Speaker placement

[arken]

First i wanted to thank everyone in here for all your help rebuilding the 3 and 3a's .  After much changing around of speakers the 3's have become my everyday speaker. Now that my system is pretty much complete i want to work on room acoustics. I am going to put in a couple acoustic diffusers  at the reflection points and a few acoustic panels to take care of the echos. I have always been told to put acoustic research speakers up against the wall but everything i read says pull them out from the wall. If it means i will sacrifice some bass to correct the imaging i'm ok with that. What are your thoughts? Thanks ARKen 

[samberger0357]

I would suggest experimenting as much as possible. I've done that with my 3a's, and have found that they sound excellent no matter where I place them. I've had them on traditional 11" stands,  both close to the walls, and pulled out further into the room. I've experimented with heights, placing them first about 3 feet up, then about 4 1/2 feet off the ground. With this placement, I have them lying horizontally, pushed back against the walls(actually, curtains that are in front of the walls). and the result is an excellent soundstage and deep bass. I suppose I'm trying to replicate the placement that people back in the day used when they would place them in bookshelves high off the ground, lying  horizontally. For me,  they sound best this way. 

[Aadams]

2 hours ago, arken said:

I have always been told to put acoustic research speakers up against the wall but everything i read says pull them out from the wall. If it means i will sacrifice some bass to correct the imaging i'm ok with that

This Roy Allison paper was passed to me when I had a similar question.  A 3a woofer was used to produce the data.  In your situation fig 2 curves A and B tell you a lot.  http://www.classicspeakerpages.net/library/allison/other/technical_articles_by_roy_f/technical_articles_by_roy_f_18.html#previous-photo

[AR surround]

There are so many variables with speaker placement.   I have probably made the most egregious of sins by pulling my AR9's away from all the walls and toeing them in.   I prefer them positioned like this in my particular listening environment.   The imaging, breath and depth of sound stage is tremendous and I have no complaints about the bass response.   In a nutshell, just experiment to find the best sounding placement to your ears...and whatever won't get you thrown out of the house.

[TomK]

I'm glad you've posted this.     The LST-2 (and probably the LST) I believe need to be higher and away from corners and walls, and at ear height or slightly higher.     I'm already struggling to find a speaker stand capable of holding 60 pounds, much less one that will raise them to about 36" or more (sitting on a couch listening).

I can't even find the original owners manual online for a bit of guidance, which is a shame.   I'll continue to try different things with them.   Right now they're sitting on some 18" children's chairs from when my kids are little and they are just too low.

[arken]

Thanks Guys, I am going to do some experimenting this weekend. The 3's are really growing on me. The higher frequencies don't wear you out like other speakers do. You can listen for hours and not get fatigued. I watched something on you-tube that said pull your speakers back a 1/5 of the distance of the length of the room and sit 1/5 of the distance off the back wall. In may case that puts me a little over 14 foot away from the speaker when in the sweet spot. That seems a bit far to me but what do i know. I love these speakers the look , the sound everything. I bought the correct speaker grill material but once i got them done i was able to preserve the grill material on a new frame. Even though the material darkened quite a bit i still prefer over the newer material.  Thanks Again guys for all your help and advice!!! 

[xpat]

I've found that room acoustics, treatments and speaker placement has a tremendous effect on the sound.  That's one reason I love this hobby - tweaking the room to see the effect. 

I've had my AR5s close to the wall, on stands, in the corners etc.  In my particular environment, they sound best sitting on the floor.   They are 4.5 feet from the back wall and 16" from the side walls.   I have them tilted up ever so slightly using two ball bearings, covered by a wood flooring sample, and topped off  with some material from a company that sells cellular shades.   It's crazy but they sound the best with this configuration.   Enjoy the tweaking!

[Illf8ed]

Tom K:  I just bought two Bell’O SP200 stands that are 36” tall and can hold up to 100lbs.  A bit wobbly on the 7”x7” platform, but seem to be stable.  Listening to these LST-2s now…STYX Equinox.  

Chris Vorius rebuilt all six tweeters, so the LST-2s are in good shape.