How do you measure your listening distance?

[MoTeD]

So most of us know that listening distance has a huge impace on the sound we hear through or speakers. I would like to know how do you measure that distance.

I measure from speaker to speaker at the center of the tweeters. Then I half that distance, and from that half, I measure back away from the speakers to my listening chair.
What is your method?

 

[timofred]

I start with that method,
then adjust seat back and forth till it sounds right.

 

[motorstereo]

Eyeball and ear method here. I eye up what I think should be close to the best sweet spot and then move around till I find it. The tape measure method is a decent reference point but isn't always spot on because of room acoustics.

 

[MoTeD]

Eyeball and ear method here. I eye up what I think should be close to the best sweet spot and then move around till I find it. The tape measure method is a decent reference point but isn't always spot on because of room acoustics.

Agreed. But that is what acoustical treatments are for.
Personally I cannot stand looking at one speaker being too far off center than the other. I am talking 1/2 inch or so and coming from a carpenters stand point that is a big difference. So i use room treatments to keep it all symetrical, or close to.

 

[Wungun]

Equilateral triangle to start...
Then audition some tunes. I adjust til I get the vocals "sitting" center stage and then experiment with widening and toeing in...

Currently though, I'm testing with recursive ambiophonic cross talk elimination, which requires a very narrow speaker placement.


Sent from my iPhone...

 

[chef free]

Personally I cannot stand looking at one speaker being too far off center than the other. I am talking 1/2 inch or so and coming from a carpenters stand point that is a big difference. So i use room treatments to keep it all symetrical, or close to.

Me too! Especially the toe-in! My friends think I'm obsessed but they always admit my system sounds pretty good!

 

[sKiZo]

I've got Carver holographic, so speaker positioning is not only critical, it's an art, and yes ... an obsession.

I set one of these up on a mike stand at the listening position. Just swing it back and forth for each speaker and aim at the tweets.

Matching toe is easy ... I just tape a piece of string across the outside corners of the speakers and turn the speakers to match. Once I get it right, I put thin strips of gorilla tape around the bases of the speakers as references.

If you don't want to spring for the laser, once again, twine is your friend. Tape a piece right over the tweeter and run it back to the listening position. Mark the string where it intersects your ear and do the other channel.

The ultimate tool is a chair that swivels and reclines. That way you can just swing into the sweet spot.

The laser is a fun tool though. I use it for home projects, woodworking, and driving the cat crazy ...

 

[bluesky]

I've never measured a 'listening distance' in 58 years, actually...never.

Never even considered it. It was never a concern to me. Ever.

 

[MoTeD]

Seems this has turned into a speaker positioning thread. No that that is a bad thing. I love reading the responces. My original question was simply how do you measure your listening distance? As in, from the tweeters, dead center of the tweeters, center base of speaker, corner base of speaker. I commonly hear/read about a reference to a listening distance and was simply wondering how others measured that distance. :smile: :thmbsup:

 

[slpcorner]

Seems this has turned into a speaker positioning thread. No that that is a bad thing. I love reading the responces. My original question was simply how do you measure your listening distance? As in, from the tweeters, dead center of the tweeters, center base of speaker, corner base of speaker. I commonly hear/read about a reference to a listening distance and was simply wondering how others measured that distance. :smile: :thmbsup:

All of your examples (if I'm reading it correctly) are contained in the speaker
itself? Would measuring from one part of the speaker vs. another part of the
same speaker make any difference? Couldn't be more than inches - if that.

Am I missing something?

 

[Naptown Rob]

I sit on my couch (on the second cushion from the left) and say "yep. There's the stereo. Looks like its about 12 feet away."

But in all seriousness, I sit on one side of the living room. The stereo sits on the other. It is not the boss of me. Probably one of the reasons I gave up on the Carver Holography so quickly. I can't be bothered to micro-manage my listening. Makes it more like work than play.

 

[MoTeD]

All of your examples (if I'm reading it correctly) are contained in the speaker
itself? Would measuring from one part of the speaker vs. another part of the
same speaker make any difference? Couldn't be more than inches - if that.

Am I missing something?

I guess most speakers it might not. But then again on the most of the speakers I am familiar with it would. Seing as how size and shape of the speaker seem it would make a big difference as to where your reference point of measurement was.

 

[Wigwam Jones]

TLAR method here (That Looks About Right). I really just do not get overly engrossed in the minutia of this type of thing. I do about other stuff. Not this.

 

[MoTeD]

I've got Carver holographic, so speaker positioning is not only critical, it's an art, and yes ... an obsession.

I set one of these up on a mike stand at the listening position. Just swing it back and forth for each speaker and aim at the tweets.

Matching toe is easy ... I just tape a piece of string across the outside corners of the speakers and turn the speakers to match. Once I get it right, I put thin strips of gorilla tape around the bases of the speakers as references.

If you don't want to spring for the laser, once again, twine is your friend. Tape a piece right over the tweeter and run it back to the listening position. Mark the string where it intersects your ear and do the other channel.

The ultimate tool is a chair that swivels and reclines. That way you can just swing into the sweet spot.

The laser is a fun tool though. I use it for home projects, woodworking, and driving the cat crazy ...

I really like the tool.

 

[slpcorner]

I guess most speakers it might not. But then again on the most of the speakers I am familiar with it would. Seing as how size and shape of the speaker seem it would make a big difference as to where your reference point of measurement was.

Well ok then...

If you have a mid-range driver, measure from the center of that driver.

If you have a 2-way, then measure the distance between the center of the
woofer and the center of the tweeter. Now take the golden ratio of that
distance and measure up from the center of the woofer. That is your target point.

Example: Let's say it's exactly 6" from woofer center to tweeter center...
golden ratio of 6" is 3.708" and 2.92". Taking the longer value, measure 3.708" up
from the woofer center = target.


Note: If you've got a "tweeter on bottom" configuration, (as some of us do)
then measure down from the woofer.

here's a quick and easy golden ratio calculator:

http://www.mathsisfun.com/numbers/golden-ratio.html

Now the question is - do you measure to the center of your head or to each ear?

EDIT: If you have time-aligning tweeters, be sure to adjust your measurements accordingly.

 

[sKiZo]

If you have a mid-range driver, measure from the center of that driver.

Upper midrange or lower midrange?

<BIFF!>
(owwwwww)

... thanx ... I needed that!

 

[slpcorner]

Upper midrange or lower midrange?

<BIFF!>
(owwwwww)

... thanx ... I needed that!

we're going to need a slide rule and a scratch pad.

 

[bluesky]

I sit on my couch (on the second cushion from the left) and say "yep. There's the stereo. Looks like its about 12 feet away."

But in all seriousness, I sit on one side of the living room. The stereo sits on the other. It is not the boss of me. Probably one of the reasons I gave up on the Carver Holography so quickly. I can't be bothered to micro-manage my listening. Makes it more like work than play.[/QUOTE]


Totally agree.

And just raise the speakers, speaker stands, and get the tweeters up to ear level when sitting. Mine are slightly lower, no big deal. Sounds great.

I've really never cared about distance, room acoustics, none of that stuff. But the tweeter height is important.

 

[cubdog]

My math skills have never been a strong suit. If I have to involve ciphering in order to enjoy my stereo I'd just sell it and take up knitting. Wait, don't you have to count loops or something doing that. :scratch2: Screw it.

cubdog

 

[sKiZo]

Holography was worth the effort for me ... and the math really wasn't all that complicated ...