home theatre speaker orientation

[JimMueller]

Most of the articles I read on the topic has the fronts aimed at the ideal listening position. But my SDA-1C manuals specifically state to keep them pointed straight ahead (I think it has to do with the interconnect cable). I use the speakers for both normal audio and home theater.

So, just to confirm, I want to keep the 1C's pointing straight ahead? What about my RM3000 satellites... right now they are aimed straight towards the front speakers... should I aim them at the listener, at each other, no change, ...? If my receiver has a microphone to measure distance, level, frequency response, etc does the speaker aiming become moot?

Jim

[MANSKITO]

if you want there to be a sweet spot point them in.

How ever if you have a big family or a lot of friends keep them the way they are because then sound will be thrown more evenly in the room so every one gets a better time.

But again if its just you or a few others then just shift them around till you find what sounds best.

reason being the more people there are the more seating there will have to be so the wider your sound field has to be.

[concealer404]

Don't "aim" SDAs. Aim the rest. :)

[comfortablycurt]

if you want there to be a sweet spot point them in.

How ever if you have a big family or a lot of friends keep them the way they are because then sound will be thrown more evenly in the room so every one gets a better time.

But again if its just you or a few others then just shift them around till you find what sounds best.

reason being the more people there are the more seating there will have to be so the wider your sound field has to be.

You never toe-in SDA's. It basically completely negates the SDA effect. They're designed to be placed even with the back walls.

Keep the SDA's pointed straight ahead. I even get picky about it, and make sure that they're both within a tenth of an inch tolerance or so.

Pointing the surrounds directly at your listening position provides the best results in my experience.

[LessisNevermore]

I even get picky about it, and make sure that they're both within a tenth of an inch tolerance or so.

Not to derail, but using your tolerance of .100", (just shy of 1/8") over 6' distance from the listening position, will get you within 7/16", at the listening position. (which is pretty darn close) Something to keep in mind, is that the further you are from your front speakers, the more accurate your measurements should be. For example, I sit 12' from my speakers, so that one-tenth of an inch, translates to 7/8", and that is for each speaker.

I realize this is splitting hairs, but I thought it was worth bringing up, since speaker placement is one of the most important (and overlooked) things to get right in our rigs. How close, is 'close enough'? I guess that depends on your speaker. If I had ones with a very limited sweet spot, like ESL's, I'd want to get it within a gnat's ass, maybe closer...:D

[JimMueller]

So the next questions are:

1) The couch is against the back wall. The RM3000 satellites are mounted on the same back wall. So direct them so that the tweeters have the shortest distance to the ideal listening position?
2) Should I send the 'surround' or the 'surround back' program material to the RM3000's based upon their position?
3) Should I consider putting different tweeters in the center and/or satellites, put that money towards newer models, or leave it as-is? Unless it's going to be night and day difference, I prefer the latter.

My 1C's are each 27" from the side walls, and 16.75" away from the front wall. Front wall to rear wall is 16'. They are on carpet, but I try to do my best to level them to the same height at all corners and keep them the same distances away from walls. The mains are not quite equidistant to the ideal listening position due to space constraints. I try to work around that by using the YPAO in my Yamaha receiver (gasp!) in conjunction with a modified RS SPL meter.

When are they going to have motorized speakers so that the auto calibration routines can adjust their position and orientation automatically? :D