speakers in an array around the listening area, so that the music is always surround- ing you, regardless of the direction you face.
The rule of thumb is to add one pair of speakers for every 100 to 200 square feet of listening area. Curiously, this is not so that you can play the music louder, but so that you can play it softer! When you have only one pair of speakers in a large room you will notice that when the sound is perfect in one part of the room, it is too loud near the speakers. By placing more than one pair in the room you will avoid these “hot spots” of loud sound and create more sonic ambiance while maintaining clarity and rich sound everywhere.
You can make listener position even less critical by using mono rather than stereo. This can be difficult to achieve with normal
stereo amplifiers. However, Niles manu- factures Systems Integration Amplifiers which enable one room to be wired in stereo while other rooms are wired in mono! Consult your local Niles dealer for more information.
In smaller rooms or rooms that are infre- quently used, you typically can’t justify the expense of more than two speakers. Try to bracket the room with the two speakers. Diagonal placement is a very effective way to stretch the coverage pattern of two speakers. You can also compromise between direct sound (for detail and clari- ty) and reflected sound (the ambient or “all around you” effect). By trying to place the speakers so that they create as much reflected sound as possible, you emphasize the ambient effect. They can be up high in
Speaker Placement
| Perforated Screen |
|
AT8700 | AT8700 | AT8700 |
AT8700
Figure 4
For an AT8500 or AT8700 speaker placed below a projection screen, position the Midrange/Tweeter Array horizontally with the tweeter facing down. For an AT speaker installed behind a perforated screen, the Array should be positioned horizontally with the tweeter facing up if above ear level, or facing down if below ear level. The speaker itself may be installed either horizontally or vertically.
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