Speaker Placement

[azira]

I'm wondering how far apart should a stereo pair of floor standing speakers should be. Clearly if they were side-by-side you would have a mono system. Also, it seems obvious that the farther away you sit from the system, the farther apart the speakers need to be. So then I suppose the question should be:

What is the optimal angle from a listener facing straight forward to the left or right speaker? If it's easier, lets say I sit about 7' back from the speakers, how far apart should they be?

Thanks.
--
Danny

[Cal Weldon]

Tough to say for sure. It depends on the speakers and the room. What I do is to start where you think you want them and adjust them in and out from there. If the sound is coming from between them, then leave it. If it's coming from left and right, move them closer together. Try also changing the angle (toe in or out), for high frequency dispersion, and the distance from the wall, for bass response.

And always listen with your eyes closed.

[audiobomber]

A couple of links I've found useful, for your review:

http://www.audiophysic.de/info/aufstellung/index_e.html

http://www.cardas.com/content.php?ar...ing=Room+Setup

[rabbitz]

Originally posted by azira
What is the optimal angle from a listener facing straight forward to the left or right speaker? If it's easier, lets say I sit about 7' back from the speakers, how far apart should they be?

They should be a bit less apart than the distance from the listener. So for 7', use about 6' spacing. Any wider apart and you start getting a hole in the middle.

Always experiment to get the sweet spot as a small change can alter the sound quite a bit.

[dnsey]

Here's one of the best guides to loudspeaker placement:
http://www.tnt-audio.com/casse/waspe.html