Stereo (OT)

[DerbyBorn]

Remember how we used to take efforts to position our speakers correctly to give us a true sound stage?

Now I have seen sofas advertised with a built in iPod dock and two speakers

- one above the other!

[polygonum]

Ideal when you are lying down on it. :-)

[Graham.]

That's strange because I was wondering if correct speaker positioning was no longer de rigueur yesterday, when reading a thread about ceiling speakers in this very newsgroup and an experienced BBC trained sound engineer who will remain Dave Plowman made a contribution and didn't condemn the idea totally ;-)

[David WE Roberts]

The ceiling speakers I am contemplating should be one at each end of a galley kitchen so should be positioned to give reasonable stereo separation if you are cooking at the hob. Not so good at the sink, though :-)

I think these days (especially looking at single speaker cabinets which are supposed to immitate stereo separation) that minimalist is more important than audiophile.

Still love my big floorstanders though but there is no place for them in the new living area. I do have provision in the main living area for a couple of bookshelf speakers on wall brackets, though, with concealed wiring.

Cheers

Dave R

[Graham.]

Have you considered mono for both speakers?

OK, maybe you will enjoy the stereo in your kitchen even if imperfect, but I often hear systems like that in larger areas, usually in hotel restaurants actually, where the speaker(s) carrying the "other" channel are so far away they had a totally different acoustic and mono would have been my preference.

[John Rumm]

There are two types of stereo user[1] I have decided, them that care about how it sounds, and those that care about how it looks and fits into the room.

[1] A rough approximation could call these groups "men" and "women". Although its worth noting that "women" come in both sexes.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Did I mention stereo? ;-)

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Quite. I'd far rather have mono unless in the sweet spot between the speakers.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Of course you could always compromise...

[Owain]

Is that what's meant by bi-wiring?

Owain

[John Rumm]

Tried that once, messed up my sound stage and my hair ;-)

[Gib Bogle]

These days the latter seem to predominate. There is a subset who pretend to technical sophistication - these are the ones who pay a small fortune for enormous speaker cables made from precious metals, etc. etc.

[Brian Gaff]

Or a bass bin under the seats.. Yes, I know its all completely mad! Back in the 70s there was a stereo winged arm chair that sounded ok but this only lasted till you moved your head.

Brian

[Brian Gaff]

Yes, well maybe its been designed for use with DAB, where the majority of the stations seem to be in mono in any case.

Brian

[RobertL]

give us a true sound stage? Now I have seen sofas advertised with a built in iPod dock and two speakers - one above the other!

For the stereo method invented by Blumlein in 1931 (which is still the basis for stereo recording and reproduction today) you should have an angle of 90 degrees between the speakers as seen from your sitting positon.

Robert

[Man at B&Q]

Three types.

You forgot Russ Andrew's customers - those who care more about what it costs.

MBQ

[Sam Plusnet]

That was when his experiments with stereo involved two mono valve amps.

[DerbyBorn]

Sam Plusnet wrote in news:MPG.2b17726a618ddd49898f9 @news.plus.net:

I wonder how many of us would admit to having a Stereo Tester record with railway sounds going from left to right!

[Chris J Dixon]

I recall an experimental broadcast, with two channels - one on radio and the other on TV.

Chris

[John Rumm]

I have a test CD which has various spot and sliding tones, channel pans etc, plus selection of noise tracks, and some music excerpts.

The sliding tones are very good at highlighting resonances in speakers or other frequency dependent problems.