Is Speaker height important to creating realism?

caesar · Mar 27, 2012

I am surprised how many short speakers command high dollars...

mep · Mar 27, 2012

Cripes, I hope this doesn't open up the vertical imaging love-fest all over again.

treitz3 · Mar 27, 2012

Me too, mep!

Hey, ceasar. I do believe it is. This is based on experience and observations and not based on anything else. I have had good results raising the sub woofer height to tweeter level and I currently have both of my mains not only on spikes but a plinth as well. This puts the entire system at what I would consider the best possible [physical] height to achieve the the realism I am currently enjoying and yes, it is much better than the stock height. In many aspects of the playback.

Bruce B · Mar 27, 2012

I can say emphatically yes! I had W/P 7's in my studio and I would close my eyes and get a balcony presentation of a performance or if Nat King Cole was singing in front of me, he would be 4' tall. I had to get some speakers that would give me a full image presentation.

mep · Mar 27, 2012

Uh-oh. Here we go.

Johnny Vinyl · Mar 27, 2012

I think Napoleon would command high price as a public speaker, so NO!

RogerD · Mar 27, 2012

You betcha it does. Like they say size matters

LL21 · Mar 27, 2012

i went from SF STrads to Wilson X1/Grand Slamms...and yes, for me, it made a big difference. Was it simply the height? Almost certainly not...it was also the soundstage size, effortlessness of delivery...all manner of things...which i think we at least in part aided by the sheer size (not just height) and thus ability to deliver dynamics (macro and micro) of these large speakers.

LL21 · Mar 27, 2012

I think Turntable did the same...from SF Strads to Wilson Maxx3s.

NorthStar · Mar 27, 2012

The height of the drivers is proportional to the height of your enjoyment.
And directly related to room acoustics, same as their positioning on the horizontal plane.
...And from the front and side walls. ...Same with the floor and ceiling.

The sound waves at the sweet spot corroborate with definite measurements in the 3D acoustic space.
Better driver's height in the proper loudspeakers for a given room's overall dimensions,
including the height of its ceiling, the better the sound reproduction and music listening enjoyment.

Soooo, YES! :b

* And same with the drivers from your subwoofer(s);
their height dictates their sound characteristic at the main listening position.

JackD201 · Mar 27, 2012

I hate to admit it but yes. Having said that, height is relative. Get a lower chair.

DaveyF · Mar 28, 2012

I think height of the speaker is important. However,IMO too much height can also bring problems.
When I owned Acoustat 2+2's and 3's, I always thought some of the presentation seemed unnatural, as if it was coming in too high and had no foundation to the stage. OTOH, I have a friend who owns original Quads on their original stands, they strike me as being too low. Perhaps it depends on where the tweeter is in relation to your seat and the floor/ceiling.

JackD201 · Mar 28, 2012

DaveyF said:
Perhaps it depends on where the tweeter is in relation to the your seat and the floor/ceiling.

My thoughts exactly. Add the dispersion characteristics to that as well.

Ronm1 · Mar 28, 2012

JackD201 said:
My thoughts exactly. Add the dispersion characteristics to that as well.

Mine too! Something as simple as sitting in the infamous sweet spot, standing then sitting on the floor may raise ones eyebrows a little. Course this could lead to a little speaker risin'. I only like to sit on the floor in a tepee!! Speakers going up a few inches , seems more practical then one going lower to the floor. Course this is phile territory, practicality can be an issue.

JackD201 · Mar 28, 2012

I kinda like the teepee thing once in a while. LOL

I've seen Ron Party do it once as well.

For quasi-pointsources my listening height is usually ears between the tweeter and midrange and not tweeter level. I dunno, it's not the convention but I guess psychologically it feels more assuring in the "coherence" sense. When I first got into audio seriously I was playing with a lot of horns. Getting the "aim" right must have stuck.

Ronm1 · Mar 28, 2012

Its funny, Jack. In our early HT days, on family movie nights I was always on the floor. Not enough seats!

JackD201 · Mar 28, 2012

During college parties I was always on the floor too.

Don't ask! LOL!

Phelonious Ponk · Mar 28, 2012

They (the drivers in your cabinets) are supposed to all cohere into a single point source by the time the sound reaches your ears, if they do that, then as long as the image is at the "right" height, it shouldn't matter.

Tim

Robh3606 · Mar 28, 2012

I would have to say the the speaker height in it's self is not that important. You want to be on the designed listening axis which in most cases is having the tweeters at ear height or slightly above. I have several speaker pairs and what I do is use chair where I can adjust the height. I also use different stands under the speakers to get the tweeters at about my seated ear height. I use the chair to fine tune my seated height.

Rob

NorthStar · Mar 28, 2012

JackD201 said:
I hate to admit it but yes. Having said that, height is relative. Get a lower chair.

Good point Jack; height of your ears. :b

* I thought 'bout it, but I forgot to include it in my prior post.

Is Speaker height important to creating realism?

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