What's better: speakers to the side of my head or behind me?

[giantslayer]

I'm in a college dorm room and my desk is facing a corner (moving it would not be feasible). So placing my speakers in front of me is not an option.
That leaves placing them to the right of me and placing them behind me. I've got them to the right at this point, and I've been noticing that it seems to be wearing on my ears unevenly, if that makes any sense. I'm wondering if placing them behind me is a good idea (the reason I haven't tried it yet is 'cause the wires I have right now aren't long enough, so I would need to get new wire to try it).

Here's a little drawing of my room. The x's mark the two arrangements I could have for my two speakers.
<pre>
|----------------------|
|DESK x |
| x |
| |
| x x |
|----------------------| </pre>

 

[mtrycrafts]

I'm in a college dorm room and my desk is facing a corner (moving it would not be feasible). So placing my speakers in front of me is not an option.
That leaves placing them to the right of me and placing them behind me. I've got them to the right at this point, and I've been noticing that it seems to be wearing on my ears unevenly, if that makes any sense. I'm wondering if placing them behind me is a good idea (the reason I haven't tried it yet is 'cause the wires I have right now aren't long enough, so I would need to get new wire to try it).

Here's a little drawing of my room. The x's mark the two arrangements I could have for my two speakers.
<pre>
|----------------------|
|DESK x |
| x |
| |
| x x |
|----------------------| </pre>

If that side location is wearing at your nerves, you have no option but to try the rear. Speaker wire is cheap. You can get 16ga wire from Home Depot for not much. It doesn't have to be fancy or expensive wire. Even low voltage landscape wire will do.

 

[f0am]

I would go for the behind setup, that way you can experience true stereo = P

 

[giantslayer]

I did it

I got some speaker wire today and moved the speakers behind me. It's kindof late at night so I can't run 'em too loud, but initial impressions are quite good. Much better than having them to the side of my head. I would say something like, "what was I thinking?" but I put 'em there 'cause I had a roommate and putting speakers on his desk and bed wasn't very feasible. He moved out and I got the room to myself now.

 

[Resident Loser]

It sounds...

...as though your listening isn't particularly critical...and if you are at your desk ostensibly studying (or whatever they call doing schoolwork these days), fretting over the lack of equal SPLs at your ears seems more of a distraction than anything else..If you were looking to improve imaging, you and the two loudspeakers (in front of you) should form a equilateral triangle for the best results...if you just want to enjoy the music leave them where they were and just switch to mono...you there's no law says you have to listen in stereo...

jimHJJ(...these questions just get better every day...)

 

[Buckle-meister]

Question

In his review of RBH's T-30LSE speakers, Gene noted that:

I personally don’t subscribe to the “Golden Triangle rule” that dictates the speakers should be placed equidistantly apart from the diagonal distance of each speaker to the listening area. I find this usually positions the speakers too far apart, requiring drastic toe in which can cause the speakers to sound overly bright or can greatly compromise the imaging. It’s always a good idea to check with the manufacturer for speaker setup recommendations as a starting point.

So, when you wrote...

...If you were looking to improve imaging, you and the two loudspeakers (in front of you) should form a equilateral triangle for the best results...

...are you saying that the 'Golden Triangle Rule' gives 'best results' based on theory/statistical results of trials, or simply that this is your own opinion?

 

[j_garcia]

...are you saying that the 'Golden Triangle Rule' gives 'best results' based on theory/statistical results of trials, or simply that this is your own opinion?

It is a proven concept and very well documented. Somewhere within the parameters of the "golden triangle" is almost always the best seating, though obviously some tweaking is needed based on specific room/setup conditions.

 

[Resident Loser]

Since you asked...

In his review of RBH's T-30LSE speakers, Gene noted that:

So, when you wrote...

...are you saying that the 'Golden Triangle Rule' gives 'best results' based on theory/statistical results of trials, or simply that this is your own opinion?

...my answer: personal experience...trial and error...I use it as a rule of thumb and have always found it to be the most satisfactory...I would suppose room dimensions and other factors such as directionality or polar dispersion patterns would impinge on the results, but in a typical dorm room I'd have no qualms about using it as a near-absolute. Or for those of us working stiffs who have normal-scaled listening rooms...

Even in some testing of small two-way systems as near-field (<1m) radiators (in an effort to ameliorate room effects on bass response) the ol' triangle thingie seems about the best...

I forget if it's this site or another, but a member gives his location as: 3m from my loudspeakers and that seems about right...

jimHJJ(...strictly anecdotal, aren't you glad you asked...)

 

[Buckle-meister]

...my answer: personal experience...trial and error...I use it as a rule of thumb...

As do I. In fact the limited size of my own living room compels me to (more or less) adopt this layout after my speakers and listening position are drawn away from their respective walls. I must say though, that if I had a larger room, I'd almost certainly want to sit a bit further away from the speakers.

I forget if it's this site or another, but a member gives his location as: 3m from my loudspeakers and that seems about right...

Nice.

Thanks for clarifying.