The Art of Rational Speaker Placement Setup Guide Download

If you lot accept a 2-channel speaker setup and you've always Googled the all-time way to position your speakers, chances are that you've come across forums talking about the Sumiko Chief Fix Speaker Placement procedure. The basic concept of this approach is that it positions each speaker independently to sound all-time in your particular room rather than placing them based on generic manufacturer recommendations or a perfectly symmetrical configuration. This, in theory, should aid those with asymmetrical and complicated listening rooms (like me) get the best performance possible.

The protocol takes patience to get information technology right (allow several hours if you are a perfectionist), as both speakers volition require much trial and fault to get positioned "perfectly" (subjectively speaking) inside the room. The results, notwithstanding, might lead you one more than stride toward Audio Nirvana.

Co-ordinate to Sumiko Audio, "The most important component in any sound or theater system is the proper placement and positioning of the speakers into the listening surround. Putting the speakers where they truly belong, and then they don't fight each other, so they work in total unison non simply with each other simply also with the room, is the end all exist all for proper music reproduction in the home."

Becoming a true "main" of this procedure requires training or paid consultation and setup, so keep in mind that online guides are 2nd-mitt instructions, just there are several write-ups and sound forum threads that rave nearly the results by DIY-ers similar us.

Below is the best stride-by-step guide — supposedly presented by John Hunter, the possessor of Sumiko Audio and REL — that I came across. I edited it for length and clarity and split some of the steps to make the procedure easier to follow. Another twist on this approach is this "light" methodology, which suggests toeing-in the "anchor" speaker straight toward the listening position from the start. I believe this approach could sacrifice practiced soundstage, then I prefer the approach below.

Sumiko Master Speaker Setup Protocol

Footstep one - remove any (easily) removable audio-visual treatments from the room. Annihilation that is permanently fixed and all your furniture is OK to leave.

Pace ii - remove the speaker stand spikes to make sliding the stands easier, or at to the lowest degree level all the spikes so the speaker is completely level. If you lot own heavy speakers, employ furniture sliders to make positioning easier. If you accept difficult floors, endeavour setting the speakers on a soft towel to aid in sliding.

Step iii - constitute your listening seat. Optimally, you will set the speakers and your listening seat in the shape of a triangle. Space permitting, information technology is generally recommended to first with the speakers set at least eight-12 ft. autonomously and the listening seat 12-xv ft. back. An equilateral triangle organisation is often advised every bit well. Adjust appropriately to your room constraints. When properly set, the speakers will likely be out at least 18 inches from the forepart boundary wall. Your listening seat likewise should be at to the lowest degree 24 inches from a rear boundary.

Stride iv - place both left and correct speakers directly against the front end boundary wall facing directly out into the room. No inward "toe-in" bending should be attempted yet. By and large, commencement with your speakers set 24-36 inches in from the sidewalls to limit early reflections (final positioning will change). The left speaker is going to get the "anchor" speaker for the set up.

Note: If you have an odd shaped room, starting with the speaker that has the nigh wall to work along or shortest distance to a rear boundary may be benign.

Step five - get grooving. Proper speaker placement requires music. Hunter recommends using a Rob Wasserman song featuring vocals by Jennifer Warnes chosen "Ballad of the Delinquent Equus caballus" from his Duets album. You could also effort streaming it or using this YouTube recording, although the quality isn't every bit good. Another disc regarded for fine-tuning speaker placement is Chesky Records Jazz Sampler & Audiophile Test Compact Disc Vol. 1.

Now, begin playing the "Ballad." What makes this song then effective for this setup protocol is that "the plucked string bass is at realistic volume at realistic timber." Then, the commencement goal is to get the bass properly coupled to the room and the drivers.

Play this track at volumes where you tin easily observe bass quality, which is normally betwixt lxxx-95 db. Hunter says sometimes you volition need to creepo information technology up a bit to fully engage the room.

Footstep half dozen - get a helper if possible (information technology will make moving and listening easier). Accept your helper slide your ballast speaker out into the room until the bass becomes solid and administrative. Mark this spot with some painter's record.

Make sure your helper stands behind the speaker when he/she moves it and so steps abroad from it, because their torso will bear upon the sound if they stand alongside the speaker.

Step vii - slide the anchor speaker right and left (toward and abroad from the sidewall) to find the all-time bass quality. Marking this spot.

Pace eight - slide the anchor speaker further out into the room to observe other points where the bass couples properly in your room. Marker these positions with your tape.

Note: In that location may be a dozen spots within a three-foot zone of your first spot. This is where the process can become tedious, considering Hunter says every bit picayune as one-third of an inch tin differentiate good bass quality from lifeless bass.

Pace nine - listen to all the adept bass points until you find your favorite. Mark it.

Recall that steps 6-9 are all done with just the anchor speaker playing straight out while the other speaker is playing directly into the room from its position against the front wall.

Footstep ten - plant the "toe in" angle of your anchor speaker toward your listening seat.

You desire the widest possible soundstage without the sound becoming too thin. Hunter says he usually ends up seeing about two-thirds of the within wall of the speaker cabinet when it is positioned well-nigh right.

Do not toe in or toe out excessively, which ruins the soundstage. The sound will exist very natural when the angle is correct — likewise broad or too narrow will brand the audio sparse or seem similar it is coming from two speakers instead of the space betwixt them.

Your anchor is now set. Mark this spot.

Step 11 - reinsert the ballast speaker's spikes and level the speaker.

Step 12 - set the second speaker's position. Move it slowly out into the room while listening for the soundstage to line up equally in front of you. By this, Hunter means the soundstage is apartment in front of you, not tilted like one speaker sounds closer than the other.

Remember to keep this speaker oriented direct ahead.

Footstep 13 - motion the speaker right and left until you hear the soundstage become cohesive — Warnes should sound similar she is continuing betwixt your speakers.

Step 14 - toe in the speaker very slightly until you hear Warnes' voice become a "body" centered in the soundstage. You will hear the sound "ossify nicely" when this is right. Information technology may be necessary to make very minor bending adjustments to get her voice centered. Be patient and y'all will be rewarded.

If the soundstage is non linear, meaning one speaker sounds more forward than the other, then simply slide the second speaker front or back slightly until the soundstage is "level." Moving it correct or left adjusts the centering of Warnes' voice.

Y'all should now take accomplished sound coupling of the speakers to your room boundaries. To test if this is the case, you should be able to stand directly over either speaker and clearly hear the other speaker.

Step xv - mark the final location of both speakers.

Pace sixteen - reinsert the 2d speaker's spikes.

Pace 17 - begin adjusting the critical rake angle of the ballast speaker.

If your speakers or speaker stands do not have adjustable spikes, you can endeavour using door shims or wedge spacers. Accommodate the spikes to go the speaker level across the front and raked back to get the beam of the tweeter firing an inch or two in a higher place your ears when seated in your listening position.

Listen to the quality of Warnes' voice. She should announced to be ear level or slightly above ear level in the soundstage.

Remember, this is a personal choice. Many audiophiles prefer ear level because the sound is slightly fuller. A little higher up ear level may sound more natural or like a alive musical event.

Step 18 - begin adjusting the spikes on the 2nd speaker to match the "elevation" of the anchor speaker.

Footstep 19 - once immersed in eargasm-inducing sound, take measurements of the speaker locations from the walls. Take digital photos. Map it out. Eventually, your setup volition go shifted out of place somehow. You need to accept these measurements so you don't have to repeat the setup process (except for when you get new speakers).

Pace 20 - reinstall any acoustic treatments you removed (or experiment with some new ones) to run across if you can improve upon the room's sound, just don't touch on the speakers' locations.

If your ears aren't fatigued past this point, Hunter says he likes to follow up with some confirmation tests using the Chesky album previously mentioned. Track 10 is bang-up for confirming left and right positioning: "On cutting 10, the speaker starts out two feet from the microphone in centre stage. Then he moves mid-way right, full right, and off-stage right. He then repeats this on the left. But slide your right speaker right or left to become the audio staging perfect." Track xi verifies your rake angles with "Over, Lateral, Under, and Upwards" tones.

While completing this process may not brand you a true Sumiko Master, what you take done, hopefully, is couple your speakers to your room based upon your master listening position.

If this seems too involved, check out these other speaker placement calculators and guides.

Allow me know your results, tips, and tricks. As I setup my new listening room, I plan to try several configurations to figure out which arroyo is really the "main."

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Source: https://www.thesoundapprentice.com/2019/11/sumiko-speaker-placement-guide.html

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