Optimal distance from speakers

[pewternhrata]

I haven't seen to much discussion or i was reading right past it. Take the ultra bookshelves as an example, is there an optimal distance to sit from them. What would be considered to close or to far? A tv size is easy to figure out based on distance, but how much speaker is too much or not enough. I know the distance between the speakers directly corresponds to it, but if, just because I choose to sit 15 ft away would that be optimal vs say 6 ft away. I know room size and so on also takes part in it.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Here’s a nice long read that will get the ol brain cell warmed up! It’s a little long, but might give you some insight. It’s cold af here so I might reread it just to distract myself...
http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/two-channel-audio/71050-hts-two-channel-speaker-setup-guide-deep-soundstage.html#/topics/71050

 

[KEW]

I haven't seen to much discussion or i was reading right past it. Take the ultra bookshelves as an example, is there an optimal distance to sit from them. What would be considered to close or to far? A tv size is easy to figure out based on distance, but how much speaker is too much or not enough. I know the distance between the speakers directly corresponds to it, but if, just because I choose to sit 15 ft away would that be optimal vs say 6 ft away. I know room size and so on also takes part in it.

For your specific answer, call SVS. I don't know how knowledgeable they might be about this product, but if you get someone who acts like it is a strange question, ask them if they can contact the designer of the speaker and get back to you with the response.
I know Dennis Murphy has specified distances for some of his speakers (such as suggesting that the AA's are not a good desktop monitor because you need to sit away from them for them to perform best), so I would guess there might be some rules of thumb for distance to the Ultras as well.

 

[pewternhrata]

For your specific answer, call SVS. I don't know how knowledgeable they might be about this product, but if you get someone who acts like it is a strange question, ask them if they can contact the designer of the speaker and get back to you with the response.
I know Dennis Murphy has specified distances for some of his speakers (such as suggesting that the AA's are not a good desktop monitor because you need to sit away from them for them to perform best), so I would guess there might be some rules of thumb for distance to the Ultras as well.

As far as recommendations go for speakers, is it something you think should be addressed more than just room size. This would pertain to any speaker, not just svs as used in my example.

 

[lovinthehd]

Well I haven't seen one of those charts like used for tv's of various diagonal measurements vs distance....but wonder if someone did do something along those lines...

 

[TLS Guy]

Well I haven't seen one of those charts like used for tv's of various diagonal measurements vs distance....but wonder if someone did do something along those lines...

Well you won't. Sound is totally different from light. Every room has its own set of reflections and resonances. So the answer is the position to listen is where it sounds best.

There are some pro monitors designed for the near field, but most speakers sound best where there is a good blend of direct and reflected sound.

Measurements can help, but there is nothing wrong with trying different positions.

I will say that the better the speaker the less fussy it will be about position. Good speakers in a all but a dog of a room, will have a wide good coverage area in the room and will sound very good over most of any listening ares. In my rigs it makes little difference where you sit.

 

[lovinthehd]

Well you won't. Sound is totally different from light. Every room has its own set of reflections and resonances. So the answer is the position to listen is where it sounds best.

There are some pro monitors designed for the near field, but most speakers sound best where there is a good blend of direct and reflected sound.

Measurements can help, but there is nothing wrong with trying different positions.

I will say that the better the speaker the less fussy it will be about position. Good speakers in a all but a dog of a room, will have a wide good coverage area in the room and will sound very good over most of any listening ares. In my rigs it makes little difference where you sit.

I didn't expect there to be one, but the snark didn't quite make it into my post. It'd have to be a hell of a chart to cover the potential differences in speakers let alone rooms....

 

[shadyJ]

Generally speaking, the larger the vertical spread between the front drivers, the more distance the speaker needs for the sound of those drivers to integrate. A small bookshelf speaker should be listenable at a close distance, maybe half a meter or closer, especially if its designed to be a near field monitor. A coaxial speaker like the Kef LS50 should have great integration at any distance, since there is almost no distance difference between the woofer and tweeter. On the other hand, a speaker like a large 3-way tower may need as much as 2 meters and sometimes more distance. The large speakers made for commercial cinemas can need a lot more than that even.

 

[yepimonfire]

Theoretically, the best seat as far as getting flat bass is about 38% from the front or rear wall. When it comes to speakers though, some HT speakers do not sum or sound properly with nearfield seating. For example, most Klipsch speakers I’ve owned don’t sound right closer up than 4’. 6’ isn’t considered nearfield though.

 

[pewternhrata]

So it would really fall back on buying a speaker that will not peak it's limits to get spl in a large room, assuming a further listening distance is required?
Makes me wonder how a speaker reacts when listening close (less power to get spl) vs listening further away (more power needed) how much does the speakers ability to play, frequency response, differ when played at low volume vs high volume? Basically does a speakers frequency limits (?) change when more power is added (of course speakers have limits, but let's stay under distortion) do the characteristics change?

 

[shadyJ]

So it would really fall back on buying a speaker that will not peak it's limits to get spl in a large room, assuming a further listening distance is required?
Makes me wonder how a speaker reacts when listening close (less power to get spl) vs listening further away (more power needed) how much does the speakers ability to play, frequency response, differ when played at low volume vs high volume? Basically does a speakers frequency limits (?) change when more power is added (of course speakers have limits, but let's stay under distortion) do the characteristics change?

The speaker's frequency response can change shape if you drive it hard enough. Compression will begin to creep in. You would need to give it a lot of power for this to occur. As the coil and magnet heat up, the motor loses magnetic strength, and this will affect some frequencies more than others.

 

[yepimonfire]

So it would really fall back on buying a speaker that will not peak it's limits to get spl in a large room, assuming a further listening distance is required?
Makes me wonder how a speaker reacts when listening close (less power to get spl) vs listening further away (more power needed) how much does the speakers ability to play, frequency response, differ when played at low volume vs high volume? Basically does a speakers frequency limits (?) change when more power is added (of course speakers have limits, but let's stay under distortion) do the characteristics change?

If we are strictly talking undistorted output, you will often have difficulty maintaining a clean response on the lowest notes. This is almost entirely dependent on the box tuning and the driver size though. A 4” speaker tuned to 60hz might sound great at 70dB 6’ away, but sound horrible at 85dB 15’ away below 120hz.

Theoretically, you should experience a 6dB loss of spl for each doubling of distance, but that only applies in something like an anechoic chamber. Average room gain adds around 3-4dB to the anechoic measurements. Small rooms with bare walls generally experience less drop with distance than large, heavily treated rooms.