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4 speaker stereo imaging/soundstage

tngeorge

tngeorge

New Member
Hi all,
I've read a few posts about this subject, have set up my 4 speaker stereo in a room 17'x17'. I used string and measuring tape to place the speakers. Once speakers were placed and centered towards the back of a chair (sweet spot) where the ears would be, I was surprised at the outcome.

For example, Beatle's Abby Road, Ringo's drums were imaging from the left rear, with vocals centered so much that they were "in my head", so to speak. Instruments were not coming from the speakers, but from a "space" near them. I really couldn't detect where the sound was coming from, it was as if I was in the recording session, in the middle of the performers. Classical is similar - Violins can be heard from extreme left, to left/middle, and a few from right/middle. Cellos, extreme right, and so on.

What amazes me is this - I always thought that if you had 2 left or right channel speakers, the sound would come from between those speakers, but no, its almost as if there are 2 parts to each channel, or so it seems.

Just wanted to share my experience. Many records are different, according to how they are mixed, and it affects the imaging/soundstage quite a bit. Pink Floyd, although I'm nt a huge fan, Wish You Were Here, has some amazing mixing going on there.

Thanks, just sharing,
Tyler
 
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Are you stacking 2 speakers on the left and 2 on the right? Or are they arranged some other way (i.e., 4 corners of the room)?

Regardless, sounds like you have them pretty well set up. The magic you are hearing from the sound stage the speakers project should be what everybody aspires to.
 
BmWr75 said:
Are you stacking 2 speakers on the left and 2 on the right? Or are they arranged some other way (i.e., 4 corners of the room)?

Regardless, sounds like you have them pretty well set up. The magic you are hearing from the sound stage the speakers project should be what everybody aspires to.
Click to expand...
Speaker in each corner, all pointed to the sweet spot in the middle.
I guess I got lucky.
 
The setup I have is in the basement of an 1847 home. The room is also my workshop, a true man cave. I have attempted to add some photos of the room - please don't judge me - and a rough sketch of the set up.
One thing I learned, was that if one can get the tweeters on the same horizontal plane, imaging seems to improve. Hence, I made speaker stands to accomplish the goal.
The front facing speakers are a pair of bookshelf Definitive Technology SM65, rear speakers are floor mount Technics SB-4500a.
Like I said before, I got lucky, as the room with its lack of acoustics-friendly treatments, still seems to work - for me, anyhow. I can't explain how this works. It aint perfect, no doubt, but Im happy.



IMG_4320.jpegIMG_4319.jpeg
 
that's an awesome listening room you have @tngeorge !

I repair my audio equipment in a room very similar to that and I love hanging out there listening to my newly revived gear.
 
Thanks for compliment. Glad the wife doesn’t agree.

The acoustic gods did indeed give me a pass. But then, with every thing off, and a clap of the hands, the sound seems to be absorbed by what I don’t know. Perhaps that has something to do with my “luck”. ;-)
No echo at all. But do the acoustics absorb music, or deflect? Idk.
My 71 year old ears probably can’t pick it up if they did deflect.

Thanks again.
 
All tweeters at ear level is the way to go. And you have a great basement! I love the brick floor. Looks like you don't have too much of a problem with moisture.
 
Yes, floor joists are exposed. All frame construction.
Yeah, with all the diffusion, I wouldn’t think an image would be possible. But,
 
Yep, have a look at sound diffuser panels. They are generally slats of wood with spaces between, not unlike an open floor joist. My front workspace is very dead, concrete everywhere except the open ceiling beams with insulation batts. The same size room next to it is all drywall and carpet on the concrete floor and its an echo box.

I think what I'd change about that room is the chair for one with extra padding but that's about it.
 
tngeorge said:
No echo at all. But do the acoustics absorb music, or deflect? Idk.


Thanks again.
Click to expand...

In your space, the room acoustics are largely influenced by a lot of scattered reflections (in the mids and highs) rather than specular reflections...which is a good thing. A wave of sonic energy that deflects off of a hard, flat surface will have a angle of deflection that is equal to the angle of incidence. This is called a "specular" reflection and is not good for fidelity. It's the catalyst for echoes and other acoustic distortions and it plagues most hifi listening spaces where there are lot of flat, hard and parallel surfaces. With all of the "stuff" you have all around your room creating irregularly shaped surfaces everywhere, the sonic energy gets broken up rather than deflected directly back into the room...which is why your hand claps have a fast decay. You've created some natural diffusion, but that's not to be confused with actual mathematically designed and professionally built diffusion panels with the difference being the former has random scattering of sonic energy and the latter has predictable diffusion of sonic energy.

But I do see one potential issue. Another absolute with room acoustic physics is that the reproduction of low frequency energy is always weakest in the dead center of the room...which is where it appears your chair is. If you're have having to boost the bass on a tone control or EQ to get an amount of bass you find satisfying, it's almost certainly because of where the listening spot is located. But if you're not a bass head, it may not even matter to you.
 
I think your room makes your speaker placement work. You've achieved by accident what many of us go to great lengths to achieve :beerchug:
Like a bumblebee's flight, don't worry about why it works, just enjoy the benefits :thumbsup:
P.S, don't clean up the room because you'll wreck everything :D
 
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