Wisdom AUDIO SYSTEM CONTROLLER SC-1 - Main Speaker Placement

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benet(whendoneproperly)ofprovidingoutstandingacousticisolationfrom
adjacentspacesaswellassuperbbassreproduction.Thisapproachgoeswell
beyondthescopeofanowner’smanual;ifyouareinterested,youshouldcon-
tactaprofessionalacousticianwhohasspecializedindomesticlisteningroom
design.
Main Speaker Placement Withintheroomitself,placementofthespeakersandthelistenerwillhavea
profoundeffectontheperformanceofthesystem,particularlybelow300Hz
orso.Thereisno“perfect”positionthatwillsolveallproblems,butndingthe
bestcompromisewillmakeiteasiertosolvetheremainingproblemswiththe
SC-1.
YourWisdomAudiodealercanhelpyouwithoptimizingyourspeakerplace-
ment,whichisneverquiteassimpleasitseemsitshouldbe.Thecharacteristics
youshouldlistenforareseveral:
• Stable, 3-dimensional stereo imaging
Thisusuallyrequiresreasonablesymmetrywithintheroom,and
abitofspacebetweenthespeakersandadjacentsidewalls(to
minimizetheadverseeffectsofearlyrstreections).Mono
(correlated)pinknoisecanhelphere,thoughitdoesnotreplace
listeningtomusic.Withpinknoiseplayinginbothspeakers,you
shouldhearatightly-denedlittle“ball”ofpinknoiseoatingin
spaceexactlyhalfwaybetweenthespeakers.
• Smooth, consistent bass
Oft-citedrulesofthumbforsmootherbassreproductioninclude
both“placingthespeakersatdifferentdistancesfromtheside
wallsvs.thewallbehindthem,”and“placingthemat‘oddfrac-
tions’oftheroom’sdimensions”(e.g.,fractionsinwhichthe
denominatorisanoddnumber,like
1
⁄3,
2
⁄5,
2
⁄7,etc.).Butnothing
replacesyourexperienceinyourroom,combinedwithyourdeal-
er’sexperienceinavarietyofrooms.Playingpinknoisethrough
thewoofersectionsofyourWisdomAudiospeakers(withthemi-
crophoneatthelisteningposition,andpriortodoinganyequal-
ization)andwatchingtheresultsonaRealTimeAnalyzer(RTA)
willletyouseetheresultsofyourlabors.
• Center channel height
Onceyouhaveasolidstereoimageupfront(whenlisteningonly
totheLeftandtheRightspeakers),youneedacenterchannel
speakerformultichannelreproduction.Itshouldbecenteredbe-
tweentheLeftandRight,andcenteredonthescreen’slocation,
preferablyatthesameheightastheLeftandRightspeakers.This
presentsanobviousproblem:youcannotplaceaspeakerinfront
ofyourtelevisionscreen.Onesolutionistolocateitbehindan
acousticallytransparentfrontprojectionscreen.Apartfromsuch
anarrangement,trytominimizethechangeinimageheightasa
soundispannedacrossthefrontstage.
• Surround channel geometry
Ina5.xchannelsystem,thesurroundshouldbeplacedeitherdi-
rectlytothesidesoforslightlybehindthelisteningarea(90°–115°
fromthecenterchannel,asseenfromabove).Ina7.xsystem,the
surroundspeakersshouldbecloserto90°fromthecenterspeak-
er,andthesurroundbackspeakersshouldbeatapproximately
130°–150°fromthecenterspeaker.Thisconformstoindustry
standards,andensuresthatyouhearwhatwasintendedfroma
spatialplacementpointofview.(Toooften,thesurroundspeakers