Stand Height for AR18

[Guest stackowax]

Anybody know what the recommended stand height (if any) was for the AR18?

[AR_nut_in_Oregon]

Anybody know what the recommended stand height (if any) was for the AR18?

I would say, get em' off the floor at least 24 inches. Also, depending on your your furniture arrangement, get them above any obstructions. Bookshelves are a great place to place speakers.

Check out the archives...there are some informative write-ups for placing speakers.

[Rich W]

Anybody know what the recommended stand height (if any) was for the AR18?

Much depends on the distance to the other room boundaries. I have my AR-18's on stands that place the center of the woofer 30" from the floor. They are also 17" from the side walls and 45" from the back walls. Note that each distance is approximately 1.6 times the immediate lesser distance (i.e. 17" X 1.6 = 30", and 30" X 1.6 = 45"). These proportions insure that that the speakers mid-bass response is as smooth as possible, since none of the distances are exact multiples of each other thereby avoiding mid-bass cancellation (the so-called "Allison Effect"). In any case, I would not have the woofers lower than 24" from the floor, while trying to maintain the X 1.6 distance ratio if possible. Vary the speakers' distance from the three nearby room boundaries (using the 1.6 formula) until you achieve a good bass-to-treble balance and the stereo image is to your liking. You may have to compromise, since rarely does one placement do justice to all these listening requirements. You should avoid any placement where a distance to a boundary is the same as or multiples of another distance.

If you place your AR-18's in a bookshelf, try to fill the spaces around them with books so that the woofer is flush with the books. Then, try to observe the 1.6 ratio re: distance to floor (or ceiling) and side wall.

Incidentally, the 1.6 ratio (actually 1.61 to be exact) appears over and over again in art and nature, and is the basis of the "Golden Ratio". According to Wikopedia:

"In mathematics and the arts, two quantities are in the golden ratio if the ratio between the sum of those quantities and the larger one is the same as the ratio between the larger one and the smaller. The golden ratio is a mathematical constant, approximately 1.6180339887.[1]

At least since the Renaissance, many artists and architects have proportioned their works to approximate the golden ratio—especially in the form of the golden rectangle, in which the ratio of the longer side to the shorter is the golden ratio—believing this proportion to be aesthetically pleasing. Mathematicians have studied the golden ratio because of its unique and interesting properties".

Stackowax, I know your question was relatively straight-forward - forgive me if I've gotten so esoteric! But this method of placing speakers has practical audible benefits!

Best Regards,

Rich W

[AR_nut_in_Oregon]

Much depends on the distance to the other room boundaries. I have my AR-18's on stands that place the center of the woofer 30" from the floor. ........In any case, I would not have the woofers lower than 24" from the floor, while trying to maintain the X 1.6 distance ratio if possible. ........

Best Regards,

Rich W

Isn't that what I said....24"....? Very interesting explanation though, Rich