L.O.T.S. Loudspeaker Optimization Techniques for Soundstage!

Comments · 920

• NE

  @Newrecordday · 6 years ago (edited) · pinned

  One thing to note: Siri and (assume Google) will be using decimals while I am using inches/feet. Feel free to convert if you want but keeping things simple, my method/math will get you close enough!

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• JO

  @joaodz8 · 3 years ago

  Now I just need a listening room

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• JE

  @jefferyeckes5343 · 3 years ago

  As a pro audio engineer for more than 45 years I have to tell you, you nearly nailed this. &nbsp;You missed talking about one very important part of this, and the part this is unique to each room; &nbsp;standing waves. &nbsp;All of what you showed is 100% legit, (though I disagree on toe-in for reasons I will detail in a moment), but standing waves are where your entire process can fall apart.. &nbsp;In my particular room, if I put my listening place in your recommended spot, the bass falls off to almost nothing (cancelling wave). &nbsp;Move 12&quot; back and it gets too loud, move 12&quot; forward and it dials right in. &nbsp;My room is an anomaly, but the point is to listen CAREFULLY and not just follow &apos;instructions&apos;, no matter how talented the presenter.<br>Now, to toe-in. &nbsp;Toe-in sets up more cross talk between the speakers, which can produce lots of standing waves. &nbsp;Standing waves are USUALLY heard the best in the very low frequencies (described as &apos;booming&apos; in many cases) but toe-in causes these at MID frequencies (possibly what you are calling &apos;shouty&apos;). &nbsp;Yes, these DO indeed &apos;color&apos; your sound, but I would postulate that all you are doing at that point is adding &apos;confusion&apos; to your system.<br><br>I&apos;ve actually tested this in an arena system as we were developing the &apos;flying array&apos; systems that back in the 80&apos;s and 90&apos;s that are the norm now. We found that toe-in actually increased our power and coverage needs. &nbsp;Once we plotted the frequency responses from each side independently, then both sides together, it was clearly apparent that the speakers were &apos;fighting&apos; each other when toed in. &nbsp;When left flat faced to the audience (even toed OUT a little) the edge response from each array summed in the middle to sound even across the room. &nbsp;Later we added center array&apos;s for vocal clarity, but kept the gain about 1-2db down for that array. later, when we began to run stereo rigs, we split the center array down the middle and discovered &apos;center channel&apos; was better for an arena. &nbsp;It actually enhanced the stereo mix by allowing us to pan harder left and right without depriving the audience on the opposite sides of information. &nbsp; I think the case was that it may be a little easier to &apos;hear&apos; these things when your room is hundreds of feet in each direction, and your sound system is driven by 150,000 watts! &nbsp;It does not hurt to be working with Dr Bose and Jack Weisberg (legendary NYC sound company owner) either!<br><br>In summary; &nbsp;talk about standing waves and how to listen for and accommodate them in the listening environment. &nbsp;Thanks for the great information videos!

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• IM

  @imral3 · 4 years ago

  O.M.F.G! This is amazing. I thought I had things dialed in pretty good and I was actually close. BUT... Using this method I wound up with my speakers moved back about 8 inches more than I had them (1/3 into the room, opposite of my chair) and about 4 inches each more toward the center of the room. My goodness the speakers completely vanished, the soundstage opened up and is vast and cohesive. I couldn&apos;t be happier. Thanks so much for this!

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• FO

  @fod8768 · 5 years ago

  THIS IS INCREDIBLE!! For YEARS I knew something was off with my system and followed advice both from the manufacturer (Focal) and from countless &quot;experts&quot; online. The general idea of what everyone tells you is &quot;avoid corners&quot;, &quot;use an equilateral triangle pattern&quot;, and &quot;listen and experiment&quot;. I am a very detail/fact oriented person, and your approach with 1 foot quadrants perfectly measured took enough of the guess work out of this to help me get my system perfect. <br><br>For anyone reading this, IT WORKS but you need to follow things exactly. Put the tape down. Measure everything... It will take about an hour of prep, but its worth it. The dark room idea helps as well. I started from the back and actually encountered two spots where things sounded incredible. Keep this in mind if the first spot you find isn&apos;t ideal. Also moving the speakers to the left or the right in the square changes things A LOT. I honestly wasnt expecting this. When you find the right spot, move the speakers far forward again then back a foot at a time... confirm your results!<br><br>Sending you a little something via PayPal as a huge thank you for this free advice!

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• AB

  @abritishaudiophile7314 · 6 years ago

  There is LOTS of great advice in this video (sorry, I couldn’t resist). Rock solid method to getting your speakers in the right place. Well done buddy!<br>Best wishes from the other side of the pond, Tarun.

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• EN

  @enjoyunreality · 3 years ago

  It is magic!!!!!!! Thank you so much. If you listen once like this, you cant go back. It is not music anymore

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• IN

  @indranilmitra6535 · 4 years ago

  I hate you Ron, cause this works to perfection. My room is far from ideal and this method still worked. Unfortunately the speaker position has to be in the middle of the room. Guess I&apos;ll have to pull it out everytime i sit to listen for long hours. No big deal, totally worth it.

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• RO

  @RoTeNdO · 4 years ago

  The reason why you&apos;ll be able to hear better in the dark as oppose to closing your eyes is due to cognitive psychology. It&apos;s the same reason we turn down the radio when we&apos;re driving through unfamiliar areas, looking and reading the street names. SCIENCE! Got to love it, right? This video on the other hand was educational, informative, and helpful. Very good stuff.

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• RO

  @robertuskoppies444 · 3 years ago

  Hi Ron, I just came across this vid when watching Tarun&apos;s (A British Audiophile) channel. So I was curious. Some of my buddies tell me that my listening position is completely &quot;off&quot;, because &nbsp;I&apos;m sitting in &quot;monitor position&quot; in a 4m (wide) and 5,5m (long) listening room and not in a &quot;triangular&quot; setup. Guess what, I just measured my position, which I have found after years and years of listening.<br>Just to confirm that your L.O.T.S. is spot on: my ears are around 1,85m away from the front wall and my speakers are located exactly in a track that is between 1/3 and 1/4 from the side walls. The speakers are pointing at the outside of my shoulders, so I can clearly see the inner side wall of each speaker (nice check up to see if you toed them in evenly).<br>So this is indeed an excellent advise for loudspeaker set up!

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• TG

  @tg6373 · 4 years ago

  I love the Marshall half stack on the back wall. Keep it spicy!

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• RE

  @redstang5150 · 6 years ago (edited)

  And this is the difference between a real listening room and a home theater, or a family room. Hard to get perfect speaker placement without a dedicated room where you can get the speakers away from the walls. Because of the layout of my theater I&apos;ve long known that my speaker placement for music sucks so I&apos;m knowingly sacrificing it - but I&apos;ve been doing it for so long I&apos;d sort of forgotten about the &apos;magic&apos; I know my speakers can deliver. You&apos;ve inspired me to move them around - if even for the day - just to experience the magic again. Thanks! Maybe the sliders need to be permanent - move them out for an occasional listening session - slide them back when done.

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