Planar speaker placment guide!

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Originally Posted by audio amateur

lol, I don't doubt it. I'm half American myself;) The reason I ask is because the price on the link you posted appears to be in British Pounds.

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Audio, I think it is a smart website as it appears in dollars when I click it.

Looks like when you go there it is pounds.

Top or bottom half???

Almost for got, half of me is from wales and ireland...top half I think.

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Originally Posted by Feanor

I think an engineer would say the only advantage is lower resistance.

However I believe some 'philes feel that mutiple caps, and especially where there's one < 0.1 uF, gives better high frequency transients. I'm not sure: maybe the theory is that lower value caps load & discharge more quickly.

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Yep, that is my understanding of the theory. Though I dont use caps in my maggies except on the lowpass...

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Originally Posted by Dawnrazor

Audio, I think it is a smart website as it appears in dollars when I click it.

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Smart website indeed

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Originally Posted by Dawnrazor

Top or bottom half???

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It's hard to say really. Both very different. I think I feel more French than anything:) That is where I've lived most of my short life (I'm 22).

Have you spent much time on this side of the pond?

I once heard a pair of Beveridge ESL's that were designed to be set up facing each other on opposite walls. They were part of one of the best sounding systems I've ever heard.

Hello everybody,
I have been quite for a while now, in fact since the 3 rd of January when the ferryman took my favorite cat to the other side where I hope they know that its favorite foods include Portuguese piri-piri chicken and boiled fish!!! Alas the the 2 remaining cats are so different....
Anyway, to avoid being depressed, I built 3 small sized diffusers but the results are not that convincing and believe me, unless you want to occupy yourself so that the mind should not wander, I strongly suggest buying the stuff instead of building them using wood. The therapy worked for me at least.....
When I say that the results are not that convincing, I mean that over the whole frequency range, but for that one needs reasonable distances from diffusers to listening position, enough room to position the diffusers, size of pieces of wood and number of wells etc....
So, was it a complete waste of time one may ask?
I should say a categorical NO!!!!
I considered my living space and the size of diffuser I could hide behind the speaker without being thrown out of the house.... a mere 42 cm ( more or less 17 inches ). Next, I chose a 2D skyline design and made 1 diffuser using 3cm by 3 cm ( 1.2 inches by 1.2in) pieces of pine wood, another using 1.3 cm by 2.7 cm ( 0.5 in by 1.1in ) pine wood and a third 1D diffuser using 6cm ( 2.5 in) thick pieces of wood with 7 wells of 12cm ( 5 in )max depth all designed for frequencies 1kHz and above. Then, I stacked them up against the wall behind one speaker... yes 3 diffusers to cover one speaker only!
The next part is not so scientific in the sense that I did not use a Radio Shack sound meter ( item on my shopping list to get when I visit the US once a year ), but instead put my 2 non linear, non anything for that matter, big ears to register differences with and without the diffusers in place.
What did I hear ??? Brace yourselves, its what I did not hear is what matters!!!
The test CD tones for the design frequencies was significantly softer indicating to my ears that the wall reflections for these frequencies was diffused, but to get diffusion for the whole frequency range, one would have to build several different diffusers to account for the each segment of frequencies.....
An objective conclusion can only be drawn after I get the sound meter, until then you can take my word on what its worth.

I asked about this in another thread. I just saw that you had posted to this thread. I'm glad to hear you are having some success.

Nasir;

I think you'll find absorbers are better than diffusers. If nothing else, absorbers are more easily built so they cover a broader spectrum than diffusers. I used extra thick wool carpet underlayment from a natural fabrics carpet store and significantly improved clarity and imaging from my Martin Logan ReQuests.

Few of us have a room big enough for a dipolar speaker, they need to be far from the wall behind them to work correctly. A good absorber will make that distance appear infinite.

Sound Labs makes a good absorber/diffusor, unfortunately like most Sound Labs products they are not inexpensive. These people http://www.atsacoustics.com/ have a reasonably priced product, less than ideal they do provide good improvement per dollar spent.

The wife was away for a week, so as the saying goes ( more or less ) " When the cat´s away, the mice come out to play " needless to say that the ESLs were so far out into the room that the 2 real cats had their usual playing area reduced to crawling space!
So, with a glass of red wine in one hand and the amplifier remote in the other, I hit the play button and left everything to the physics of acoustic waves.
After 2 days ( or rather nights ) of disturbing the neighbors the Finals were not much better sounding than their original position.
Opening a bottle of different wine, I hit on an idea: " Never mind the physics, lets be ignorant and put aside the no-no´s of speaker placement." I pushed the speakers back into their original spot and reduced the leaning angle that their original stands were designed for, and had them almost parallel to the wall behind them facing straight out ( no toe in ) and was rewarded with an immediate improvement.
Next day, without the wine now ( yes, I know changing scientific conditions like this can seriously compromise test results ) I leaned the speakers forward even more so now ( I checked it with a laser beam ) the reflections from the middle of the speaker would travel up and hit the listening spot well above the ears.... the sound got better still and in fact the CD test tones gave the best all round results I have managed so far.... the only down side being that the speakers were not stable enough to be left unattended for long periods. So I will have to work on a new base for them.
The lady of the house was not back yet, so I toed in the ESLs quite a bit, so much so that laser beams from the centers of the speakers would cross in front of my nose. I had read somewhere that some reflected energy is beneficial and is better than none at all. Maybe by chance I got that ratio right, because it is by far the best placement position for my listening room and I am enjoying my listening experience. The test tones results for this position is more uneven than the last one but the sound is quite convincing and I really want to enjoy my music for the moment!
So the moral of the story is not to drink while listening but rather try breaking the rules a little as they might work for your system in the listening space, GOODLUCK!

Nasir;

Only one rule really matters. "Does it sound good to you?".

Follow that rule and you will end up with a fine set up for the owner, the hell with anyone else.

Hello Friends,

I have question for Magnepan MG-20, if I store the speaker for long time lets say more than 4 years and use it after that, would the storing affect the speaker performance? And do I need to remove the tweeter or leave it intact with speaker?

Im asking this because I have been told storing speaker can damage it and should be used all the time. I want to store it because I moved to small place temporary.

I appreciate you opinion.
Thanks to everyone.

Sorry I posted my question here, but I felt no need to open new thread for storing! Unless its worth it.

K-High Fi

As long as you store the speakers in a fairly good environmentally controlled area ( like not in a hot/cold attic or damp basement), there should be no more detrimental effect on them than if you had them in active use in your living room. Such things as capacitors degrading or foam surroundings rotting should basically happen at the same rate, whether the speakers are in use or not. Proper storage conditions are the key.

With Maggie 20's, BOSE 901's, B&O towers (what kind?), Infinity towers and JBL monitors that's alot of vintage speaker hardware for your one room. What do you plan to do with all of it?
Bill

Thank you Bubslewis very much for reply. :) Sorry! All other speakers are sold, I list them here because I thought I could share experience with others. Hmm, I will update the informations.

About the tweeters! Do I need to remove them and put them back in their original tube box or its fine if I leave them with the speakers?

Thanks for helping :)

Hi im Neo im just new here. i would like to ask can the musical fidelity A1x drive the magnepan mg 1.6? thanks..

Not only do dipole speakers require a lot of space behind them, but bass damping and diffusion as
well. A large room is also a important factor for
great bass, sound-staging and imaging with dipoles.
I have 6' behind the Martin Logan Summits and
9' behind the Magneplanar Tympani IV bass
panels with bass traps with reflective membranes
that prevent early reflections and comb filtering.
The room is 29' long x 19' wide x 11' cathedral
ceiling with large bass traps placed in all corners,
mid points of walls and mid range traps spaced
evenly 3' around the entire perimeter. The speakers
are placed on the long wall which gives a
enormous sound-field and imaging that is superb.
With a center channel speaker as well as 4 rear
speakers and 4 side speakers, this arrangement
gives one the feeling there actually in the hall (venue)
where the recording was made. Where I sit has
large bass traps directly above and traps behind
as well to also prevent bass buildup and early
reflections.

revive

Sorry need five posts lol

I'm running 2+2's in my big room which is 34'3"x90' cieling is 10'3" for 16' and then goes to 12'3" the rest, I have the 2+2's 16' off the back wall and 8' from the side walls. I sit 70' from the speakers. I get over a 100db easily, the sound is the best I've ever heard from an acoustat, I consider them the best overall speaker I have. I have Apogee Diva's, Apogee Scintilla's 1 ohm, Apogee Duetta Sigs, Infinity RS4.5, Infinity QLS-1, Carver amazing platuimn oak, and more. The 2+2's really dominate in large space, the bass they can produce is almost unbelievable at large distances and tight and fast, also they don't beam in this enviroment either. Like to try 20.1 maggies and see how the fair. :) Al