Von Schweikert Audio
930 Armorlite Drive, San Marcos, CA 92069
Ph (760)410-1650 Fax (760)410-1655
E-mail:
World Class Reference Speaker Systems for Music and Film
~ Website:
www.vonschweikert.com
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in the center. Your dealer can recommend tuning products he/she carries and may be
able to install them. If your dealer does not offer this service, call the above- mentioned
tuning companies for further information.
CUBIC ROOM DIAGONAL LOCATION:
Rooms with mathematically repeating
dimensions (like 16 x 16 x 8', for instance) will have a midbass/lower midrange
‘loading’ effect due to the similar ratios of boundary distances. In this case, it will help
to locate one speaker on each side of a corner and fire the speakers diagonally into the
room. Note that you will also need to place your listening chair at a diagonal position as
well, at an equilateral triangulated distance.
Diagonal placement is an extreme measure but may be necessary if you wish to achieve
the ultimate in accurate frequency response. Diagonal placement will prevent a portion
of the standing wave energy from boosting certain frequencies, since the reflection
patterns are broken up in this configuration. The distances to each side-wall is critical,
and experimentation will be required with placement of not only the speakers
themselves, but also your seating position and wall treatment. It may be necessary to use
absorptive or dispersive devices on the wall to ameliorate the wall reflections that may
cause tonal imbalances or imaging confusion. See your dealer.
FLOORING:
If you have a hardwood floor, (especially without carpeting), there is the
possibility that vibration and resonance will be transferred to the floor, which will then
act as a passive radiator. The floor resonance will sound like extra midbass is being
added to the sound, and will smear the bass notes as well, since the floor will vibrate
long after the woofers stop moving. On bare hardwood floors, it will be necessary to
decouple the speakers with the spikes placed on the discs or rubber decoupling feet
supplied or products such as Sorbothane by Audioquest.
The use of spikes is best
suited for carpeted floors and will result in some transmission to wood floors.
In two story homes with wood floors on the second floor, we have noticed a tendency
for the floor to absorb deep bass due to sympathetic resonance. In this case, the speaker
will sound like it does not have bass, so the cure would be to either move the speakers
closer to a boundary where the floor is not flexing as much or to decouple the speaker
completely from the floor. That can be accomplished by making a platform from wood
filled with sand, or using a granite base several inches thick. In addition to the induced
resonance, there will be upper frequency reflections that will affect the midrange/tweeter
balance, usually boosting the treble/upper midrange and destroying the image solidity.
If you have hardwood floors, installing a thick rug in between the speakers and the
listening chair will normally correct this problem.
