Practice of sound / Installation and placement tips
This chapter contains common information on
loudspeaker placement and installation.
This is general rules, so there are exceptions of
some rules
In which room do
you achieve the best
sound?
No matter how good the equipment is, in the wrong
listening environment it will inevitably sound bad.
There are some basic rules concerning a proper
loudspeaker installation:
Reflections
Carpets, curtains and soft furniture absorb mid
range and high frequency sound, which is
preferable. Big empty areas on the other hand,
produce hard reflections that may lead to a blurry
dialogue. Apart from colouring the sound, the
perspective of the sound can also deteriorate.
Reflections in the room can roughly be compared to
the reflections that cause ghost pictures on a TV
screen.
Amplification of bass
frequencies
A loudspeaker that is placed near a wall, ceiling or
floor will amplify lower frequencies in a sometimes
not desirable way (since it may lead to an indistinct
sound reproduction). This amplification becomes
even more obvious if the loudspeaker is placed near
a corner. Thus, for a sound as clear as possible, the
loudspeaker should be placed at least 30 cm (about
12 inch) away from the wall.
Some speaker constructions are made to be placed
close to a wall however.
Furniture
Be aware that furniture may vibrate, creating noise
at high sound levels.
Room dimension
Quadratic rooms or rooms where the length is
exactly twice as long as the width should be
avoided, since they are very likely to produce
unwanted resonances.
Placement of the
subwoofer
The placement of the subwoofer in the room
dramatically affects the overall frequency response
and sound level of the system. At low frequencies
the effect of the room is strong. Even a slight
change in the subwoofer's location can make a
significant difference in the frequency balance.
Patience and experimentation is needed to find the
optimal placement. The placement affects the
phase difference between the main loudspeakers
and the subwoofer.
Subwoofers often get a more linear frequency
response placed in a corner.
