Any thoughts on diagonal speaker placement?

Today I tried an experiment. With a bit of difficulty, I positioned my speakers (Paradigm Studio 100's-heavy!) in a diagonal in the room. I was inspired by a paper located here:

HOW TO SET UP A DEDICATED LISTENING ROOM WITHOUT FANCY TREATMENTS by Steve Deckert.

I was shocked at the sound! The reflections of the room were gone (or at least lessoned) and the program sounded more lifelike, better, (larger) sweet spot, more 3-D. I guess 'cause the room reflections were minimized. FYI I used the SACD 2-channel program of the Kind of Blue SACD. This was a brief test, the speakers are now back to my normal measured "Cardas" setup.

I searched on the Internet, and found very little to learn about diagonal set up, only that most people recomend a rectangle or square to wall set up to reinforce bass. Bass was not a problem with the diagonal setup I used.

Any thoughts on this revelation?

 

Interesting article.
Steve Deckert is pretty smart about audio.
His site was where I started learning about tubes again a few years ago. I just was not sure what speakers I would drive with a watt if I did a DIY with his entry amp.
I may experiment around a bit with some of the theories.

 

Hello mne.

A diagonal room is a variation of the fan-shaped room, with the advantage of being easier to design as it is rectangular.

A diagonal room provides plenty space in the center of the room, where the listeners or viewers will be seated. You ge a lot more "living" area for the same size room.

A diagonal room provides plenty space for low-frequency diffusors (two!) in the rear walls.

In theory, their only disadvantage is that they look weird, so it's only for the truly commited and passionate. But with the ideal dimensions/ratios proposed (validated!) in the Mediaroom spreadsheet, the footprint of the room is almost square, so some of the weirdness is not there.

Also, some speakers may not perform optimally close to the wall, a placement that is almost forced in a diagonal room unless it is large.

Even if the first reflections are less of a problem in a diagonal room, for an optimum listening room or HT, acoustic treatment and good design and build are mandatory. You don't get the same first-reflections, but reverb and the other factors do not change.

Both my ideal (theoretical) rooms these days are diagonal. The 2-ch room (live) includes low-frequency diffusors in the rear walls. The Ambiophonics/HT (dead/deadish) rooms do not, but benefit from the extra space in the lateral reverb/seating area.

Request the Mediarooom spreadsheet by sending mail to the address in my signature.

 

This is an interesting article. The diagonal configuration is certainly worth a try, although, if your main speakers are better away from the walls you may need a pretty big room (as proufo mentioned).

One statement mentioned in the article is, I believe, inaccurate:

In fact only some of what you're hearing would be reflected. You will also hear the sound that is diffracted around the baffle. This is sound below a certain frequency and that frequency depends on the baffle size (to simplify). This sound will reach your ears before the reflected sound and will thus be subjectively more important.

If you place the speakers in a large outdoor field and listen to them from the back you won't hear silence, you'll hear the diffracted sound.

 

Michael, this "Cardas" setup you mention, is there anywhere on the web to learn about it? I have placed my speakers 'by eye', and while I'm not unhappy with the sound I'm getting, I'm sure I could always do better.

Cheers,

Damián

 

Re: Re: Any thoughts on diagonal speaker placement?

Damian:
Look here, and click on "Room Setup."

Also, check out the interesting interview with mastering engineer Stan Ricker!