.
Conversely, placing speakers exactly halfway
between room boundaries can over-excite
fundamental standing waves in the room,
making the bass response less reliable. This
also holds true for the listening position. These
room anomalies are always present and good
placement of the speaker and listener will reduce
their effect.
A good rule of thumb is to place speakers
somewhere between one quarter and one third of
the distance between room boundaries as shown
in Figure 4. Also, make sure the listening position
Figure 5:
Speaker angle,
60deg
38%
62%
is not right in the center of the room if possible. In
larger rooms, this is less critical than in small rooms.
Sometimes this ideal positioning is not possible.
Limitations in space and other equipment or
furniture in the room will dictate some aspects of
the speaker position. The idea is to do the best
you can with the limitations you have.
Listening distance
The LYD 5,7 & 8 speakers are designed as near
field monitors. Near field monitors should be
placed relatively close to the listener, between 1
and 2 meters. LYD 48 can be used both as a near
or mid field monitor. The ideal listening distance
is between 1.5 and 2.5 meters.
Speakers on the desk
These loudspeakers are designed to work well
in a variety of positions, even very close, placed
on the work surface in front of you. If they are
resting on a desk or console, they may be tilted
up to aim at ear level with great results.
Speaker stands
If you need to place your speakers on stands
behind your work surface or computer screens
at a greater distance, it is recommended that you
use a subwoofer to augment the low frequency
response. This will help the speaker system
achieve a reasonable volume without overdriving
the speakers.
Listening angle
To begin with, the speakers should be placed so
that the drivers are oriented vertically, with the
tweeter directly above the woofer. This orientation
ensures correct time alignment between the high
and low frequencies as they arrive at the listener.
Horizontal angle
The speakers should be placed so that they
create a 60 degree angle between the speakers,
as shown in Figure 5. The easiest way to
accomplish this without measuring the angle,
is to create an equilateral triangle between the
speakers and the listener. In other words, the
distance between each speaker should equal
the distance from each speaker to the listener.
The LYD 48 can be positioned with the woofers
inside (recommended) or outside, depending
on how the equilateral triangle can be achieved
best. Make sure to take measurements from the
acoustic axis of the speaker.
Figure 4:
Room diagram,
walls, and ceiling
