PSB Speakers 6919217 - Manual (Page 10)

inches from all walls, but the choice is yours to determine by
listening.
2. You in Relation to the Speakers
Where you sit in relation to your speakers obviously makes a
difference too. The proportions of the particular triangle formed by
your speakers and you matter. (You may need to send more power to
the more distant speaker to compensate if you get much further from
one speaker than the other.) The overall distances involved also
matter. As you get further from the speakers, more sound reflected
from your room’s surfaces (in contrast to the sound coming directly
from the speakers) reaches your ears, and the original spatial
relationships in a recording are changed as your room “takes over.”
Sometimes the result is a mellower, more “integrated” sound. Other
times, it’s a more strident or annoyingly “echoey”—or other—quality.
Once again, the particular dimensions of your room play a part. And
depending on what seems more realistic and/or enjoyable to your
ears, you may choose to sit at a great distance or have close-up,
“near-field” sound. Keep in mind that the right “toe-in,” the right
speaker height, and a reasonably symmetrical distance from the
speakers all tend to work together to deliver the best high-frequency
definition and imaging.
3. You in Relation to Room Boundaries
Changing your own position with respect to a room’s boundaries may
also bring a big effect, sometimes for a small change. Getting further
from the wall behind you may make sound more precise and
localized. Getting closer may make sound more “mellow” and
integrated. Coming too close—to back wall, side wall, or (especially)
a corner— you may experience a major peak or cancellation of a
certain band of frequencies. It depends on factors we can’t cover
fully here but do get into on our web site.
Remember too, with respect to your own positioning, that it may—or
may not—be easier to change your own seating location than to
move your speakers. As with so much else in life, the one certain rule
is that you shouldn’t fix, or worry about, what isn’t broken (audibly in
this case), especially if it means moving heavy furniture.
As you consider the three relationships we have outlined, the idea is
to manipulate whatever variable is easiest and most productive for
improving your listening experience. Be sure to base your judgements
on listening to a good variety of recordings of vocals, and acoustic
instruments, soloists, different movies and musical instruments to
most easily recognize tonal balance shifts.
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