Wilson Audio WATCH Center Series 3 - Manual (Page 18)

should fire from the end of the leg (short wall) toward the L, or they should be along the
longest wall. In this way, both speakers are firing the same distance to the back wall. The
asymmetry of the walls in L-shaped rooms resists the buildup of standing waves (see Figure
2).
Speaker Placement Versus Listening Position
The location of your listening position is as important as the careful setup of your
Wilson Audio loudspeakers. The listening position should ideally be no more than 1.1 to
1.25 times the distance between the tweeters on each speaker. Therefore, in a long, rect-
angular room of 12’ x 18’, if the speaker tweeters are going to be 9’ apart, you should be
sitting 9’11’’ to 11’3’’ from the speaker. This would be more than halfway down the long
axis of the room.
Many people place the speakers on one end and sit at the other end of the room.
This approach will not yield the finest sound. Carefully consider your listening position.
Our experience has shown that any listening position that places your head closer than 14”
F
IGURE
7 – P
OSSIBLE
L
OUDSPEAKER
P
LACEMENT WITHIN
V
ARIOUS
R
OOM
S
HAPES
from a room boundary will diminish the sonic results of your listening.
Speaker Orientation
Speaker placement and orientation are two of the most important considerations in
obtaining superior sound. The first thing you need to do is eliminate the sidewalls as a
sonic influence in your system. Speakers placed too close to the sidewalls will suffer from
a strong primary reflection. This can cause out-of-phase cancellations, or comb filtering,
which will cancel some frequencies and change the tonal balance of the music. The Wil-
son Audio Setup Procedure (Section 2.1) is the best method with which to position your
loudspeakers. Start with the speakers about 18” from each wall (as measured from the rear
of the enclosure) and, if you need to move them relative to the side wall, move them away
from the wall, not closer.
A very important aspect of speaker placement is how far from the back wall to place
the speakers. The closer a loudspeaker is to the back wall, the more pronounced the low
bass energy and centering of the image will be. However, this comes at a definite reduction
in stage size and bloom as well as a deterioration of upper bass quality. You must find the
proper balance of these two factors, but remember, if you are partial to bass response or
air and bloom, do not overcompensate your adjustments to maximize these effects. Over-
compensated systems are sometimes pleasing in the short-term, but long-term satisfaction
is always achieved through proper balance.
Center Channel
After determining the general area for the Left and Right channels, determine the best
place for your Center channel. The following center channel configurations are possible:
• On the floor with the speaker angled up towards the listener.
• Mounted on a stand with no upward rotation.
S
E C T I O N
3 . 4 — Y
O U R
R
O O M
W A T C H C
E N T E R
C
H A N N E L
S
E R I E S
3 O
W N E R
’
S
M
A N U A L
34 35
W i l s o n A u d i o S p e c i a l t i e s W i l s o n A u d i o S p e c i a l t i e s