In article , Wally
wrote:
Jim Lesurf wrote:

Having said that, yesterday I moved a pair of ESL63's into our living
room to try out with out TV/DVD system. This room is quite small, so
the speakers dominate the room. Placed either side of the TV, they
span about 90 percent of the width of the room, and the room is wider
than it is long.

Is there an ideal way to arrange speakers in a rectangular room
(hypothetically, at least)? Pointing down the long dimension or across
the width?

You will see various recipies for this. My own experience is that it is
very variable. Generally good to have speakers away from walls, and the
listening position away from walls. For good stereo, a more symmetric
arrangement can be desirable. Beyond that, it all becomes dependent upon
things like the directional behaviour of the speakers, effects of room
furnishings, etc. The best advice I can give is the obvious, "be prepared
to experiment". :-)

In general, firing along the longer dimension tends to give more scope for
having space behind the listening position. However factors like the above
and how the speaker's resonances relate to those of the room have an
effect.


Despite that, SWMBO likes the appearance[1], and we both found the
sound on last night's broadcasts (BBC4) of Chopin and (BBC)
Nutcracker! to be superb. At last, pianos that sound like pianos when
we watch TV/DVD!!

AAMOI, what was the source for these? (I'm thinking of connecting my
Telewest digibox to the hifi for the purpose of listening to some
classical broadcasts in the hope of getting better sound than the tuner,
but haven't done so yet, due to having no preamp or switchbox -
cable-swapping is a pain and something I don't want to do too much.)

In my case the TV sound is the S/PDIF coaxial output from a Nokia 221T
digital terrestrial TV receiver, into the Meridian 263 DAC. Then (at
present) a modified Quad 34 preamp, an Armstrong 700 power amp, and now
the ESL63's with a MJ Pro 50 sub to help with the lumpy bits. I may dump
the sub from this system. Not decided yet. It worked nicely with LS3/5A's,
but may be more hinderance than help with the ESL63's. Have to spend some
more time experimenting before I decide.

FWIW I just made up a small box with a cheap switch to allow me to have
a switchable input for the DAC. This means I can choose either the
output from the DVD player or from the Nokia. I made no attempt to
ensure the switchbox was 75 Ohm as I don't think this matters
much for domestic S/PDIF. The cables are CT100, though, and
nominally 75 Ohms.


I have large speakers *and* clutter. :-)

Snap. :-)

The good thing about clutter behind an ESL is that it helps to break up the
reflection from the rear radiation. ;-

Slainte,

Jim

--
Electronics http://www.st-and.ac.uk/~www_pa/Scot...o/electron.htm
Audio Misc http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/AudioMisc/index.html
Armstrong Audio http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/Audio/armstrong.html
Barbirolli Soc. http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/JBSoc/JBSoc.html