- 6 -
Tips for installation and placement
This chapter contains general information about
installing and placing your speakers.
These are general hints and tips, so there may be
exceptions.
What room will
provide the best
sound reproduction?
Even the most competent HiFi equipment will
sound mediocre in the wrong environment. There
are a few basic rules concerning loudspeaker
placement and installation:
Reflections
/Absorbing
Carpets, curtains and some furniture absorb
midrange and high frequency sounds, which is
preferable. In contrast, big empty areas reflect
these frequencies producing a hard, unpleasant and
blurry sound. Apart from colouring the sound, the
stereo perspective will deteriorate. Reflections from
a room can roughly be compared to the reflections
causing ”ghost” images on a TV screen.
Amplification of bass
frequencies
If a loudspeaker is placed near a wall, ceiling or
floor the lower frequencies will be amplified by the
room. Sometimes this is desirable, sometimes not
(it may lead to indistinct bass reproduction).
The bass amplification becomes more obvious if the
speaker is placed near a corner. Thus, for a clear
sound the speaker should be placed at least 30 cm
(about 12 inches) away from the wall.
However, there are exceptions room this rule. For
some types of walls/rooms it may be an advantage
placing the loudspeaker closer to the wall.
Furniture
Be aware that some furniture may vibrate, causing
rattling noises at high sound levels.
Room dimensions
Quadratic rooms or rooms where the length is close
to twice the width should be avoided. These rooms
tend to cause unwanted resonance and room
modes.
Placing your
loudspeakers
The
angle of the speakers according to the listener
is of great importance.
Front speakers
In order to obtain the correct stereo perspective the
loudspeakers should be placed symmetrically in
front of the listener. The distance between the
speakers should be roughly 80% of the distance
between the listener and one of the speakers. Or
put in another way, the angle seen by the by the
listener should be about 45 degrees, as shown on
the picture.
Angle of speakers
Either you can choose to place the speakers angled
