MK Sound LCR-651, LCR-850, LCR-851, CENTER-850 Optimizing Speaker Placement, Height or Angle

SATELLITE SPEAKER

If the center speaker is located horizontally above the TV, the tweeter should be angled up and if the speaker is located below the TV than the tweeter should point down. This does not apply to the Center-851 or Center-651 speaker.

6.OPTIMIZING SPEAKER PLACEMENT

The sound quality produced by your speakers can be significantly enhanced by careful attention to their placement. While we understand that you may not redesign your room to accommodate your speakers, coming as close as possible to the ideal placement will give you much better sound.

The left and right channel speakers can be oriented either horizontally or vertically. The center channel speaker is designed for horizontal orientation (tweeter and woofer drivers next to each other), and can be angled (vertically) towards your listening position.

Three factors are important in getting the best sound. They are:

A.Height (or angle).

B.Location away from room walls or reflecting surfaces.

C.Separation between Left and Right speakers.

A. HEIGHT (OR ANGLE)

Your M&K speakers will always deliver sound superior to conventional speakers, regardless of where you locate them. However, because they are designed for very fast and accurate transient response, they achieve even better sound quality, and the flattest frequency response when properly oriented relative to your ear.

Ideally, the tweeter should be at the same height from the floor as your ears, when you are sitting in your main listening position.

If you have the speakers mounted above or below this height, they sound their best when you angle the speakers so that the tweeters are aimed at your ears when you are in the main listening position.

B. LOCATION AWAY FROM REFLECTING SURFACES

Your speakers should be located, whenever practical, away from walls, the floor, furniture, or any other reflecting surfaces. Do the best you can. Objects close to the speaker will reflect sound, and this reflected sound arrives at your ear slightly later than the direct sound, which blurs sonic imaging and makes transients seem muted.

The delay is very slight, so instead of hearing an echo, you hear a "blurred" sound with less clarity that is not as sharp and distinct as it should be. This time delay also affects frequency response and sonic imaging.

If the speakers are on a television set or shelves, locate them on the front edge, so there is no flat surface directly in front of them. If the speakers will sit close to walls or other large objects, leave as much space as possible between the speaker and the object. Ideally, your Speakers will be several feet from the nearest surface, but in most rooms compromise is necessary.

C. SEPARATION BETWEEN LEFT AND RIGHT SPEAKERS

Here is a formula for achieving the ideal left to right stereo imaging. Think of a triangle formed by the locations of the Left and Right speakers and your listening position. Ideally, the subtended angle formed should be between 45 and 50 degrees. Roughly, this means that the Left and Right speakers should be separated by about the same distance that you are sitting back from the speakers. In other words, if the distance from your listening position to the point directly between the speakers is 10 feet, place the speakers so their centers are 10 feet apart. See Figure 2.

On Figure 2, the length of line A - B should be about the same as the length of line X - Y. (They may not seem to be the same in this diagram due to an optical illusion).

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