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Planar Speaker Asylum

Room size for Tympani IVa's

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Some time ago in this forum I asked the optimum room size for Tympani IVa's. The answer was 17' X 27'.
I have a contract on a house in which the Great Room is 17' X 24'. That will just have to do. LOL
I looked at some online speaker placement calculators. I have not found one that accommodates a rising ceiling. The ceiling in this house is 9' at the rear and it rises to 13' in about 17'.
Any thought on speaker placement?

Edits: 11/20/20 11/20/20 11/20/20 11/20/20 11/20/20

Follow Ups:

RE: Room size for Tympani IVa's - mmlrot1 07:51:20 11/27/20 (0)
MY room is 19' x 29' x 11' high cathedral ceiling.
I have my Magneplanar Tympani 4 bass panels along side of Martin Logan
Summits on the long wall.
The results are fantastic, so in my opinion this is a great size
for Tympani 4 speakers.
RE: Room size for Tympani IVa's - timm 18:14:23 11/24/20 (2)
So I have a decent size room but do not have this huge ceiling height. Can anyone comment on what a ceiling such as this does to the sound stage etc? I don't think I've ever heard any speaker with cathedral ceilings.
- The second soundroom at HiFiHouse was built with a - kff 11:14:01 11/27/20 (0)
  front section that was a fixed height ceiling and then there was a transition to a higher ceiling about where the listening position. The room also got a couple feet wider. Along with slightly non-parallel side walls and double studs the decisions on that room were to make it work well. But that was 1979. Might be new info out there, but I think the raised ceiling will be a benefit for everything except sound power and a bigger amp will handle that. The Pass amp should be fine.
- RE: Room size for Tympani IVa's - SteveJewels 06:44:21 11/27/20 (0)
  The ceiling intrigues me. I too am curious of it's effect on the sound stage.
  
  The rising ceiling, I hope, will have a similar effect to similar ceilings in function built halls for symphony orchestras. There too the balcony seems to be acoustically acceptable.
  
  I will be sure to post my impressions and measurements.
I'm sure I'm not the only one... - RickeyM 17:34:45 11/24/20 (1)
... that's noticed the current speakers. Your Maggies, wherever you place them, are sure to be an improvement. Nice looking room and I'm sure you'll keep us posted on your results ;)
- RE: I'm sure I'm not the only one... - SteveJewels 18:26:56 11/24/20 (0)
  You are not a Bose fan? LOL
  
  I do have to question the audiophile credentials of someone that paints speakers to match the room.
RE: Room size for Tympani IVa's - andyr 17:14:07 11/24/20 (0)
Like Mike, I would put them on the long wall. You would have to experiment whether ribbons in or ribbons out is the best.

Andy
RE: Room size for Tympani IVa's - Mike K 10:36:22 11/21/20 (2)
Couple of thoughts:

if you place them in front of windows, you need to do something about the
windows; you will also be partially blocking the heating for the room as
the heat ducts are right under the windows. You will also not be able to
use the fireplace, which I presume is gas.

I'd put them on the long wall and live with the consequences. Or, I'd
sell them and buy 3.7s.

As an aside, have you ever lived in a house with ceilings that high? Your
heating bills are gonna be high high high (I notice snow, so you're
obviously in a northern climate). And the room will never be warm.

Good luck.
Whether or not you can observe a thing depends upon the theory you use. It is the theory which decides what can be observed. - Albert Einstein
- RE: Room size for Tympani IVa's - Norman M 09:04:46 11/22/20 (0)
  "As an aside, have you ever lived in a house with ceilings that high? Your
  heating bills are gonna be high high high (I notice snow, so you're
  obviously in a northern climate). And the room will never be warm."
  
  Spoilsport?
  I've used this room for over 25 years with none of the problems you write about. However listening to my Tympani IV-A there is troublesome because it's too close to house traffic.
- RE: Room size for Tympani IVa's - Roger Gustavsson 00:04:12 11/22/20 (0)
  That is a very large "cavity" to fill with sound. I am not sure the IVa is capable of that. It will need treatment to get a suitable acoustic for good audio reproduction.
Excellent dimensional ratios! - E-Stat 09:56:43 11/21/20 (0)
LxW alone is 1.59 which is close to the *ideal* Golden ratio of 1.62. While I don't have lofty ceilings, my room is close with its 25x16 at 1.56.

I would place them with cabinets as front wall firing towards fireplace. I would rather not block the glass (or have to deal with its reflectivity) nor obscure the fireplace. The cabinets could house some of the gear as well.

Beautiful space. Enjoy!
good Lord - Green Lantern 08:27:44 11/21/20 (1)
what a magnificent room..

You might even want to consider going long wall, that way you keep the integrity of that beautiful scenery.
- RE: good Lord - SteveJewels 09:59:23 11/21/20 (0)
  Thank you.
  
  I have been looking for a house for a year and a half. As soon as I saw this one I was done.
  
  The house has many other nice features and a few things I don't like but none of those matter.
RE: Room size for Tympani IVa's - Desafinado 08:25:05 11/21/20 (0)
Tweeters on inside edge.
Window treatment - SteveJewels 06:33:43 11/21/20 (1)
I am wondering about the windows. I suspect the glass would be bright but curtains would be too absorptive.
Ficus trees? Can someone walk me through the sonic implications of ficus trees and other alternatives. Ficus trees would be ok, just looking to see what the options and optimum solution would be. Some sort of diffractor that doesn't completely block the window. There are mini blinds on the two lower winds and nothing on the upper windows.
The two lower windows open. That should be an interesting experiment for the deck/back yard.

BTW, please excuse the Bose system. It was built in so the Seller left it.

Edits: 11/27/20
- RE: Window treatment - Desafinado 08:14:55 11/21/20 (0)
  You could find a real Ficus sized for the room!
RE: Room size for Tympani IVa's - Utley1 06:17:26 11/21/20 (0)
Go to ARCHDAILY -GREAT WEBSITE ;search for acoustic architecture-(not good a sending links)-but have examples of acoustic design from concert halls , churchesoffices and homes. Fascinating stuff-
RE: Room size for Tympani IVa's - Desafinado 21:40:22 11/20/20 (0)
Congratulations on your purchase!

I have enjoyed my T-IVa for 5 years in a room very similar in size to your new one. My basement
space is 17 X 24 with a 9 foot ceiling. It opens out a bit near the back on one side but then you also
have 3 openings at the back of your room.

With that width you can keep all 3 panels in the same plane and avoid placing the Mid/tweeter panel ahead of the bass drivers. In my other house the narrower 14.5 foot width mandated that IMO less
desirable placement.

The answer to the tweeters in or tweeters out question is not cut and dried. With detached M/T
panels one has 4 choices and for fun you should try them all. My favourites were tweeters closest to the walls- about 15 inches away. i was surprised that there was no lack of centre-fill and i left them
extreme outside for a couple of years.

But I preferred tweeters in with all my other ribbon Maggies so I had to try that. Tweeters on the extreme inside with maximum spacing resulted in the bass panels being about 10 inches from the
walls. This produced a combination of wall to wall sound with the more detailed intimate mids and
highs one expects with tweeters in positioning. Just awesome!

As Grant suggests try and get them at least 5 feet out from the front wall. It looks like you can close
the doorway on the right side of your room which should improve imaging on that side.
Your windows will likely need some softening- at least get some fake ficus plants to prove you are
a die-hard Maggie fan!

Enjoy the journey with your T-IVa!
Bang straight ahead - SteveJewels 19:00:01 11/20/20 (1)
How far from the front and side walls?

The calculators I have seen give different front wall to speaker placements if you change the ceiling height. This ceiling slopes up as it goes further away from the front wall.
- RE: Bang straight ahead - grantv 19:44:28 11/20/20 (0)
  That's a good thing (the slope) for the most part. I'd start with around 5' out, MRT panels in "usual" position, woofer panels flanking. Someone who has these, and thus actual experience setting them up, should chime in soon.
  3 panel system will take more work to get right I'm sure.
RE: Room size for Tympani IVa's - grantv 18:56:19 11/20/20 (0)
Bang straight ahead in the first pic would be my choice. It would for one thing offer a good L/R balance. Looks like it'll be a nice space!

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