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Speaker stacking: what's the deal?

RunOutGroove

RunOutGroove

Addicted Member
I posted not too long ago about ending up with one more set of speakers than I can actually use. I bought these ADS L570/2 speakers that ended up being too large for the remote position that I got them for so I've temporarily replaced the Jamo C103 speakers that were in my living room with these things. I like both of them, though they do sound quite different and I just had the crazy idea of hooking both of them up. I don't think I'd ever want to run them together, but I could imagine switching back and fourth between them depending on what mood I'm in or what type of music I'm listening to. The problem with this idea though is that with the way that my room is oriented and set up is that the only space that I'd have to put two sets of speakers up would be to stack them. The Jamos are smaller so they would have to go on top and then they will be high enough so that the tweeters would be head level, rather than the hight that conventional wisdom would dictate - at ear level where I'm sitting down in the spot where I typically listen. Because of the design of the Jamos, with them being wider at the bottom, I can't really place them upside down so that the tweeters are lower...

I know that I could hook these things up and experiment but with the way that I have my gear set up switching things out is kind of a PIA so I'm wondering if it would even be worth the bother? Would having the tweeters on one set of speakers at 1.5-2' higher than ear level be a really bad thing for the balance of frequencies, the imaging, etc? Some of the seating I have too is pretty close to the speakers and this would mean that the path of the tweeters in the higher up Jamo speakers would be kind of going over my head. One thing to consider is that that these speakers seem to do the off axis thing pretty well as I can hear the stereo separation pretty well even if I'm far off to one side of the pair. I kind of feel that it might be a bit offensive aesthetically though so I'm not even 100% enthusiastic about going this route, which means that I really won't be at all bothered by any responses which say "this is a stupid idea."
 
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I think the idea of stacking home speakers was popularized by Henry Kloss about his comments on stacking Advents.
You will see stacked speakers in arrays at most concert venues.
If you don't think it's fun trying stacking and the variants of stacking than it is a giant waste of time. My $.02
 
Maybe put something under the Jamo to have it point down to the listener as is all the rage with the $200,000 and up speakers today.
 
Blue Shadow said:
Maybe put something under the Jamo to have it point down to the listener as is all the rage with the $200,000 and up speakers today.
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I was thinking the same thing. I have used Blutac to point stacked speakers downwards, but be careful, as it can discolour some finishes.
 
I was thinking of those foam tilt stands but they would need blutac or something to keep things from moving.
 
Years ago, a local hifi magazine had stacked Quad ESL in their listening room. That made sense as these would not deliver high enough SPL as a single pair.
Stacking loudspeakers, especially when driving them from separate amplifiers or a single high powered one, helps reduce compression caused by the drivers and crossover. Both the drivers, especially the woofers, can reach non-linear operation mode rather fast and crossover components, especially inductors, can saturate.
Then there's the benefit (?) of having more sources in a line. Although a line array is a totally different thing and doesn't come close to stacking two loudspeakers, even identical ones, having a tall stacked set makes the source create a more cylinder like sound wave that has an increased sound level compared to a point source radiating a spherical sound wave. Of course you need plenty of identical drivers lined up vertically to achieve this but even stacking two loudspeakers gets you one step towards that direction. Stacking three makes a second step.

But there are caveats as well. Firstly, if you stack two totally different loudspeakers you get two different timbres mixing up and the end result may be subjectively nicer or even worse (muddy?) to the listener. And then there's lobbing which is a complex contour of canelation and peaks caused by two or more separate drivers radiating the same frequencies at a distance from each other.

However, depending on the room layout, reflections, listener taste and several other factors, it can be worth experimenting. If you have a few sets of speakers that can be safely stacked on on top of the other, why not try. For best results, it's a good thing to employ multiple amplifiers, one per set of loudspeakers. At least to ensure you achieve the benefit of reduced compression and increased headroom.
 
I always thought more would be better--double your pleasure and all that--my experiences:

1. Sometimes two sets of speakers does sound better, especially if they're the same brand. I had a pair of Paradigm Titans atop a pair of Paradigm towers and together they sounded like pure magic.

2. I can't remember which two sets I had going together, but they sort of cancelled each other out--a waste of energy, sounded extra muddy instead of extra better. You have to fool around with placement and speaker types.
 
Stacking Advents was not originally advocated by Henry Kloss. The whole thing started in a stereo shop down south and discovered by Harry Pearson of "The Absolute Sound" in the early seventies.

Since then, people have gotten the impression that stacking any mish mash set of speakers should be good, which is NOT the case.

Doug
 
Personally, I wouldn't bother, but I've BTDT. Since you haven't, you may learn something if you try it. What I learned was that it may just initially sound alluring, but that, in the long run, I much prefer to listen one pair at a time. There is science that backs up this position, involving things like time coherence and imaging, among others. Not that science trumps personal preference. I believe everyone should use their gear any way they find pleasing - even when they are entirely wrong, as when disagreeing with me. :)
 
just dave said:
Not very practical for my garage or family room.I might have to scale it down a bit.
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Back yard @ summer!

Say, you've been around these boards for a spell: Do you recall the AK member who used to set up a ton of stage monitors -- JBL, Altec or other I no longer recall the make, might even have been a mix -- in his yard for summer super-blowouts? I know Jaymanna did something similar @ his annual Twangfests, but this old cat went bigger -- WAY bigger -- in his arrangement. Hi effin' back yard looked like the stage @ an outdoor rock festival circa 1977.

Anyway, I'm curious to know because I recall his having posted pix which may or may not still be "viewable", and that's if the thread @ which he posted the photos survived the transfer of AK data from the old forum platform to this XenForo platform.
 
I enjoy experimenting with stacking various brands of vintage bookshelf style speakers and for me, the only thing that matters is if it sounds better using 2 pair, as long as the amplifier is stable driving the lower impedance load. My experience has been that 2-way speakers seem to yield better results than most 3-ways when stacked. Even using two completely different sets of speakers can result in a terrific result, but not always. If the OP has the ability to stack his speakers, he might want to give it a try if it is not too difficult to setup.
 
I doubt that it works as well for just any speaker but having run stacked Advents for many years I can assure you that a properly stacked pair of Large Advents (top inverted) fed properly (separate but equal amp) does indeed sound better that you would think a speaker in that price range should. It sort of takes them from nice vintage bookshelf to
really nice large tower at maybe 1/4 of the price of admission. Are there better speakers?
Oh hell yes. Can you likely do a lot better for the ~$150-200 a pair used they will cost you? 'Doubtful. The little mass-market speaker combo that could hold its own WAY above its weight class...
 
Bringing home all those bookshelf sized speakers it's inevitable that they'll end getting stacked. I did it to and had fun messing around with various set ups. One particular stack that didn't sound too bad was Klipsch kg 4's and hpm 100's. One of the stranger ones I did was Mcintosh ml1c's on top of a pair of Bozak Concert Grands. They didn't pair up all that well and stacked ml1c's sounded much better.
vintage mac gear 056.jpg
 
Doug G. said:
Stacking Advents was not originally advocated by Henry Kloss. The whole thing started in a stereo shop down south and discovered by Harry Pearson of "The Absolute Sound" in the early seventies.
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Oops, didn't see your post. Indeed, it was at The Stereo Shop on Peachtree St where HP and his friend JWC first heard them.
 
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