MartinLogan Monolith III - Manual (Page 21)

Page21 Monolith III User's Manual
General Placement General Placement General Placement General Placement General Placement
Start by making certain that both speakers are the same
distance from the walls behind or beside them and that their
“toe-in” angle is the same. At this time you may want to enlist
the help of a friend or family member to assist you.
It is generally true that, as you move your speakers farther
forward into the listening environment, you will derive more
spaciousness from them. Toeing them toward the middle of
the listening area will enhance brightness.
As you place and listen, keep in mind that tight bass and
clear resolution indicate proper placement and that the
acoustical image is in focus. Don’t hesitate to experiment,
but give each new combination of positions a thorough test.
The time and effort you invest here will be well spent.
By now your speakers should be placed approximately 2 to 3
feet from the back wall and at least 1 to 2 feet from the side
walls. Your sitting distance should be further than the
distance between the speakers themselves. What you are
trying to attain is the impression of good center imaging and
stage width.
There is no exact distance between speakers and listener,
but there is a relationship. In long rooms, naturally, that
relationship changes. The distance between the speakers
will be far less than the distance from you to the speaker
system. However, in a wide room you will still find that if the
distance from the listener to the speakers becomes smaller
than the distance between the speakers themselves, the
image will no longer focus in the center.
Now that you have positioned your speaker system, spend
some time listening. Wait to make any major changes in
your initial set-up for the next few days as the speaker
system itself will change subtly in its sound. Over the first 20
hours of play the actual tonal quality will change slightly with
deeper bass and more spacious highs resulting.
After a few days of listening you can begin to make refine-
ments and hear the differences of those refinements.
The Back Wall The Back Wall The Back Wall The Back Wall The Back Wall
Near-field reflections can also occur from your back wall. If
your listening position is close to a back wall, these reflec-
tions can cause problems and confuse the quality of
imaging. Actually it is better for the back wall to be soft than to
be bright. If you have a hard back wall and your listening
position is close to it, experiment with devices that will soften
and absorb information, ie: wall hangings and possibly even
sound absorbing panels.
The Front Wall The Front Wall The Front Wall The Front Wall The Front Wall
The wall behind your speakers should not be extremely hard
or soft. For instance, a pane of glass will cause reflections,
brightness, and confused imaging. Curtains, drapery, and
objects such as bookshelving can be placed along the back
wall to tame an extremely hard surface. A standard sheet
rock or textured wall is generally an adequate back surface if
the rest of the room is not too bright and hard.
Sometimes walls can be too soft. If the entire front wall
consists of only heavy drapery, your system can literally
sound too soft or dull. You will hear dull, muted music with
little ambience. Harder room surfaces will actually help in
this case.
The front surface should, optimally, be one long wall without
any doors or openings. If you have openings, the reflection
and bass characteristics from one channel to the other can
be different.
The Side Walls The Side Walls The Side Walls The Side Walls The Side Walls
The same requirements exist for side walls. Additionally, a
good rule of thumb is to have the side walls as far away from
the speaker sides as possible, minimizing near field side
wall reflections. Sometimes, if the system is bright or the
imaging is not to your liking, and the sidewalls are very near,
try putting curtains or softening material directly to the edge
of each speaker. An ideal side wall, however, is no side wall
at all.
Placement