There's no "dislikes" on this video (at least at the time I am writing this) and there is a reason for it, because this is a wonderful and simple explanation on speaker placement. Well Done. Thank you Will!
Kudos to Will K, super knowledgeable guy. I meet him at a Sonus Faber demo at Sound Advantage in Rochester Mi. He’s a great ambassador for the industry.
Hello Joffie, it's helpful to have a 2nd person assist with adding a sub, esp. if you have no remote control for a subwoofers' phase, polarity etc. The 2nd person can sit in the primary listening position while the other makes adjustments, giving feedback on whether the sound got better or worse. Feel free to reach out to us: ask@gramophone.com
Yes, we suggest getting the speakers to sound their best with Will's suggestions, then tackling the sub or subs. That is best done with two people, one to physically make the changes at the sub, the other in the main seated listening position to dial the bass in as unobtrusively as possible
A great track for the whole process and the one Will uses all the time is "The Ballad of The Runaway Horse" by Jennifer Warnes. Now, there are two versions of it. The best one by FAR is the one that features her on an album by Rob Wasserman titled "Duets." That's the Will Kline special right there.
So this may be a stupid question but did Will suggest in step 1 to only have one speaker playing while looking For the placement of the initial speaker? I know when “closing the gate”, you’re in stereo.
Thanks for asking. He's suggesting that we play music through both, but only concentrate on one speaker positioning (in this case, the left) - a "one at at time" approach.
Hello Reality, yes, listening position is key. Perhaps we could have done better at explaining the basic geometry of speakers vs. listening position. This explanation to some extent assumes your listening position is already chosen. You can place your speakers, and then move your seating to see if your sound improves
I have a tweak. Put a long towel or long piece of cardboard under the speaker and have your helper pull it out as you listen and you will hear changes on the fly and the helper will be out the way the whole time. You won't believe the difference an inch makes.
Thanks for your tip Joffie, and yes - sometimes just a slight movement forward, backward, towards the listener, away - there comes a point where the sonic image really comes alive
This didnt really work for me. My room is a rectangle, when i start with the first speaker on its own getting the bass right it sounds great, as soon as i bring the other speaker to the same distance out the bass vanishes. I can get the bass to sound good but then the speakers have to be right in the corners of the room which then introduces heavy side wall reflections and complete lack of focus due to them being so far apart, even with a large amount of toe in.
Thank you for your comments, and we're sorry that you are having trouble getting them to sound great. The room always has a significant effect on the sound. Square rooms are the worst, and rectangular rooms are also often problematic. If you are bringing speaker # 2 out and the bass disappears, it seems like a classic case of the two speakers woofer output canceling each other at your seated listening position. A few suggestions to try: a) can you change your seated listening position, even by a few feet? You may simply be in a null. b) adding a subwoofer, located where it can sound it's best, may solve your issue, allowing you to hear good imaging from the speakers and letting the sub take care of the bottom end. The crawl test often works great in such instances. Let us know if you need help with that. c) where are you living? Is there a quality A/V dealer nearby who can come lend a helping hand?
@@GramophoneMD Thank you for the reply! I played around more after I wrote this message. I ended up in an unusual position with the speakers, almost 3ft away from the front wall. With just one speaker in this location the bass is non existent, but with both theres bass that i can feel in my sofa (nothing huge but still great) even the midrange tone is richer, the imaging is better as is the vanishing act of the speaker. What you said is very true, I was sat in a null from the cancellation. I think Ive been really lucky with the current placement as Ive been shuffling the speakers around for a few weeks now and not really had that “locked in” sound. I did use the 87% triangle and 86cm to side wall method in this placement which could have been partly responsible, mostly lucky though 😆. I really appreciate the advice, I do have a subwoofer but Ive been relying on it too much due too bad speaker placement, trouble is now the speakers have better bass the subwoofer is proving to be a pain to integrate, aghhh 😩😆
@russellparker4568 Thank you Russell, we're glad you are happier now with the sound. All of this proves Will's basic point in the video. Working with speaker placement can have a slight, or sometimes really significant, effect on the sound.
@@GramophoneMDJust a quick update, Ive got a different pair of speakers in now, sealed enclosures, bigger drivers, much much better results thanks to Will’s technique, thank you!
Thank you Heavy, Will did a fine job with this. A small investment in time with placement can make any system, modestly priced or super high end, sound better - because the room is always influencing what we hear. We hope your system sounds better today than it did yesterday!
I must honestly quite pissed off…. I never had such much difficulty to get a decent sound out of my sonus faber olympica nova 3, my martin logan’s are famous for their difficult plafement… and they were easy peacy… 10000 replacing and still not a pleasing low end… and I am not a bass fan at all!! Biggest waste of money in my life, bass was comparable to little monitor speakers!
Hello Cestmoi50, we're sorry to hear of your disappointment, and we're puzzled. Our showroom Nova III has quite good bass response, and reviews we've read seem to agree. It is possible you have a defective pair. Please reach out to us if we can be of help: ask@gramophone.com
There's no "dislikes" on this video (at least at the time I am writing this) and there is a reason for it, because this is a wonderful and simple explanation on speaker placement. Well Done. Thank you Will!
Wow! That was the best and easiest-to-understand presentation on the subject of speaker placement I have heard. Absolutely great, Will. Thank you!
Wow what a difference it made. Thank you. My Sonus Fabers aren't that fussy about positioning, but better placement just elevated it.
Really nice to hear that someone else put this into practice. Well done!
What is the piccolo test track please guys? Thx
We will reach out to Will and find out
I would also like to know
Will K is a beast.
^ Factual truth statement.
Kudos to Will K, super knowledgeable guy. I meet him at a Sonus Faber demo at Sound Advantage in Rochester Mi. He’s a great ambassador for the industry.
Thank you TheFiremancarl - sharing helpful hints is good!
Super good video, beautiful speakers.
Hi. How does someone integrate a sub once the speakers are in the sweet spot? Thanks
Hello Joffie, it's helpful to have a 2nd person assist with adding a sub, esp. if you have no remote control for a subwoofers' phase, polarity etc. The 2nd person can sit in the primary listening position while the other makes adjustments, giving feedback on whether the sound got better or worse. Feel free to reach out to us: ask@gramophone.com
Great video….what about if you have a sub incorporated… use the same technique I would assume and then do the sub separately
Yes, we suggest getting the speakers to sound their best with Will's suggestions, then tackling the sub or subs. That is best done with two people, one to physically make the changes at the sub, the other in the main seated listening position to dial the bass in as unobtrusively as possible
Gold. Thank you for doing this video.
Wow, thank you. Wish I would have heard this 30 years ago. Great job Will K. and Gramophone.
Thanks Steven! We're glad you enjoyed it
Great video! Can you please recommend some tracks for each step? It will help a lot :)
A great track for the whole process and the one Will uses all the time is "The Ballad of The Runaway Horse" by Jennifer Warnes. Now, there are two versions of it. The best one by FAR is the one that features her on an album by Rob Wasserman titled "Duets." That's the Will Kline special right there.
@@GramophoneMD Oh great! It is one of my favorite too. Thanks
This guy knows his sounds:)
This method will work in a 13x13x8 ft square room as well? Thanks
Yes it will.
This is great, but what are the test tracks, please?
Thanks Reality for your comment
Does the floor facing port of the Lumina IIIs allow it to set closer to the wall in small spaces as compared with rear ports?
Generally the answer is yes.
Thank you for the easy to follow video
You are welcome Tharu, thanks for your comment. We hope it makes your speaker positioning easier and that you are getting all you paid for
So this may be a stupid question but did Will suggest in step 1 to only have one speaker playing while looking
For the placement of the initial speaker?
I know when “closing the gate”, you’re in stereo.
Thanks for asking. He's suggesting that we play music through both, but only concentrate on one speaker positioning (in this case, the left) - a "one at at time" approach.
can i use this methode for my planar speakers?
Yes, it can work with almost any speaker
What about listening position? Is this not as important as speaker position (sitting in peaks/nulls, etc.)?
Hello Reality, yes, listening position is key. Perhaps we could have done better at explaining the basic geometry of speakers vs. listening position. This explanation to some extent assumes your listening position is already chosen. You can place your speakers, and then move your seating to see if your sound improves
I have a tweak. Put a long towel or long piece of cardboard under the speaker and have your helper pull it out as you listen and you will hear changes on the fly and the helper will be out the way the whole time. You won't believe the difference an inch makes.
Thanks for your tip Joffie, and yes - sometimes just a slight movement forward, backward, towards the listener, away - there comes a point where the sonic image really comes alive
What is the black paneling called and where to get it?
That is a sound absorbing material. You can get it from us, but generally we need to do a room design to specify what exact type and amount you need.
I can rake my Sonetto 3’s? I’ve been sitting on the floor the last two weeks for maximum enjoyment. Lol. 😂 I’ll tilt them up.
Lol
This didnt really work for me. My room is a rectangle, when i start with the first speaker on its own getting the bass right it sounds great, as soon as i bring the other speaker to the same distance out the bass vanishes. I can get the bass to sound good but then the speakers have to be right in the corners of the room which then introduces heavy side wall reflections and complete lack of focus due to them being so far apart, even with a large amount of toe in.
Thank you for your comments, and we're sorry that you are having trouble getting them to sound great. The room always has a significant effect on the sound. Square rooms are the worst, and rectangular rooms are also often problematic. If you are bringing speaker # 2 out and the bass disappears, it seems like a classic case of the two speakers woofer output canceling each other at your seated listening position. A few suggestions to try: a) can you change your seated listening position, even by a few feet? You may simply be in a null. b) adding a subwoofer, located where it can sound it's best, may solve your issue, allowing you to hear good imaging from the speakers and letting the sub take care of the bottom end. The crawl test often works great in such instances. Let us know if you need help with that. c) where are you living? Is there a quality A/V dealer nearby who can come lend a helping hand?
@@GramophoneMD Thank you for the reply!
I played around more after I wrote this message. I ended up in an unusual position with the speakers, almost 3ft away from the front wall. With just one speaker in this location the bass is non existent, but with both theres bass that i can feel in my sofa (nothing huge but still great) even the midrange tone is richer, the imaging is better as is the vanishing act of the speaker.
What you said is very true, I was sat in a null from the cancellation.
I think Ive been really lucky with the current placement as Ive been shuffling the speakers around for a few weeks now and not really had that “locked in” sound.
I did use the 87% triangle and 86cm to side wall method in this placement which could have been partly responsible, mostly lucky though 😆.
I really appreciate the advice, I do have a subwoofer but Ive been relying on it too much due too bad speaker placement, trouble is now the speakers have better bass the subwoofer is proving to be a pain to integrate, aghhh 😩😆
@russellparker4568 Thank you Russell, we're glad you are happier now with the sound. All of this proves Will's basic point in the video. Working with speaker placement can have a slight, or sometimes really significant, effect on the sound.
@@GramophoneMDJust a quick update, Ive got a different pair of speakers in now, sealed enclosures, bigger drivers, much much better results thanks to Will’s technique, thank you!
Most excellent, glad to hear it@@russellparker4568
Great video!
Glad you enjoyed it, Soundhead - thanks for your support
This is excellent.
Thank you Heavy, Will did a fine job with this. A small investment in time with placement can make any system, modestly priced or super high end, sound better - because the room is always influencing what we hear. We hope your system sounds better today than it did yesterday!
Excellent
Thank you so much 😀
Will, I have the Amati Tradition. I want you to come to my house and help me sort out positioning!
Hah! If you follow his steps exactly, it's almost like he was there :-)
Sorry Will, but the music in the back is taking concentration off from each of your important words...
Thank you for your comment. We probably should have mixed the music a little lower
Great presenter!
I must honestly quite pissed off…. I never had such much difficulty to get a decent sound out of my sonus faber olympica nova 3, my martin logan’s are famous for their difficult plafement… and they were easy peacy… 10000 replacing and still not a pleasing low end… and I am not a bass fan at all!! Biggest waste of money in my life, bass was comparable to little monitor speakers!
Hello Cestmoi50, we're sorry to hear of your disappointment, and we're puzzled. Our showroom Nova III has quite good bass response, and reviews we've read seem to agree. It is possible you have a defective pair. Please reach out to us if we can be of help: ask@gramophone.com