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Nearfield listening advice?

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Posted on July 1, 2021 at 17:16:19
milkdudd
Audiophile

Posts: 19
Joined: June 28, 2021






Greetings all. I'm new here so I hope posting this is OK. Basically in my 12x9 listening room I have two configuration options. What I'm currently doing and what I could be doing. I'm guessing one is better than the other. It's harder for me to just rearrange the whole room than it might be for some. Age, arthritis, etc. But I'll do it if there is improvement to be had. The current configuration is pretty much exact to scale. The other configuration would likely have speakers and chair closer together. All opinions appreciated

 

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Stick with your current arrangement (nt) , posted on July 1, 2021 at 17:45:42
Chip647
Audiophile

Posts: 2652
Location: The South
Joined: December 24, 2012

 

RE: Nearfield listening advice? , posted on July 1, 2021 at 17:51:15
Story
Audiophile

Posts: 10457
Location: NJ
Joined: December 11, 2000
 your posting is AOK. I understand the difficulties involved with choosing the 'spot', but I would choose and work with your present one. The only thing I would add is to put some type of drape or something over the window side and then also duplicate it on the opposite side - make things symmetrical as possible. That window will reflect things strangely and may even emit resonances like buzzing noise.

Good luck, and let's see what others say



 

RE: Nearfield listening advice? , posted on July 1, 2021 at 17:54:05
milkdudd
Audiophile

Posts: 19
Joined: June 28, 2021
 Thanks, I'm off to a good start as a rookie inmate

 

Nearfield definately has some advantages is some cases., posted on July 1, 2021 at 17:59:17
srdavis2000
Audiophile

Posts: 10707
Location: Deep South
Joined: January 11, 2003
Contributor
  Since: December 16, 2004
 It would help if you listed your system. It would also help if your measurements included distance apart for the speakers centers and distance from the speakers to the seating position. With nothing else to go on, I would suggest 7-8' apart for the speakers and 7-9' back for the listening position. Towing in the speakers is dependent on the speakers. I can tell from your diagram which might be better.

 

RE: Nearfield definately has some advantages is some cases., posted on July 1, 2021 at 18:14:04
milkdudd
Audiophile

Posts: 19
Joined: June 28, 2021
 Yes thanks. Tomorrow I will take some measurements and list them here. I'll also document all of my components. One thing is for sure, to set up to those distances you spoke of I will need to configure the alternate way shown in the photos. As the short wall is only 9 ft, the farthest I can get speakers to my ears is about 6 ft.

 

RE: Nearfield listening advice? , posted on July 1, 2021 at 18:58:38
B. Scarpia
 The speakers you're using are the most important determinate. Every speaker has a different radiating pattern. Even posting them won't help because the odds of one of us having them are slim.

Trial and error is the only way to know. That includes changes in toe-in and stand-off from the front wall. The conventional wisdom requires stand-off but unless your speakers are rear ported, may not be necessary.

Take an Ibuprofen/Aceteminophen combo cocktail and have at it.

 

RE: Nearfield listening advice? , posted on July 1, 2021 at 20:24:41
grantv
Manufacturer

Posts: 7728
Location: B.C.
Joined: January 15, 2002
 Current. Big part is I like symmetry on my speaker wall...

 

Agreed..., posted on July 1, 2021 at 23:19:55
musetap
Audiophile

Posts: 31879
Location: San Francisco
Joined: July 8, 2003
Contributor
  Since: January 28, 2004
 Also, think about speaker placement refinement(s) and various (basic, inexpensive/non-permanent)
tweaks you can do to your speakers/system if you're (maybe?) just looking for some sound
improvement or just change of pace. Sometimes that's more easily achieved than moving furniture
and other stuff around.

There's LOTS of (relatively) live help and advice here and the archives are an absolute treasury of info.

Welcome to the asylum!

"Once this was all Black Plasma and Imagination"-Michael McClure



 

RE: Nearfield listening advice? , posted on July 2, 2021 at 04:36:52
yage
Audiophile

Posts: 114
Joined: November 16, 2001
 I think the current arrangement is the best option you've got. If you want to adjust positioning, I'd start by making sure the distances between the speakers and the speakers from the listening position form an equilateral triangle. Adjust from there, but make sure that the speakers stay symmetrical in the room.

If you have curtains on the window, try adding some treatment to the left wall. Also experiment with treatment on the wall behind you.

Good luck!

 

Current arrangement, posted on July 2, 2021 at 05:42:28
AbeCollins
Audiophile

Posts: 46302
Location: USA
Joined: June 22, 2001
Contributor
  Since: February 2, 2002
I prefer your current setup:

- Symmetry is good.
- Speakers are further apart even if you need to sit closer to them.
- There's no door slamming into the right speaker ;-)



 

Assuming you cannot block up one of those doors, keep current, posted on July 2, 2021 at 06:28:58
Sondek
Audiophile

Posts: 9632
Location: Fort Worth
Joined: May 17, 2000
Contributor
  Since: April 5, 2002
 There's much to be said for near field listening.

I have setup very similar to yours, and with my ESL's the near field experience is very much like listening to headphones without the headphones.

 

It would be helpful knowing the type of speakers you have....., posted on July 2, 2021 at 06:30:42
StephenJK
Audiophile

Posts: 178
Location: ON
Joined: October 14, 2019
 I would think that would make a huge difference. You're not going to want to sit on top of a wide soundstage and lose the edges, and if they're a smaller bookshelf type that could be preferable.

 

Nearfield and speaker design, posted on July 2, 2021 at 08:06:42
Rocket_Powered
Audiophile

Posts: 439
Location: East Coast
Joined: May 15, 2020
 I would guess that concentric designs like those on the Tannoys, or electrostatics, would be very good for a nearfield setup?

My setup is like the OP's alternate mockup, sans the window, and have multi driver speakers.

 

BTW, posted on July 2, 2021 at 11:23:56
Story
Audiophile

Posts: 10457
Location: NJ
Joined: December 11, 2000
 don't confuse near field with mid field. Near is when you are sitting at a mixing console in a studio. Your diagram is mid if anything.



 

Current setup, plus maybe some acoustic treatments , posted on July 2, 2021 at 11:50:34
Brian H P
Audiophile

Posts: 1291
Location: Oregon
Joined: December 18, 2012
 With some bass traps in the corners, and maybe some absorptive panels on the walls to the side of the speakers and behind your listening chair, you could get really clear and detailed sound with that setup.

 

RE: Current setup, plus maybe some acoustic treatments , posted on July 2, 2021 at 16:22:16
milkdudd
Audiophile

Posts: 19
Joined: June 28, 2021
 Thanks again for all of the help. My speakers are Usher audio dancer mini x-DMD on sound anchor stands. They are 5ft 3in apart center to center of the drivers with about 10 degrees tow in per side. The distance from driver to my ear is about 5ft 6in. My sources are topping D90 dac into my Onkyo p-3000r preamp. I feed the dac with Android/USB. An Onkyo c-7000r CD player with aes/ebu into the preamp. Also a denon 100th anniversary sacd player analog out into that preamp. From preamp I run single ended into a dual mono ATC P1 Pro power amp rated at 150 watts per channel. All of my interconnects and speaker cables are solid silver from Clear Day cables. I did some careful listening last night and it seems the Denon sacd player sound quality is slightly better than the others, but actually they all sound pretty good to me

 

RE: Nearfield listening advice? , posted on July 2, 2021 at 18:15:27
Tre'
Industry Professional

Posts: 17305
Location: So. Cal.
Joined: February 9, 2002
 For true near-field listening you need to be very, very close to the speakers.

With most speakers, in most rooms, the reverberant field starts at about 3 feet.

Tre'
Have Fun and Enjoy the Music
"Still Working the Problem"

 

And?..., posted on July 3, 2021 at 00:05:04
musetap
Audiophile

Posts: 31879
Location: San Francisco
Joined: July 8, 2003
Contributor
  Since: January 28, 2004
 Are you happy with it?

That's good gear. Speakers on secure stands at ear height?

Maybe to take it to a "better" level, some basic tweaking - component isolation... damping.

Room treatments mentioned. Cleaning/tightening all connections, basic stuff like that.

There's a lot of little things you can do to get the best out of what you have and it doesn't
take a lot of money or talent, mostly just the time and effort.

"Once this was all Black Plasma and Imagination"-Michael McClure



 

RE: And?..., posted on July 3, 2021 at 14:24:01
milkdudd
Audiophile

Posts: 19
Joined: June 28, 2021
 musetap, I edited my post to show that my speakers are on sound anchor stands. Tweeters are at about ear height. I know I went into a lot more detail than I needed to when I documented my components. I did that so I can copy and paste from this post if the subject comes up in the future. Now that I think about it however, if any of you spot a week link in my chain feel free to opine.

And one more thing, I now realize the name of this thread should have been Midfield listening advice. It doesn't appear that I am allowed to change that however. Thanks to you guys that explained the difference to me!

 

RE: Nearfield listening advice? , posted on July 11, 2021 at 22:44:38
Bill the K
Audiophile

Posts: 8385
Joined: June 3, 2006
 If it is not too much of a bother you could try placing the speakers on the long wall which would make it more near fieldy. The corner effect and reverberations would be less I think. Does the Usher have Dr Joseph D's configuration for drivers. The sofa looks too solid to push around.

Cheers

Bill

 

RE: Nearfield listening advice? , posted on July 13, 2021 at 11:26:51
milkdudd
Audiophile

Posts: 19
Joined: June 28, 2021
 Thanks Bill for responding. If you look at those pictures, the little yellow tag that says current configuration does have the speakers against the long wall. I'm pretty much set that I'm going to keep it that way. The door swinging where the speaker would be in the alternate configuration doesn't please me. I walk through there quite a bit to check the mail and such. Actually the chair is a recliner and not too hard to move around. I'm convinced now at this point my focus will be optimizing the room itself and likely having an electrician add a dedicated circuit. I just bought my first power cord upgrade. A Cullen Cable crossover model. I started with one cable because I wasn't sure if it would make a noticeable difference or not. Now I'm sure. Actually it's almost startling how much difference it is making, especially used at the power amp location. They take two or three weeks right now to get because they are swamped with orders but well worth the wait with reasonable prices

 

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