Madrigal Imaging AVP2 owner manual Additional notes on speaker placement

additional notes on speaker placement

the same distance from the main listening area as the Left and Right speakers.

■If THX-certified LCR speakers are used and must be either above or below ear level when seated, aim them down (or up) into the listening area. They are intentionally quite directional in the vertical plane, to improve dialog intelligibility and localization.

■Placing the LCRs below the screen is generally preferable to place- ment above.

■The subwoofers do not have to be extremely close to the LCRs, but placement will affect the quality and consistency of the low bass. Experimentation is in order.

■Dipolar surrounds should be located high and to the sides of the listeners instead of behind them, in order to place the audience in the surround speakers’ null. If the viewing area is more than one row deep, place the surrounds halfway back within the seating area.

■If architectural constraints prevent ideal placement of dipolar sur- rounds directly to the sides of the listening area, it is generally best to err on the side of being a bit further to the rear of the room.

■When using traditional speakers for the surround channels, the speakers should be located high and somewhat behind the listen- ers, with the speakers’ output directed toward the rear wall rather than at the listeners.

■The surrounds should be relatively high, often near the ceiling for the best results. And they should be located equally distant from their adjacent walls/ceilings, or else one will have more mid-bass than the other.

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•Some allowance must be made for those installations involving relatively small screens, such as 35" direct-view televisions. Placing the speakers immediately beside televisions of this size may reduce the stereo separation to unacceptable levels. Some experimentation is in order, but as a rule of thumb, try to have the L and R speakers spread apart by no more than approximately 1.5 times the width of the screen to avoid cognitive dissonance from the apparent conflict between visual and aural images.

•With regard to subwoofer placement, it is important to leave your- self some leeway during final installation for minor movements to minimize the effects of room modes. Corner placement usually works best, but not always—you have to try it in your particular situation to be sure.

•Use multiple subwoofers if more bass output is needed. This also has the advantage of allowing one subwoofer to fill the other’s “holes” created by room modes, while reducing distortion by giving each subwoofer an easier task.