Post by davidf on Jul 12, 2017 11:35:17 GMT
Just a few hints and tips to help you make the most of your loudspeakers (updated 23/3/2018):
All speakers will require a 'running in' period, they're mechanical in nature, a little like a car engine. Expect 30-100 hours until they're fully run in, maybe even more in some cases.
The wall you place the speakers against will have a large say in how they're going to sound. Solid walls reflect bass energy back into the room, so you may need to pull the speaker further away in this case, particularly if they're rear ported. Partition/stud walls tend to absorb bass, so you can place speakers closer to these types of walls with less bass issues.
Rear ported speakers usually need careful placement, as their proximity to a solid rear wall will reinforce the bass they produce. Some speakers are designed to work this way, others need plenty of space. Sealed cabinet speakers are less affected by room boundaries, and usually work better close to a wall.
Toeing the speaker in will have a small effect on bass output. The bass of a speaker that is perpendicular to a wall can sound more exaggerated than that of a speaker that has been toed in.
Toeing in is recommended when the speakers are very close to the side walls to reduce high frequency reflection from the side walls.
If your system sounds like there's a hole in the middle of the music, toeing the speakers in will produce a better, stronger central image. Be careful though, as toeing in too much may rob the system of it's soundstage width. The best thing to do is face them straight out, then toe them in bit by bit until you're happy with the central image, striking a balance with the soundstage.
I would only recommend using the supplied foam port bungs as a last resort. These are supplied to dampen the bass when the speaker is used near a wall, but they drastically change a speaker's sonic signature, and not usually for the better. You can experiment with making your own foam bungs using different densities of foam. The speaker will have been designed to properly utilise the ports.
A thick rug placed between you and the speakers will tame excessive treble in rooms with reflective surfaces (laminated floors, bare walls etc). Use a mirror on the floor to determine the reflection point - when you can see the speaker's HF unit (the small driver) in the mirror from your seating position, that's the area that higher frequencies will be reflecting off, which is the perfect place to put the rug. The same can be done for walls.
Bookshelves and other furniture can help to break up room reflections, cutting down on harmful high frequency reflections.
Tighten up the screws/allen bolts of your speaker's drive units once every 6 months or so. It's surprising how much they can loosen over time, limiting your speaker's optimum performance. Be careful not to overtighten though.
The same goes for the floor spikes. Tighten them up every now and again (speakers or stands) to make sure the speaker is sitting firmly, and not rocking. Drive units can't perform as they've been designed to when the speaker isn't stable.
Make sure that mirrored speakers are the right way round! ProAc speakers for example have their tweeters towards the centre, not the outside of the front face. This will have a huge effect on the speaker's imaging abilities. Other speakers are less affected by this, and placing tweeters inside or outside can benefit depending on how far apart they’re placed.
Rather than buying a bi-wire cable (effectively two runs of cable per speaker), I find that the same amount of money spent on a better, single wire cable with some decent jumper cables can bring about greater benefits.
Switch your amplifier on about half an hour to an hour before any serious listening. The amplifier needs to warm up, stabilise, components need to charge up etc in order to work at it's optimum, and drive your loudspeakers properly. Your speakers can only perform as well as the amplifier will allow.
Using low speaker stands will bring the bass out more in a speaker - higher stands bring out the midrange and treble more as the bass is less pronounced.
Filling stands to make them more stable is recommended, but do experiment with the amount of ballast you add, as some speakers work better on lighter stands. Filling them all the way to the top isn't usually recommended. I would fill no more than half way, which keeps the centre of gravity low, and keeps them more stable.
Ideally, keeping the space between your speakers free from furniture tends to get the most from the speaker's imaging capabilities. I feel there's a psychological benefit for this as well.
If placing your speakers either side of a chimney breast, bring them forward so that the front face of the speaker is in front of the chimney breast itself. Setting them too far back can affect your central image, and affect your speaker's imaging capabilities due to introducing reflections off the side faces of the chimney breast.
Choose the right speaker for the room. A larger speaker in a smaller room can produce excessive bass, which will be hard to tame naturally. A smaller speaker in a large room may struggle to fill the space, and produce a strained, harsh sound. if you want small speakers in a large space, adding a subwoofer or two can avoid any negatives.
A smaller pair of bookshelf speakers and a separate subwoofer (or two) can yield better results than larger floorstanders sometimes. There is more scope for choosing tonal balance too, but this approach requires careful set up to avoid phase issues.
Regards
davidf
All speakers will require a 'running in' period, they're mechanical in nature, a little like a car engine. Expect 30-100 hours until they're fully run in, maybe even more in some cases.
The wall you place the speakers against will have a large say in how they're going to sound. Solid walls reflect bass energy back into the room, so you may need to pull the speaker further away in this case, particularly if they're rear ported. Partition/stud walls tend to absorb bass, so you can place speakers closer to these types of walls with less bass issues.
Rear ported speakers usually need careful placement, as their proximity to a solid rear wall will reinforce the bass they produce. Some speakers are designed to work this way, others need plenty of space. Sealed cabinet speakers are less affected by room boundaries, and usually work better close to a wall.
Toeing the speaker in will have a small effect on bass output. The bass of a speaker that is perpendicular to a wall can sound more exaggerated than that of a speaker that has been toed in.
Toeing in is recommended when the speakers are very close to the side walls to reduce high frequency reflection from the side walls.
If your system sounds like there's a hole in the middle of the music, toeing the speakers in will produce a better, stronger central image. Be careful though, as toeing in too much may rob the system of it's soundstage width. The best thing to do is face them straight out, then toe them in bit by bit until you're happy with the central image, striking a balance with the soundstage.
I would only recommend using the supplied foam port bungs as a last resort. These are supplied to dampen the bass when the speaker is used near a wall, but they drastically change a speaker's sonic signature, and not usually for the better. You can experiment with making your own foam bungs using different densities of foam. The speaker will have been designed to properly utilise the ports.
A thick rug placed between you and the speakers will tame excessive treble in rooms with reflective surfaces (laminated floors, bare walls etc). Use a mirror on the floor to determine the reflection point - when you can see the speaker's HF unit (the small driver) in the mirror from your seating position, that's the area that higher frequencies will be reflecting off, which is the perfect place to put the rug. The same can be done for walls.
Bookshelves and other furniture can help to break up room reflections, cutting down on harmful high frequency reflections.
Tighten up the screws/allen bolts of your speaker's drive units once every 6 months or so. It's surprising how much they can loosen over time, limiting your speaker's optimum performance. Be careful not to overtighten though.
The same goes for the floor spikes. Tighten them up every now and again (speakers or stands) to make sure the speaker is sitting firmly, and not rocking. Drive units can't perform as they've been designed to when the speaker isn't stable.
Make sure that mirrored speakers are the right way round! ProAc speakers for example have their tweeters towards the centre, not the outside of the front face. This will have a huge effect on the speaker's imaging abilities. Other speakers are less affected by this, and placing tweeters inside or outside can benefit depending on how far apart they’re placed.
Rather than buying a bi-wire cable (effectively two runs of cable per speaker), I find that the same amount of money spent on a better, single wire cable with some decent jumper cables can bring about greater benefits.
Switch your amplifier on about half an hour to an hour before any serious listening. The amplifier needs to warm up, stabilise, components need to charge up etc in order to work at it's optimum, and drive your loudspeakers properly. Your speakers can only perform as well as the amplifier will allow.
Using low speaker stands will bring the bass out more in a speaker - higher stands bring out the midrange and treble more as the bass is less pronounced.
Filling stands to make them more stable is recommended, but do experiment with the amount of ballast you add, as some speakers work better on lighter stands. Filling them all the way to the top isn't usually recommended. I would fill no more than half way, which keeps the centre of gravity low, and keeps them more stable.
Ideally, keeping the space between your speakers free from furniture tends to get the most from the speaker's imaging capabilities. I feel there's a psychological benefit for this as well.
If placing your speakers either side of a chimney breast, bring them forward so that the front face of the speaker is in front of the chimney breast itself. Setting them too far back can affect your central image, and affect your speaker's imaging capabilities due to introducing reflections off the side faces of the chimney breast.
Choose the right speaker for the room. A larger speaker in a smaller room can produce excessive bass, which will be hard to tame naturally. A smaller speaker in a large room may struggle to fill the space, and produce a strained, harsh sound. if you want small speakers in a large space, adding a subwoofer or two can avoid any negatives.
A smaller pair of bookshelf speakers and a separate subwoofer (or two) can yield better results than larger floorstanders sometimes. There is more scope for choosing tonal balance too, but this approach requires careful set up to avoid phase issues.
Regards
davidf