Are your main speakers with the tweeter sitting between 37" to 40" from the floor, i.e. ear level?

[3db]

I've been told that getting the tweete rto ear height is important for optimum sound. My towers are too short so I have them angled back to compensate. But before I had them angled back I had them straight on with the tweeter height sitting around 32 to 33 inches and I did not notice a difference.

 

[slipperybidness]

I've been told that getting the tweete rto ear height is important for optimum sound. My towers are too short so I have them angled back to compensate. But before I had them angled back I had them straight on with the tweeter height sitting around 32 to 33 inches and I did not notice a difference.

It seems very common to me that tower speakers are too short to allow for optimal tweeter placement!

I'm pretty sure my GEs are just about spot-on, but those are relatively tall towers by comparison to most.

My DCM TP260 that are currently in service in the living room are 37" tall, so clearly the tweeter is too low for the most common sitting arrangements. But, it is the living room where aesthetics and WAF come into play, so I just live with it (and they still sound good, these speakers punch waaay above what I paid for them). Perhaps in the future I will build some nice plinths to get them to a better tweeter height.

 

[eljr]

my GEs

what are GE's?

 

[TheWarrior]

The reason is simple: the higher the frequency, the shorter the wavelength. Combine that with diminished off axis response, and alot of sounds simply won't reach your ears if the driver isn't pointed at them!

It is my goal to take what I've learned in building a center channel to create vertical tower speakers that can be wall mounted. I'll just hang them inverted so the tweeter is nearest the ear height, with the woofers higher up, away from the dogs!

 

[TheWarrior]

what are GE's?

Golden Ear loudspeakers
https://www.goldenear.com

 

[kini]

My Q750 tweeters are 36". My sofa is low and I slouch, so I'm good.

 

[slipperybidness]

what are GE's?

Goldenear Speakers (in this case, Triton 2)

 

[shadyJ]

I wouldn't be too worried about it if the tweeter is not at ear level, but it does depend on the design of the speaker to say how much it matters. First of all, the tweeter itself may or may not have narrow vertical dispersion. Dome tweeters and ring radiators have vertical dispersion that is equal to horizontal, of course, but ribbon tweeters, planar tweeters, and some AMTs will have fairly narrow vertical dispersion. The taller that the dimension of a tweeter is with respect to its width will be a restricting factor in the vertical dispersion.

Second, driver layout will affect vertical dispersion, especially with speakers with multiple midrange drivers. The further the midrange driver is from the tweeter, the more severe that the crossover null will be in the vertical off-axis. Also, MTM style arrangements create cancellation patterns off-axis, especially ones where the midrange drivers are not very close to the tweeter and/or have a relatively high crossover frequency.

 

[Beave]

Not all speakers are designed to be listened to at tweeter level - but many (most?) probably are.

But a lot depends too on how far away you're sitting, because the angle is what's really important. If you're sitting a foot away, a few inches too high up or too low down matters. It's a large angle. If you're sitting 10-12 feet away, or more, then a few inches translates to just a degree or two or three, which won't matter at all.