PC Speakers: straight or tilted down?

HisDudeness

HisDudeness

Audiophyte
Hello everyone. Sorry if this is a stupid or extensively covered question, I looked around a bit and found only toe-in related questions. Please feel free to point me towards existing posts or articles or move this topic in the audophytes section if it fits more in there.

So, anyway, I have an old 4.1 speaker system for my comptuer (Cambridge's FPS 1500, for reference). I don't have the speakers supports anymore, so I'm buying third party ones in the hopes of hanging them to the walls. Given that I can choose the height from scratch and I'm not constrained to some preexisting stands, which choice would be better? Put them at my ear height and aim them straight up, or hanging them a little bit higher and point them downwards?

Thanks for your attention and a good day to you!
 
ski2xblack

ski2xblack

Audioholic Field Marshall
Ear height, unluss you're trying to replicate that 'in the pit, looking up at the stage' experience.

Aim 'em straight at you. Wall mounting is good, those are just raw drivers, so wall mounting = no baffle step loss, a warmer sound, and none of the desktop reflections were they placed there. The slots for the stock stands lend themselves well as keyhole hangers.
 
Last edited:
S

shadyJ

Speaker of the House
Staff member
Hello everyone. Sorry if this is a stupid or extensively covered question, I looked around a bit and found only toe-in related questions. Please feel free to point me towards existing posts or articles or move this topic in the audophytes section if it fits more in there.

So, anyway, I have an old 4.1 speaker system for my comptuer (Cambridge's FPS 1500, for reference). I don't have the speakers supports anymore, so I'm buying third party ones in the hopes of hanging them to the walls. Given that I can choose the height from scratch and I'm not constrained to some preexisting stands, which choice would be better? Put them at my ear height and aim them straight up, or hanging them a little bit higher and point them downwards?

Thanks for your attention and a good day to you!
What do you mean aim the speakers straight up? So that the drivers are facing the ceiling? If that is the case, you don't want to do that, you will want the speakers to face you.
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
Straight up? or out? Whatchu been smoking, dudeness? :) I'd go ear height unless mounting restrictions made me go further up....
 
HisDudeness

HisDudeness

Audiophyte
Straight up? or out? Whatchu been smoking, dudeness? :)
Obviously a J, what do you think does Duder smoke?

Joking aside, I thought "straight ahead" but wrote "straight up" for some reason. I'm not a native speaker so sometimes I make odd statements in English (really, I make odd statements period, but in English I have this excuse).

So, the verdict is ear height and no vertical angling. Same goes for the rear speakers I guess, that in my current room would be around 2,20m (~7'2") behind me.

While we are at it, on another matter, should I toe them in a little? Or make them as close to my ears as possible and make an horizontal angle of 0° as well?
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
LOL. A little wakey bakey myself this fine morning :)

You should experiment with toe-in, tho, and most can benefit from such. Not sure what that system calls surround, whether it's based on old quad stuff or just a center-less modern surround....but generally surrounds in a 5.1 system are suggested to be higher than ear level by a foot or two. In today's 5.1 suggested speaker layouts surrounds should be to the side or to the side and slightly behind (and aimed at your listening spot generally).
 
HisDudeness

HisDudeness

Audiophyte
Thanks for your answer! Sorry for coming back on the same issue after a long time but the wall supports have now arrived and I'm about to make another drill in the wall (intentional Pink Floyd/Nanowar reference).

A new issue has come to my mind: most of the times, these speakers will be providing sound for my sitting self, in my desk horizontally centered in my room. But, more seldom, I put some music while I go around in my room shuffling stuff, tidying up and cleaning. So, the question is:

  1. Is it better to have them at level with my ears while I'm seated and then making them point upwards for the times I'm standing and walking around (as the first will be the most common situation)?
  2. Or should I put them at my standing height and point them downwards for when I'm sitting (when I'm at my desk I'm at a precise position, so I can aim them; when I'm walking around I should have them blasting horizontally at the whole plane, since I won't be having any privileged point).
To answer to your question, it most certainly is an old 4 point speaker. I remember these good ol' speakers when I was a wee lad (and they still work wonders too!).

I attach a quick map of my current room setup to elaborate on the underlined expression and let you more clearly understand where should music be heard decently as I'm moving around.

Room.png

Again, thanks a ton for any opinion!
 

Latest posts

newsletter

  • RBHsound.com
  • BlueJeansCable.com
  • SVS Sound Subwoofers
  • Experience the Martin Logan Montis
Top