Bookshelf Setup Puzzle.

[Hellcommute]

Hi All,

First post but not new to the hobby. Anyway, I've got some pretty good speakers and I know can get better stereo imaging but my room is a hindrance at the moment. I was hoping for some input before I go shifting furniture etc. as to how the setup could be improved by relocating the speakers and listening position. Any feedback would be appreciated.

These speakers shine when put into my acoustically treated home theater, but unfortunately in the living room this is not an option WAF wise. They sit on stands at ear level so that is not an issue. They will have to hug a room boundary wherever they go.....

The Speakers are bookshelves from Leema Acoustics.

Here is the current room layout.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Pyrrho]

You might try placing them on either side of the entrance (one near the corner of the living room, between the closet and the hall, and the other near the corner to the left of the sofa with the star on it in your picture), and use the sofa on the right as the main listening spot. It should fill the room with sound better there too, but it is impossible to be sure without actually trying it.

 

[Hellcommute]

That never even occured to me.... interesting. I was thinking about moving the speakers to either side of the loveseat adjacent to the stand.... but not sure I'd like the resulting listening location near the entrance.

 

[Pyrrho]

The position you had in mind would favor sitting in the way of the entrance.

It is always good to remember that the speakers are separate things, and so a hallway gap between them is a possibility.

I tend to think of the positioning of a stereo as the points of an approximately equilateral triangle, with a speaker in each of two of the points, and the seating position as the third point. Since I might want to listen with someone, the seating position is often a couch, so that "point" must be wider than most speakers.

When my wife and I first moved in together to a new place, she thought it odd that the first thing I thought of was how to best arrange the stereo in the available space. But as she likes the results, she has no problems with that idea now. With most rooms, it is a compromise between what would sound best and what would otherwise work best, but it often is not that bad of a compromise for either thing.

I think my idea for where to place your speakers will work fairly well, assuming that important details are not missing from your diagram. Of course, it will not sound like a space designed for acoustics, but it should work reasonably well without detracting from the space as a living room, assuming that no doorways or other such things make it impracticable.

If you try my suggestion, please post back about the results.

 

[ski2xblack]

That never even occured to me.... interesting. I was thinking about moving the speakers to either side of the loveseat adjacent to the stand.... but not sure I'd like the resulting listening location near the entrance.

Being away from the walls would be a good thing, so I encourage you to try what you're thinking. You could pull the small sofa out to the other end of the long couch and face it back toward the speakers. The main lp on the small couch in it's new position would be ideal, the couches would still form a nice socializing circle, and the entry area is usefully sequestered. Plus, you have the perfect spot for the giant plasma on that wall.

 

[Hellcommute]

I like this idea as it would negate me fishing wires down from the stand and up from the basement to beside the stairwell (to cross the hall.) I do enough of that stuff at work already! Lol.

Thanks both for the ideas. I plan to first promote the idea of "redecorating" and then plant the idea of a furniture shift. The stand stays put, as it sits under a wall mounted plasma and two in wall speakers for it originally. Yes, i do have a speaker "problem." ha!

 

[fmw]

I also like the suggestion of putting one of the main speakers "across the hall." I haven't seen your system but it looks as if your main speakers are too close together. Separating them a little more would make an improvement.

 

[markw]

Aoter vote for placing the speakers o either side of the hallway. You might consider shifting the stand to the left, bringing the right speaker away from the side wall, and simply moving the left speaker.

Before you get too carried away with drilling and fishing, just get some wire from Home depot and experiment with placement until you find the best compromise. Then worry about drillng and fishing.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Here's another idea, just for heck of it. This one I would personally try first.
If your smaller side of sofa or if it's a love-seat moved towards the left side of bigger sofa and place tv stand in it's place - right across the entrance. Place speakers to left/right of the stand