Room set up

[Guss]

Does anybody knows if there is better ways than others to place speakers in a small area as my room.

First Id like to know if I Can use my bed(right on the floor) as a wave breaker if I place it in front of the stands.
Is it better to place the speakers away from me or away from eachother?
Does a window has anything to do with sound?
What to do with a shaking door making annoying noise.
What to do with plaintive neighbors?

Anything else ?

[Kanga]

Hi Guss

In a small room it will probably be beneficial to have some absorbent materials on the side walls, floor and possibly behind you, as it is difficult to get good imaging with speakers located close to room boundaries, due to the strong reflections. Having the bed between you and the speakers will probably be beneficial.

It will help if you can reduce the distance between you and the speakers somewhat to get them away from the walls. This will also reduce complaints from the neighbours.

In terms of locating the speakers and you within the room to avoid peaks and troughs in the frequency response, which is probably the most important thing, there are various computer programs available if you are keen, but a good start is to read the Harman white papers on room acoustics. See http://www.harman.com/wp/index.jsp?articleId=122

Windows reflect mid to high frequency sound strongly, but allow bass freqencies to pass through.

An ordinary door is not very sound proof. Sealing around the door is a good start (use closed cell weather seal foam and something to seal the gap at the bottom), but if it is a lightweight door then a lot of sound will pass through the door itself. If its your door, then you could face it with ply. If its someone else's then there's probably not too much you can do that is reversible and easy.

Mick