Two speaker pairs side by side or 4 corners?

[twiiii]

What you measure with test equipment and what we hear aren't necessarily the same thing. The Haas effect allows us to pick up the first transient while suppressing others soon to follow so we can determine directivity. The effect is also non linear as to frequency . If you really want to place the rear speakers with the front speakers, its better if you stack the speakers. Now all that said once time passes after the leading edge of the transient reaches our ears the over all coloring of the sound will be effected by the interaction of the speakers depending on the spacing from one another. I have seen cases where the initial arrivals added fairly well but the over all response was horrible, and yes the system sounded suspiciously confusing. Other times when the frequency response added well, the intelligibility of the system was diminished as if some one had placed an object in front of the speakers and all you were hearing was the ambient sound of the signal in the room on the other extreme. So only experimentation will give you the answer, and it may take many attempts, to be successful or for you to realize it was a bad idea.

 

[E-Stat]

Ever go to a concert? They have speakers all over the place and there is a stereo image (if its a good band that know what they are doing).

The concerts I go to don't have speakers all over the place. In fact, they don't have speakers at all.

 

[WaynerN]

A stereo image is not the same thing as a soundstage. I attend concerts frequently. They are usually at the Kimmel Center and involve the Philadelphia Orchestra which does not have any musicians playing behind me.

My reference is the sound of acoustic instruments being played in an actual space. Anything else is only what one would like it to be.

Even the correct sound set-up does not have speakers in the rear. Sony has diagrammed the ideal set-up and the speakers are at the side.

 

[WaynerN]

If mine, I'd try these set up's, to see which sounded better:

First. All four speakers together, but with the bookshelfs inverted, tweeter to tweeter, on top of the towers. This should image better, with more precise sound.

Second. Again, all four speakers together, with the bookshelfs on the towers. But this time, I'd play with the bookshelf's positioning, and have them facing backwards to the towers. They could fire straight into the front wall, or be angled towards the front corners. This should sound more spacious. You could even play with wiring the bookshelfs in phase and out of phase to the mains. That would let you try both dipole and bipole playback, to see which sounded best.

If you wire them out of phase, you will have diminished bass.

 

[WaynerN]

I've honestly never been to a concert that had a stereo image or been in a car that had one either.
I'm sure it's possible but not very common on either in my experience.

Comb filtering is an actual thing that has nothing to do with 'golden ears'. It happens when frequencies cancel themselves out. Pretty neat reading actually.

Really? I've been to several Yes concerts. Steve Howe to the left, jamming his guitars thru his own guitar amps. Jon Anderson in the middle with his voice thru the PA, Rick Wakeman next to him and Chris Squire off to the right, thru his own amps. It's not mono thru the entire PA system. It's in stereo!!!!!!!

 

[darkblue94]

Ever go to a concert? They have speakers all over the place and there is a stereo image (if its a good band that know what they are doing).

You could even consider an orchestra multiple instruments speakers and there is a stereo image presented there.

And again, I have 9 speakers in my car and there is a stereo image there...........

Four tweeters, four mid-bass, one woofer. Nine drivers in a car is not really the same thing as nine speakers in a room. Stereo image? Sure. Soundstage? No.

 

[StimpyWan]

If you wire them out of phase, you will have diminished bass.

Not any different that the phase issues involved with electrostatics or Magnepans. And still, the bookshelf's being out of phase would only be an issue if both pair fired forward. Plus, with the more limited bass extension, there shouldn't be much cancellation. And by aiming the bookshelf pair away from the mains, there's less bass cancellation too, if the OP tries them out of phase. No harm to try.

 

[OMGCat!]

Really? I've been to several Yes concerts. Steve Howe to the left, jamming his guitars thru his own guitar amps. Jon Anderson in the middle with his voice thru the PA, Rick Wakeman next to him and Chris Squire off to the right, thru his own amps. It's not mono thru the entire PA system. It's in stereo!!!!!!!

I've honestly never been to a concert where the sound was anything above passable so I'm probably biased. I missed out on the big shows that Yes, Rush and the big arena guys put on which I'm actually kinda bummed about.

 

[pyoung272]

Really? I've been to several Yes concerts. Steve Howe to the left, jamming his guitars thru his own guitar amps. Jon Anderson in the middle with his voice thru the PA, Rick Wakeman next to him and Chris Squire off to the right, thru his own amps. It's not mono thru the entire PA system. It's in stereo!!!!!!!

Wayne, I think you are hearing howe on the left, anderson in the middle, and squire on the right (even with PA speakers all around the venue) is because the speakers to the sides and rear are not being fed the same signal as the speakers in the front (on stage). I think those concert PA systems are similar to home theater systems where you still hear the sound at the front, and the side and rear speakers creates a surround soundfield sensation. I could be wrong but that is my guess.

 

[reydelaplaya]

Although it's been changed now and replaced with just a stereo pair of speakers I really like, I used to run my Bose Acoustimass system in stereo with a set of Polk monitors (the triangles) sitting underneath the Bose satellites. The mids from the Polks did a very nice job of helping balance out where the Bose were deficient - they paired really nicely. My first post here on AK (I think) was asking for suggestions on how to take all the drivers from them and make one set of speakers. I was warned not to do that iirc, and so eventually built the speakers I have now, leaving the Polks and Bose intact.

Try putting yours where the two lefts and two rights are more or less stereo and in front of you. Move them around a bit, and even switch outer and inner positions til you get a sound you like.