Unequal space behind speakers.

[flaxton]

I have a pair of Dali Rubicon speakers. The left one is a foot from the wall. The right one has a bay window behind it which is about two foot behind it. They are rear ported. Will this affect the sound. They are rear ported. Thanks.

 

[Nopiano]

Proximity to the front wall - the one behind your speakers - does affect the sound. Typically the closer they are the more the bass is emphasised, though at certain spots the opposite may occur. Dali recommend at least 8 inches, so you pass that test!

Although some are fond of precise symmetry, with the belief it creates ‘perfect’ stereo, I tend to favour some difference between the two, as they won’t then highlight any slight peaks or dips in response.  I can only suggest trying it in practice.

https://media-dali.azureedge.net/1636/rubicon-user-manual.pdf

 

[2010*zuma]

It’s the space between my ears i sometimes worry about :nuts:

 

[garn63]

It’s the space between my ears i sometimes worry about :nuts:

Mines a vast wilderness....I quite like that.    Snap ?

 

[2010*zuma]

Mines a vast wilderness....I quite like that.    Snap ?

I get the odd tumbleweed blowing through mine :Tumble:

 

[newlash09]

I have a pair of Dali Rubicon speakers. The left one is a foot from the wall. The right one has a bay window behind it which is about two foot behind it. They are rear ported. Will this affect the sound. They are rear ported. Thanks.

I have a very similar room sir. My room extends into a 5x5 feet dresser behind the left speaker. The bass doesn't sound louder on the right speaker because of this. However, with both speakers symmetrically placed with respect to the side walls, the image is skewed to the left. So vocalists supposedly standing in the center, sound like they are hiding in the closet

So I had three options :

1. Move the left speaker further behind.

2. Move the right speaker closer.

3. Increase the toe-in on the right speaker.

I discarded option number 2, as I already sit very close to the speakers. So I used options 1 & 3 till I got the vocalist at the centre again. I used this track by miss Emmylou Harris- " The ballad of the run away horse ". This track is used as a reference by many people to setup their speakers. Once done, the lady should be exactly at the center, with a apparent height of 5'8", and size of the voice should be humane,  and not like 3 feet wide

 

[flaxton]

thanks mr. Manohar. The vocal is dead centre. So looks like I am ok. 

 

[antonio66]

I've recently moved and now have a longer, narrower room than I have been used to.  I'm using Mark Audio Cesti MBR's, only 5' apart and one of them overlapping an open doorway so like you a difference in behind the speaker distance.  In this room and the way it is set-up I get less bass, but still a nice soundstage is present and am more than happy with the way things stand.  Sometimes sacrifices have to be made, whether or not room equalisation would make a difference I don't know, but I do not want to go to that expense at present.

 

[flaxton]

I am happy with the sound. I have a sub connected. It’s just when I looked and saw more space behind one speaker my ocd kicked in.

 

[Sotosound]

The speakers need to be equidistant from the listener so as to avoid having a phase difference between them.

Unequal distances would definitely stuff the sound.

 

[Nopiano]

I am happy with the sound. I have a sub connected. It’s just when I looked and saw more space behind one speaker my ocd kicked in.

Great, then nothing to worry about!

 

[Blzebub]

thanks mr. Manohar. The vocal is dead centre. So looks like I am ok. 

The wall behind the speakers will only affect bass response, so midrange and treble imaging should be fine.

How the wall behind affects bass response is detailed here (from 14:41, just press play). HTH.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdGTnXNMDZI&t=881s

 

[flaxton]

Thanks James.

 

[Blzebub]

No worries.

As an aside, if you place the speaker front baffle half the ceiling height from the rear wall, then the 1/4 wave cancellation null should coincide with the room mode arising from the vertical room dimension, which should ameliorate the uneven low bass response. Say your ceiling height is 2.4m, then the baffles should be 1.2m from the wall behind, if practicable. Same goes for the distance from the centre of the bass driver, seen from in front, to the nearest side wall.

Worth a try if you can do it.

 

[hearhere]

I have a pair of Dali Rubicon speakers. The left one is a foot from the wall. The right one has a bay window behind it which is about two foot behind it. They are rear ported. Will this affect the sound. They are rear ported. Thanks.

My speakers are also different distances from the back wall but in my case it's 12 ft and 15 ft with a curved full-height glass wall behind.  I have horn speakers with active subs that are not ported.  These speakers are quite happy - the rear wall is effectively not relevent.  However, I have use electrostatics that were not good.

A suggestion - try standing a reflective surface about a foot behind the speaker that's furthest from the back wall.  If the port has this surface to reflect its energy from, it may match the energy from the other speaker.  Frankly I doubt it'll make a huge difference.  Pity the port is at the back of your speakers.

 

[newlash09]

The wall behind the speakers will only affect bass response, so midrange and treble imaging should be fine.

How the wall behind affects bass response is detailed here (from 14:41, just press play). HTH.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdGTnXNMDZI&t=881s

Thanks for the video

But it doesn't delve deep enough into the subject. Besides, the frequency at which the sound becomes omnidirectional to wrap around the front baffle, and then travel to the Blackwall depends on the width of the baffle. In my case, I have a U- shaped opening of 5x5 feet behind the left speaker, almost reaching the center of the room behind the speakers.  And this has reflective surfaces like mirror and painted wooden boards. I believe this to be the cause of the channel imbalance in my case. 

 

[uzzy]

As suggested above - if it sounds great as it is do not worry about it.

Unfortunately many of us have to compromise when it comes to speaker placement,  

 

[Blzebub]

the frequency at which the sound becomes omnidirectional to wrap around the front baffle, and then travel to the Blackwall depends on the width of the baffle.

I think you are talking about baffle edge diffraction, which is not a problem for low frequencies (bass), If you watch the entire video (long) Ben addresses this in a different part. It's a potential problem for the midrange and can lead to comb filtering at higher frequencies.

Bass doesn't care about your speaker cabinets or baffle dimensions, it travels straight through them, radiating out in all directions from the bass drivers. Think of bass drivers as pulsating spheres in air.

Another factor is the distance between your eardrums. Low frequencies are omnidirectional at much lower figures for an elephant or a whale, than they are for a hamster. Humans are somehere in the middle. You can't tell where thunder is coming from, but you can tell the direction of a snapping twig.

 

[tuga]

I have a pair of Dali Rubicon speakers. The left one is a foot from the wall. The right one has a bay window behind it which is about two foot behind it. They are rear ported. Will this affect the sound. They are rear ported. Thanks.

A different distance to the wall behind speakers will produce the unavoidable bass cancellatio dip at a different frequency: