2-channel Lovers, How Big Is Your Sweet Spot?

[gjpham]

Hi audiophiles, tell us how big in diameter is your "sweet spot"?
Mind is just about 1.5 sq foot. So small that if I lean about 1 foot to the right or left, I'd lose it. Is there any general logic of how to expand the sweet spot?
Not trying to be mean but to prevent this topic going "off-road". My question is how to EXPAND it, not how to GET it. I already Got it, just want to EXPAND it. >>"smile"<<.

[Feanor]

Hi audiophiles, tell us how big in diameter is your "sweet spot"?
Mind is just about 1.5 sq foot. So small that if I lean about 1 foot to the right or left, I'd lose it. Is there any general logic of how to expand the sweet spot?
Not trying to be mean but to prevent this topic going "off-road". My question is how to EXPAND it, not how to GET it. I already Got it, just want to EXPAND it. >>"smile"<<.

Or narrow at least: a couple of feet either side and the difference becomes quite noticable. The size of your driver relative to the sound wavelength is important. There can be other factors, but this is generally the most important one.

A driver will give wide dispersion for sound waves up to the point where its width is 0.5x the length of the sound wave (which is directly proportional to the frequency). Sound travels at roughly 1100 feet/second, so the wave length at 1100Hz is 1 foot. If you expect your midrange driver to have good dispersion at that point, the actual cone plus perhaps 1/2 the surround had better be about 6" or less.

My Magnepanar MG 1.6QR have a quasi-ribbon mid/tweeter. This driver is roughly 2" wide, consequently it starts to beam around 3300Hz, so its horizontal dispersion is pretty narrow. Of course it's about 4 feet tall, so vertical dispersion about or bellow that, is virtually nil.

[kexodusc]

Hmmm, good question? My towers are about 7 ft way from my listening spot (sweet spot). I'd say I could move a good foot or so left or right. If I set them up wider apart, that figure changes. There's a point where it just collapses too...

I don't think this is much of a measure of a speaker's quality though. Power response is rarely flat in any speaker, at least not with a reasonably flat FR. I've heard a lot of really good sounding seakers with very fine, pin point sweet spots. Less forgiving to horizontal displacement, perhaps, but damn they sounded fine. I think I'd rather a speaker that sounded best at my listening position than one that sounded better at places I'll never listen from...for other situations, wider dispersion might be preferable? YMMV.

[PeruvianSkies]

I tested this out numerous time when getting the right distance and such and my current setup enables me to move back a foot, forward a foot, side a foot, other side a foot and up or down a foot without losing the 'spot', which is really more like 2 ft squared. The distance from my speakers to my ears is approx. 10 ft.

[GMichael]

My sweat spot seems to be about 3.5 feet wide. I've found that toe-in is a big help for me. As I move to the right, I am more in line with the left (farther away) speaker. Ditto, the other way. This lets both wifey & I sit and listen at the same time.

[bobsticks]

My sweetspot is comparable to the others at roughly 2 to 3 three feet in width. The depth seems dependent on the source material as a few recordings necessitate moving my chairs back a foot or so. Overall I'm happy with the central soundstaging on 2-channel material but can't help but feel that I lose a bit of imaging on the sides to to the walls. Oh what I wouldn't give for a bigger room.

On a slightly OT rant, the absolute swetspot seems to be considerably smaller in multi-channel efforts. The Cinema I Center though serviceable is not the be-all-end-all. It tends to beam. Consequently the area of ultimate seems to be significantly smaller...

[PeruvianSkies]

My sweetspot is comparable to the others at roughly 2 to 3 three feet in width. The depth seems dependent on the source material as a few recordings necessitate moving my chairs back a foot or so. Overall I'm happy with the central soundstaging on 2-channel material but can't help but feel that I lose a bit of imaging on the sides to to the walls. Oh what I wouldn't give for a bigger room.

On a slightly OT rant, the absolute swetspot seems to be considerably smaller in multi-channel efforts. The Cinema I Center though serviceable is not the be-all-end-all. It tends to beam. Consequently the area of ultimate seems to be significantly smaller...

I recently changed my listening chair to one that sits a bit lower (maybe only 3 inches lower), but it's incredibly noticeable in both HOW I am postured as well as HOW it sounds. I am really enjoying having my ears at a more consistent level with the tweeters. I am 6'4" so I needed a slightly lower chair to compensate, now I am in the ZONE!

It's amazing how much difference 3 inches can make (that's what she said).

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[jim goulding]

If your speakers act like a point source or can be made to act like a point source, sit an a equidistant triangle with you listening seat and play with toe in.

[kexodusc]

On a slightly OT rant, the absolute swetspot seems to be considerably smaller in multi-channel efforts. The Cinema I Center though serviceable is not the be-all-end-all. It tends to beam. Consequently the area of ultimate seems to be significantly smaller...
Hmm, in my MC setup, I don't really have a "sweet spot" in the traditional sense - the great thing about 5.1 is the discrete channels. The center channel never tilts left or right depending on how far off-center I sit. Everything seems to originate from the proper area, within reason.
Though moving 3 or 4 feet one way or another does tend to lead to the right or left side over powering the other, which I guess is the same thing. Difference is there's no loss in imaging and far less loss in soundstage. Though the downside is moving too close to the surround channels kinda makes them overpower the front channels, which isn't good. Overall, I'd definitely say the MC sweet spot is substantially larger. But it's completely unfair and irrelevant to compare to my 2-ch system.

[PeruvianSkies]

Hmm, in my MC setup, I don't really have a "sweet spot" in the traditional sense - the great thing about 5.1 is the discrete channels. The center channel never tilts left or right depending on how far off-center I sit. Everything seems to originate from the proper area, within reason.
Though moving 3 or 4 feet one way or another does tend to lead to the right or left side over powering the other, which I guess is the same thing. Difference is there's no loss in imaging and far less loss in soundstage. Though the downside is moving too close to the surround channels kinda makes them overpower the front channels, which isn't good. Overall, I'd definitely say the MC sweet spot is substantially larger. But it's completely unfair and irrelevant to compare to my 2-ch system.

When I am calibrating my HT setup it is much harder than just a 2-channel setup. I try and balance the speakers in such a way that I am getting sound at the exact same time based on the distance from each of the speakers, but typically what I have found out is that most people have their surrounds up WAY too much in terms of volume. It can be a matter of preference to some degree, but there does come a point where a certain level of 'bleed' happens where the surrounds and force the front soundstage out a bit, which is not ideal. I prefer a subtle backdrop of surround activity with proper timing of all channels.

[Wireworm5]

Mine is like Kex's. However I have my speakers at different heights. My two fronts and center are 5' high so the tweeters are like 6'. My side front's the tweeter is at ear level and my surrounds are at ear level and my second set of surrounds is about 5' for the tweeter. And my rear channel reflex off the front wall at ear level.
So it doesn't matter where I am in the room it sounds good but it's calibrated for my listening chair.

[PeruvianSkies]

Mine is like Kex's. However I have my speakers at different heights. My two fronts and center are 5' high so the tweeters are like 6'. My side front's the tweeter is at ear level and my surrounds are at ear level and my second set of surrounds is about 5' for the tweeter. And my rear channel reflex off the front wall at ear level.
So it doesn't matter where I am in the room it sounds good but it's calibrated for my listening chair.

All of my tweeters (both HT and 2-channel) are at ear level.

[topspeed]

My sweet spot is about 5' 2", 115lbs, Irish and D cups.








I don't know what the hell you guys are talkin' about.

[Wireworm5]

There's are price tag for that sweet spot too!. And it costs more than Home Audio.

[RGA]

I have two sets of loudspeakers - one set is designed for corners and is rear ported. Provided I put them in the corner you can sit anywhere in the room and you won't lose the imaging. SOundstaging is obviously panoramic in the corners and they are able to dissapear - the speakers also do not beam -- corners get around most room related problems if they are designed properly.

I have front ported Wharfedales and they are horns. In traditional freestanding position they have a small sweetspot - but they too seem to like corners and because they do it gives them a similarly large sweet spot. Vertical imaging is relatively unimportant because serious listening is done seated. Horizonatal soundstage and imaging is more important. Still I would take a smallish sweetspot if I really like the sound.

[topspeed]

There's are price tag for that sweet spot too!. And it costs more than Home Audio.
Truth.

[bobsticks]

Hmm, in my MC setup, I don't really have a "sweet spot" in the traditional sense - the great thing about 5.1 is the discrete channels. The center channel never tilts left or right depending on how far off-center I sit. Everything seems to originate from the proper area, within reason. .

...and this works unless the idiot of the house (me) has "recalibrated" the system for some NEO:6ing on some extremely poorly recorded material from a local artiste and forgotten to return the settings to the norm. Ooops.

Goes to show just how rarely I get out of two-channel mode these days.