How Far Should Speakers Be From Wall?

[Dan]

The handbook states that the speaker should be a minimum of 20-30cm from the wall but doesn’t give the ideal distance. I would like to understand what the maximum recommendation distance is.

[Raffaele Spataro]

Danmarchio: the speaker distance from the wall to the back of the speaker should be 2ft or 60cm, the maximum distance should be 4ft or 121.91cm from the wall depending on the listening area. The more closer you put your speaker the more coverage and bass output it will have.

I have the 1723 THX and have them 60cm from the back of the speaker to the wall for optimal bass output.

hope this helps

[Thomas Gunvaldsen]

This is probably not the answer you are looking for, but the reason there is not a given “perfect” distance to the back wall is because it will depend on your room, if you are using a subwoofer or not, and if music or movies is your main source of entertainment.

As OrionPax36 says, the distance to the back wall will determine how much and deep bass you get from the main speakers. The other factor is that with more distance to the back wall, you get a larger delay on the reflected sound bouncing off the speakers. For music content, you would prefer some delay here as it creates a larger soundstage and more depth to it.

[Dan]

Thanks for the responses. Currently I have the speakers closer to the wall than I think they should be. I have scheduled a professional calibrator to visit and calibrate my TV and sound. During this visit we will optimize the speaker locations for the room from his measurements.

[Raffaele Spataro]

Lets us know what result you get and hope the calibration goes well.

[Mirko Cognolato]

Yeah a professional calibration is always better, anyway the sweet spot should be between 30 and 60 cm away from the wall.

[Dan]

Thanks for the feedback. Too bad I have to wait till June for the professional to visit. It sounds good enough for now.

[roman-tissera]

Oh, all this time I thought it was just 6 inches.

[Brett Colliton]

What about if you have it sealed with the foam plugs? I’ve been experimenting with this and I can’t tell any difference when it’s sealed.

[Lukas]

@Brett If you cannot hear a difference between sealed and vented something else must be wrong. Are you playing the speakers full range, without subs?
I have the 1723 Monitors and it makes a huge difference in the low bass.

In sealed mode, you can go directly against the wall, as the bass will drop off much sooner than in vented mode.
But as always, just experiment, every room is different.

 

[Brett Colliton]

I meant that when sealed I can’t tell a difference in sound when I move it closer to the wall, and you clarified that for me. Thanks