How to make your speakers sound better for free

Experimenting with different speaker placement strategies can yield substantial improvements in sound quality.

[AliBekirKlckaya]

Thank you for your modest wordings and huge contribution to community, I wish all the experts were like you.

[dirkdiggler]

Wow, you make great videos!You deserve a lot more attention!I love these short but very informative videos without BS!

[donb.]

Steve, your channel is absolutely the best! Everyday, the first thing I do in the morning is check your daily show, and without fail, there you are offering unbiased reviews covering a wide array of topics. Thanks so much, I really appreciate it and it appears that you do as well.

[dudemanismadcool]

Just moved my desk from the room corner where the left speaker was effectively boxed in between two walls, to the centre of my longest wall so my speakers are now sitting in the centre of the room. The difference in sound quality is staggering. Where my vocals used to emit from a generalised centre stage in a rather bloated and ill-defined location they are now locked into a pinpoint centre stage and the clarity and tone that I can now hear as a result is unquestionably better. Imaging all around is vastly improved and the bass response is also much better by gaining tightness/punchiness. The improvements were immediately obvious but best demonstrated when listening to Ben Howards 'End of the Affair' during a section with extremely fast yet subtle bass. It sounded so much better than what i was used to I couldn't believe it.

[EthanWiner]

Steve, you're correct that speaker placement has a huge impact on sound quality, but there's a science behind this that's a lot better than just playing around hoping to find something that sounds good. Having at least some acoustic treatment is also mandatory to get great sound. The short article below explains the basics of room setup, and you're welcome to contact me for more information about this fascinating aspect of audio:

[carlosoliveira-rcxt]

Agree with everything except tweeter being at ear level. My experience has been that more often than not speakers sound better with midrange slightly above ear level. Perfect example is B&W 801 which required stands to sound it's best. Most large speakers (six foot) have their tweeters around 45 inches from the floor or greater. I say the traditional thinking of tweeter height at ear level is incorrect. I'm well aware of response valleys and such created by severe vertical off axis listening. This can be ameliorated by listening at a greater distance from the speaker. I'm not a fan of listening to speakers at distances less than 10 feet at any rate.

[TheZooman]

My ELACs came with a diagram showing recommended speaker placement, for their product. It is basically an equilateral triangle. Its a good starting point, I have not experimented too much with them.

[TyrantTitan.]

Just played around with my subs and got rid of the loud boomy range around 120-150hz which was really bothering me, thanks a lot for the advice. Amazing what 3" can do. lmao. Move them apart 1.5" each side. They're small klipsch promedia subs, but like I said, have been watching, learning and experimenting with placement with this little 2.2 system and have been getting really awesome sound. They used to be just clear and loud with bass, but now it's like I'm *IN* the music, and I can move anywhere around my desk and still get a nice "image". Subs are 4" from side of flat desk, and 32" apart. Noticed the placement of what sounds best and the satellites sit right outside the outer front corner of the l & r subs, and all are about the same distance from me. I think this works because my desk is acting like a room for the subs and they would be pretty much at the opposite ends in the middle of the room, maybe 2-3ft from the walls.

[paulwibb.]

Agreed, , , placement of speakers is vital no matter what system you use, , fact

[GlenQuagmirechannel]

I stuck my Bose 901's in the rear window of my Ford Taurus and they do sound better!

[hansme]

At least some basic room treatment is desired in most rooms, and can be very cheap if done DIY.

[hansburm]

Steve, did you ever walk your room on the stereo axis and found many worse but one special sweet spot? In the rooms reverb the speaker does have an impact, but isnt it minor compared with the rooms effects?

[bilguana]

Not talked about much is distance from the speakers. Yet this is critical. And, before buying, strongly consider what is the distance to where you will be listening in your room. Most manufacturers definitely don't want to talk about it nor do most reviewers especially if the minimum distance is more than 2.5 meters. If you sit relatively close then consider coherent speakers such as Kefs, Elac Uni-Fis or Adantes, TADS, etc.

[sometimesreviewsandthinkin]

Going to try it.
I think it sounds better when placed in the same height as ears so as with the l and r speaker.
Some of it can surely be placebo though.
IF you sant your speaker to sound better closer to you it Will. Placebo works!

[BadMonkeyFinger_Audio]

It's amazing how many audiophiles neglect speaker placement. I see it a lot in online audio groups, where really nice, costly speakers are often set up in the worst way possible.

[TheOzthewiz]

Some speakers, such as the Polk Stereo Dimensional Array units, should NOT be toed-in OR out. They MUST be placed parallel to the wall for proper inter-aural cross-talk cancellation to maintain the spatial sound stage imaging.

[reaality]

My dream system, ('dream' being the operative word) starts with a dedicated power station supplying a dedicated stereo building...

[towers]

That is why I spent so much money on adjustable speaker Stands.

[AudiophileTubes]

For one of my stereo systems, I use Polk Audio TSi-300 series tower speakers, and I greatly enhanced and tightened up the bass response by simply placing them on inexpensive wood butcher blocks I purchased at 'Bed Bath & Beyond'! I am blown away by the sonic improvement! Here is a link:

[paulpeace]

Room dimension first, room acoustic then speaker placements.