Near field listening setup

[Joseph]

Due to changes in my listening room I'll have to sit about 7 feet away from my speakers which are 6 feet apart. The room is 12 X 13. Any experience in listening in this configuration? Should the speakers be toe-in or straight ahead? I am guessing that side reflections will be less of a problem.

I'll be experimenting but hope for some experienced feedback.:)

[pigmode]

Hey Tangent,

My room is 11' x 10' and the speaker/listening position is exactly the same as yours. The speakers are a little over 2' out from the front and side walls. I think it works out very well, although tne speakers (LS3/5a) were designed for a true near-field setup.

Toe-in affects the depth and width of the soundstage, and to what degree would be speaker dependent. I think I have about 15 degrees of toe-in right now. I've read that toe-in is more important with closer positioning, and that this has to do with the dynamics of sound wave reflections.

[jkerr]

My setup is even smaller. Speakers are 5' apart, toe'd in to point at or just behind my head, which is 5' away as well. It ends up being a perfect triangle. I use Tannoy Reveal studio monitors. These are perfect for nearfield. Very flat response and the midrange is very sweet and lots of detail. For the bass, a homebuilt sealed 10' sub from a kit from partsexpress.com.

Nearfield I think is great because there's a lot less worry about the room itself. Of course this is really good for a one person only setup.

[pigmode]

Originally posted by jkerr


Nearfield I think is great because there's a lot less worry about the room itself.

That's good to hear, although I realize that my setup might not be considered fully near field.

I forgot to mention that I also have an ACI Force sub that is performing wonderfully, with minimal problems in terms of room acoustics.