My dedicated audio room build - QuadDiffusor's Big Dig

[Young Skywalker]

My decision to locate my electronics between and behind the speaker plane was dictated by acoustic symmetry.

Furthermore, (dipoles notwithstanding) most of the acoustic energy is radiated in front of the speaker plane and placing anything in the primary reflection zone seemed like a less than optimal solution.

Yes, there is the psychoacoustic impact of seeing “stuff” in the soundstage but closing one’s eyes and/or listening in the dark takes care of that issue.

The ultimate solution is placing the electronics in a separate adjacent room. Although running from the turntable to the listening position and closing the door behind you could be tricky if one doesn’t want to miss the start of the music.

Is there a reason you want all of your electronics on racks between the speakers? In my experience locating the electronics on one side of the room sounds better. I have monoblock amps on short stands between the speakers but everything else is on a side wall.

 

[pjwd]

My decision to locate my electronics between and behind the speaker plane was dictated by acoustic symmetry.

Furthermore, (dipoles notwithstanding) most of the acoustic energy is radiated in front of the speaker plane and placing anything in the primary reflection zone seemed like a less than optimal solution.

Yes, there is the psychoacoustic impact of seeing “stuff” in the soundstage but closing one’s eyes and/or listening in the dark takes care of that issue.

The ultimate solution is placing the electronics in a separate adjacent room. Although running from the turntable to the listening position and closing the door behind you could be tricky if one doesn’t want to miss the start of the music.

The interesting thing about dipoles is between the speakers is a zone of maximum cancelation so probably not a big deal in that case
Even with box speakers the low fr are omnidirectional so low level equipment should not impact on image, sounstage etc. (as long as mid and tweeter zone are not impacted)
Agree that symmetry is a very big deal !

 

[QuadDiffuser]

Is there a reason you want all of your electronics on racks between the speakers? In my experience locating the electronics on one side of the room sounds better. I have monoblock amps on short stands between the speakers but everything else is on a side wall.

Why not? My apartment setup (see WBF profile thumbnail photo) has the same configuration, and it has the best imaging of any system I've heard anywhere.

Placing components on one side of the room results in an undesirable asymmetry, acoustically and visually! Why run signal cables between your source/preamp to your amps which are 6-12m long? Mine are going to be less than 3m long, with the general rule being very short cabling, and maximum heights of stacked components of just 0.8m (over and above the HRS EXR's top shelf height of 0.42m), well below the loudspeaker's midrange/tweeter arrays. Also, compared to the acoustic output of the front wall's P23 QRDs and the side walls' P17 QRDs (both providing comb-filtered, uncorrelated "reflections" in the Hass Effect Region), whatever sound diffracts off of the audio rack will pale in comparison (Masked Reflections), rendering it inaudible.

 

[Salectric]

Why not? Placing components on one side of the room results in an undesirable asymmetry, acoustically and visually! Why run signal cables between your source/preamp to your amps which are 6-12m long? Mine are going to be less than 3m long, with the general rule being very short cabling, and maximum heights of stacked components of just 1.0m.

Symmetry is a good thing for sure, but it’s an unfortunate fact that anything between the speakers—-equipment rack, furniture, TV screen—-is detrimental to sound quality especially imaging. It’s a trade off. For my tastes I much prefer the sound with the bulk of my equipment on a rack along the side wall. Short items between the speakers such as amps on a short amp stand have minimal effect on sound. The problem is larger items like a regular height equipment rack, chairs etc.

This is hardly a novel idea. Even though I discovered the problem for myself some 30 years ago, many others have made similar recommendations. For example, see Jim Smith’s book “Get Better Sound.”

 

[Young Skywalker]

Symmetry is a good thing for sure, but it’s an unfortunate fact that anything between the speakers—-equipment rack, furniture, TV screen—-is detrimental to sound quality especially imaging. It’s a trade off. For my tastes I much prefer the sound with the bulk of my equipment on a rack along the side wall. Short items between the speakers such as amps on a short amp stand have minimal effect on sound. The problem is larger items like a regular height equipment rack, chairs etc.

This is hardly a novel idea. Even though I discovered the problem for myself some 30 years ago, many others have made similar recommendations. For example, see Jim Smith’s book “Get Better Sound.”

I would argue that acoustic symmetry plays a much bigger role in the formation of a stereo image than anything placed behind the loudspeaker plane where all mid and high frequencies are radiated towards the listening position.

 

[aangen]

My desire to stare at my gear is the main reason it is behind and between the speakers.

 

[MarkusBarkus]

...yes! And I find it's the best location for developing solutions to problems I wouldn't be having if I wasn't staring at things.

 

[gleeds]

Symmetry is a good thing for sure, but it’s an unfortunate fact that anything between the speakers—-equipment rack, furniture, TV screen—-is detrimental to sound quality especially imaging. It’s a trade off. For my tastes I much prefer the sound with the bulk of my equipment on a rack along the side wall. Short items between the speakers such as amps on a short amp stand have minimal effect on sound. The problem is larger items like a regular height equipment rack, chairs etc.

This is hardly a novel idea. Even though I discovered the problem for myself some 30 years ago, many others have made similar recommendations. For example, see Jim Smith’s book “Get Better Sound.”

Agree on the preference for sidewall placement whenever possible, as many audiophiles overlook this crucial aspect of creating the best soundstage and minimizing smearing.

Below are two systems using low racks where a higher rack placement can create havoc with the soundstage and overall resolution due to smearing. In the first system, we created a custom Folgenhaus rack that was especially wide and maintained a very low profile for the gear placed between the Alsyvox ribbons. This worked out well with little to no effect on his soundstage and central image, and a significant improvement over his formerly much higher equipment shelf.

Next is my system, which utilizes a similarly low-Raidho rack. I was able to keep the equipment below the Von Schweikert tweeters. Again, good results. If the room allowed for it, I would prefer a sidewall placement for best results.

More audiophiles should consider this configuration over the tall, multi-shelf equipment stands commonly in use.

Folgenhaüs Bespoke Audio Furniture

www.folgenhaus.com