Is it better mount/place speakers at ear level or is angling the mount ok?

[KASR]

Kinda like the subject says - is it better to place the speakers at ear level or is it acceptable to mount them much higher than ear level, but swivel/tilt the mount to point the speakers at the "sweet-spot"?

Thanks for any input!

 

[DD66000]

Its generally better to have speakers as close to ear level as possible.
For wall mounted surrounds, so there is a straight path to the ears about 70" to the top of the speakers, so the path clears seat backs.
With center speakers, especially with large screens, 60" and bigger, having the center just below the screen is better than having the center above the screen. With small screens, say 31", then the center on top would work.

 

[jliedeka]

I would agree that it is better to have the main speakers with the tweeters at ear level. The difference may be subtle but having them higher and angled down will throw off the time alignment between the drivers.

 

[trilogy]

The worst place to have a speaker is at even distance from the height of the ceiling and the distance to the floor.

 

[Savant]

The worst place to have a speaker is at even distance from the height of the ceiling and the distance to the floor.

Could you elaborate?

"Even" as in multiples of 2? If so, what units? And why would this be "the worst"?

If "even" as in "halfway between," I ask again: Why would this be "the worst"?

 

[trilogy]

Yes as in directly between where two surfaces that will probably reflect these sounds will have the same pressure and result in a distruction of the virtual image (audible reflection) caused by these frequencies to become much greater in strength, or cancel becoming much lesser in strength. The same is for the walls. If they are equidistant from two walls we have the same result, and the virtual image and frequencies result in distortion. This is called SBIR, and can minimized using diffusive surfaces (typical room already has them) and absorption (panels or other area with damping) where the energy is used up, transmitted to another area, or reflected back in different ways, and/or controlled by speaker placement, sometimes with equalization. Our speakers interact with room modes, a result of acoustical interference off a surface that is inside a room, which change and alter the way they would sound without being in the room, these can be examined by doing measurements, or closely predicted using a room mode calculator. I find that a room mode calculator helps.

The general rule I believe is place it higher than the middle of the room, or lower, while ear level being best for the front 3 speakers, and no further than 2 feet higher or lower than each other.

 

[Savant]

trilogy,

My sincerest apologies, and I mean no disrespect, but I cannot make any sense out of what you wrote. (Sorry. )

Short of trying to sort your post out, I will just say that placing loudspeakers halfway between two surfaces in a room may - and probably will - sound just fine. Such a location may not be preferable to some, but that's the subjective nature of this business.

Many folks are already quite used to this type of arrangement. Seated listeners have an average ear height of about 4 feet and many rooms have a ceiling height of 8 feet. Many listeners will place loudspeakers at ear height in such a room, which happens to coincide with the halfway point between floor and ceiling. This is not usually a major problem.

If subwoofer placement were the topic, the halfway point between two surfaces in the room would probably be a less-than-ideal choice, but - again - I would be hard pressed to call it the "worst" choice. It may sound just fine in certain rooms to certain listeners.

 

[trilogy]

No offense taken, but I used the words reflective sufaces. If that is not usually the problem, what is? Ear level?

 

[trilogy]

I will try to simplify my statement. You have the screen and you want it to appear as if the sound is coming from the screen. What is most important is that sound is at the screen, and speakers are placed 10 degrees from eachother with action and dialogue anchored to the screen. If this means it does not sound good, then moving speakers to ear height is not the best solution if it creates another problem. The solution is to aim these speakers so that the sound is best, and this will be dependent on the vertical and horizontal dispertion (which way sound frequencies travel) characteristics of the speaker. All are not alike, and as are all rooms not alike. I can't post links yet or perhaps I might show in better detail, but in 9 times out of 10, the speakers are not located with a tweeter and midrange between you 4ft high which is typically the best area to be seated at ear level. On my speakers for example this 3.5' high. Therefore in worst case, which is worst, not most typical like we all live with and usually would not complain of, there are reflections causing peaks dips due to poor vertical positioning, being less critical than horizontal positioning, and sound does not match what we are watching. Although I am sure that ear level postioning is best, many of us do not have acousticaly transparent screen, and our screen position is somewhere not allowing us place these at ear level, meaning that it is not typically a problem. Does that help?

 

[Savant]

Does that help?

Not a bit. But thanks for trying.