New ML speakers -nearfield or farfield?

[wings]

Have any of you had to change listening postions with
electrostatic designed speakers vs box speakers...sit closer/farther, narrow/wider apart?

I have a pair of Summits on order (delivery mid June) and just am thinking ahead.

 

[sleepysurf]

Being dipoles, electrostatics need more room to "breath," so ideally should be placed farther out from back and side walls. However, YOUR room acoustics also play an important role, so you'll need to experiment some when you get your Summits. Forward tilt and toe-in are also important.

What pre/amp/sources do you plan on using?

 

[nsgarch]

The choice is a function of . . . . . . . .

Have any of you had to change listening postions with electrostatic designed speakers vs box speakers...sit closer/farther, narrow/wider apart? I have a pair of Summits on order (delivery mid June) and just am thinking ahead.

your room's size and shape. Sometimes nearfield listening is dictated by size limitations of the room, but if I had a choice, I wouldn't opt for nearfield listening. A good rule of thumb is that if the shortest dimension of the room is less than 15 feet, you will need to accept nearfield listening.

If the shortest dimension is 15 feet (or more) you can place the speakers on the longer wall and sit 8 feet across from them, with 4 feet behind them, and 3 or 4 feet behind you (total of 15 or 16 feet) and you can enjoy a nice sound field and at least a two person sweet spot.

If the shortest dimension is between 12 and 15 feet, you need to place the speakers on the short wall (with 3 - 4 feet behind them and their outside edges at least 30 inches from the side walls.) You'll wind up (your ears, that is) about 5 - 7 feet away, meaning you get mostly the direct sound from the speakers -- a bit like listening through headphones but with more ambience and real (visceral) bass.

If the shortest dimension is less than 12 feet, find another room because nothing will work satisfactorily except perhaps some decent monitors on good stands.

 

[Joey_V]

Although not ideal, you can do nearfield listening with ML speaker (or panels in general). I know there are several members who listen nearfield. Although you will sacrifice soundstage reproducibility, MLs do not have the limitation that conventional multi-driver, multi-way speakers in that they are more coherent within a short distance due to a, for all purposes, lack of a crossover (aside from bass/midbass).

That aside, you need a good sized room to get the Summits jumping. About 8-10' between speakers, and another 10-12' away and you got your ideal setup, IMO.

 

[nsgarch]

Joey's right

It does seem counter intuitive but unless you are using a single driver monitor, stats actually give a more uniform wave launch.

I listen to my CLS's nearfield in a 12 x 24 foot room. The panels are 5 feet apart (center to center) with about 31 inches between the inside edges. I sit so my ears are about 5 feet from the panels. The CLS's are on Sound Anchor stands which raises them 12 inches off the floor. This provides a stunning soundstage, however there is one very important thing one must do when one is physically so close to the speakers -- especially panels: you must have your listening chair elevated sufficiently that when seated, your ears are even with the middle (heightwise) of the panel. This is critical for nearfield listening!
My club chair recently received a set of lovely 8 inch maple legs. That put my ears at 44 inches off the floor, the same as the mid-height of the CLS's on their Sound Anchor stands. I look quite regal in it

 

[Joey_V]

I look quite regal in it

I can imagine!!! :bowdown: to the king!

Joey

 

[tonyc]

My ears are 8 feet from the plane of the Summits front panels-I guess this would be considered nearfield. Whatever it sure sounds better every time I listen! The room is 16 x14.5 and the speakers are on the short wall, about 5 feet out.

 

[Gordon Gray]

More info would be helpful

I suspect that if you provide your room dimensions, along with other pertinent info such as hall openings, bump outs, back wall material (sheet rock, glass, etc.), furniture locations that are fixed for whatever reason, and any other info that would impact the sound, you'll get much better input.

Of course, pictures are worth the preverbial 1,000 words.

General rule of thumb is a minimum 3' from the panel to the back wall (more is generally better for depth imaging), 2' from the outside edge of the panel to the nearest sidewall, and ideally little in the way of "stuff" between the speakers. Also, the dimension between the panels should generally be less than the distance between your listening chair and the front of the panels.

Bare in my mind that the above info is based on my personal experiences of having four different models of ML's over the past 20 years and other members will likely have their own "rules of thumb", which also yield excellent results.

The good news and bad news about stats is that room placement, along with other room influences, have a huge impact on the final sound of ML speakers.

GG