Near or Far

I listen in the nearfield, it gives me an immersive soundstage, more imediacy and emphasises the dynamics, I prefer it this way.



What are the pro's and cons of this setup and which do you prefer and why

[earl of sodbury]

Good call AK.

Can you give us an idea of what you consider "near" and "far" in this context, though?

churz, eofs

Given the boundaries of normal domestic rooms in the UK near is likely to be similar distance between speakers as you are away from them, and far is I reckon around 2-3 times as far from them as they are apart, but each will be different, depending on room size and shape.

[Biscuit]

I listen in near, but only due to the size of my room

[earl of sodbury]

analoguekid wrote:

Given the boundaries of normal domestic rooms in the UK near is likely to be similar distance between speakers as you are away from them, and far is I reckon around 2-3 times as far from them as they are apart, but each will be different, depending on room size and shape.

Near - not that I have much choice....

well I have the choice and still go for near, so if you haven't tried far, you may not be missing out, still I find peeps who thought they preffered one, till they tried the other, and now aren't so sure

[earl of sodbury]

Guess a decent set of domestic speaks should work well over a fairly wide-range of sitings.

yes they will work Paul, but which do those that have tried it prefer, and if you have only tried it one way, then why not try it the other, it's free, and you may just prefer it.



Personally I find nearfield best for me for reasons mentioned above, but I also feel the room affects the sound less in a nearfield situation, so if having room problems, try nearfiled before fannying about with bass traps etc.

[earl of sodbury]

analoguekid wrote:

yes they will work Paul, but which do those that have tried it prefer, and if you have only tried it one way, then why not try it the other, it's free, and you may just prefer it.



Personally I find nearfield best for me for reasons mentioned above, but I also feel the room affects the sound less in a nearfield situation, so if having room problems, try nearfiled before fannying about with bass traps etc.

I don't have the room to go far-field, but must say the PMCs have a sweet spot in my room (in terms of distance) that is quite near-field (about 5 feet) and leeway is no more than about 6 inches either way - I could put'em about a foot further back, but they lose overall clarity without any apparent gain if I do, and nearer-in what you gain in clarity you lose in soundstaging...

[mosfet]

Personally I find nearfield best for me for reasons mentioned above, but I also feel the room affects the sound less in a nearfield situation, so if having room problems, try nearfiled before fannying about with bass traps etc.

Yep AK it’s a fairly simple equation. Listening in the nearfield you hear more direct sound from the loudspeakers and less reflected sound from room boundaries provided your listening position is further away from room boundaries in the nearfield than in the far field. I find listening in the nearfield with about 1m distance behind my listening position and rear wall is best.

In a previous address where my listening position was also in the nearfield (because of room size) and directly against the rear wall I found damping the rear wall with absorption was helpful to improve clarity and reduce LF bloom. To do this I simply used the rear sections of a sofa – about 6” thick polyester-fibre – propped on the back of my listening sofa. Always worth a try if you’re listening position is hard against a wall.

Only two things in hi-fi that cause ‘night and day’ differences – loudspeakers and rooms.

[stebbo]

I listen whilst sitting on the sofa

[dudywoxer]

It has to be a room lay out thing- in my case near field sends sound up the chimney for the fire, If I go for far the speaker position is unbalanced- space to wall -distance apart. On balance the up the chimney is the lesser on two minor evils, so I use near field

[adam]

What Mosfet said,I do agree alot with this chap.

[rockmeister]

yes... damned clever that mosfet chap.
now, larger rooms are always better because
they give you a choice of listening position
you can get your speaks well in from the dreader corner horns
and, there's less chance of an unsympathetic room resonance, in a larger room, assuming that it's not just a big cube thst is (or shaped like two cubes) (or anything cubic at all)

[chezi61]

Definately a room dimensions thingy.

I tried the near field last nicht and although it did sound better soundstage wise , wider to be precise , the speakers were approx 5ft in front of me and wider apart but positioned 2ft from the back wall,not the ideal position.

Now positioned in original position 15ft away 9ft apart , still sounds good soundstage is fine and deep just not as widespread as you would expect but..........., gonnae buy a chair and sit in middle of room . (must be a thing about mining communities coz every house I've lived in except one has living room long and narrow. wierd)

TBH it's something I never thought about till hearing AK's bloody"awsome" kit and then the feckir posts this.:lwink:

Wish I had tried this when I had the 11L's ,shouda tried it years ago with ma E30's.

Ho Hum. Whoars the cider.:lmao:

chezi.

[Sony6million]

I'm not actually sure. Recently its been bordering on far. I have a complex about sitting too close; I find there is a big hole in the soundstage and don't enjoy the music so much. So, given the chance, i push my seat back till I am happy.

[mosfet]

yes... damned clever that mosfet chap.

Nah, I’m just scratching at the surface of what there is to know. That’s the scary bit!

if you are getting a hole in the middle it's one of two things Phil, if you ask me, either they are really far apart, and perhaps need a lot of toe in, or you may be running out of phase, even with your head in between speakers you should still hear stuff in the middle????

[A.N.]

i prefer near too, like a massive pair of headphones innit shamone

[Hawk]

Nearfield out of choice... Works best for me