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Lay them on their sides?

Always best to test and go by ear....end result of two days worth of fiddling: These speakers sound best...and I mean by far.....on the floor standing upright. I don't think that proves that they don't perform well on their sides (yes, with tweeters at ear level) it is just the result of these units within the alchemy of the room/amp/source material. When they all come together the results are terrific. I NEVER would have guessed that this would be the best location, but it is.
 
scoloheros said:
I remember reading years ago that the tweeters should go to the outside when on their side like has been mentioned. I didn't read an explanation for it but it makes sense to me that the mid and highs go outside because we detect the source of those mid and higher frequencies better than low bass so there's a better stereo affect. I detect the source of the mid and highs but bass source location is harder for me to detect, it's just "in the room" to me so it makes sense to put the bass closer together when on their sides. Just using my logic there, don't know for sure, I'm sure several people here know. I think my little Altecs are bookshelves because of where they placed things on back.
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I think this would only work with 2-way where the tweeter is directly above the woofer (when vertical). My W60's have the tweeter off to one side, so trying to mirror-image them will not work. The tweeters need to be on the same plane as each other. That's one reason for doing horizontal placement in the first place. It gets the woofers on the same plane as the tweeters.

My W90's are different. Sitting upright, the twin woofers are arranged side by side, and the same goes for the midwoofers and tweeters, only they are configured in a horizontal tweeter/mid/mid/tweeter array , already putting the twin tweeters at the outer-left and outer-right positions, giving the W90 a very-wide soundstage when using a stereo pair. I still think there's hope for the W90's and horizontal placement, but they would probably have to be like 20" off the floor for it to work. Mine are already raised 10" with upright placement, and they weigh 125lbs each, so...
 
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OK yeah that makes sense to me, prob the way most bookshelves are made(?) I have a few Wharfedel's btw(garage sale), haven't even taken a close look at them yet, don't know much about them, just noticed yours in the pic. Anyway, the little Altecs I have are with the tweeter and woofer placed vertically. It surprises me how sensitive the height difference makes, bringing them level makes a really big difference.
 
scoloheros said:
OK yeah that makes sense to me, prob the way most bookshelves are made(?) I have a few Wharfedel's btw(garage sale), haven't even taken a close look at them yet, don't know much about them, just noticed yours in the pic. Anyway, the little Altecs I have are with the tweeter and woofer placed vertically. It surprises me how sensitive the height difference makes, bringing them level makes a really big difference.
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A lot of vintage box speakers from the '60's and '70's are like that. Basically ALL of the Wharfedale box speakers from those days are very-height-sensitive. They definitely reward proper, precise placement. But give them the time, and they can wow you. They like tubes most of all. The earliest ones used cone-tweeters (Some very-nice ones, actually... The larger Wharfedale models with the Super 3's are like velvet hammers).
 
I've never hooked up the Wharfdales, they are sitting in a room with a bunch of other speakers I need to look into. I hit a load at a garage sale a long time ago and just haven't gotten to several of them. They are the big ones that look like they go on the floor, 3 way. I had to look it up, they look like the W-70-C. But I guess that's for another thread, I have one pair and a single one in worse shape.
 
I was told many years ago orientation is less important than height for placement in most speakers. Horns and wave guides could be exceptions. My main speakers are on tall stands just above ear height when I am siting in my favorite chair.

If tweeters were less than eight to ten feet apart they go out. More than ten they go in. That was from the owners manual for my JBL L112s

I had some vintage Sonys with badges that could be rotated for vertical or horizontal placement. Not bad sounding but the nicest teak I have ever seen on a speaker.
 
"If tweeters were less than eight to ten feet apart they go out. More than ten they go in. That was from the owners manual for my JBL L112s" That's some good info, prob depends on the size of the speaker when it comes to the distance when turning others around but, something to mess around with I guess.
 
David B. Weems addresses the reason for vertical orientation in his book " Designing, Building, and Testing Your Own Speaker System" . He states that one reason tweeters should be on top is to place them more at ear level. Since the sound produced is more directional, it won't be lost. He also states that they should be vertically aligned, and when they are not, the tweeters should be placed to the inside of the listening area. Another reason is that if the woofer and tweeter are in a horizontal orientation, it can cause phase distortion because the sound waves reach your ears at different time intervals. This makes sense to me and may also explain why some Bose speakers have such an un-focused sound...to my ears anyway. I do remember reading about 30 years ago that optimum placement will put the tweeters about 30" from the floor...about ear level when seated. :music:
 
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