Speaker Installation
M1 ACTIVE REFERENCE MANUAL 19
Vertical Placement Recommendation
Vertical placement of the M1 Active as shown in Figure 3 is highly recommended.
This position will simulate the soundfield that will be heard in most consumers’
homes and (to a great extent) their cars. For this reason, even if the M1 Actives are
positioned horizontally for all of the mixing, the vertical position should always be
used in the final "playback check" mode. (See next section)
There are a couple of possible drawbacks to vertical placement of a nearfield monitor
relating mostly to room interaction effects. Vertical placement allows the M1 Actives
to portray your mix with the widest and deepest soundstage possible, so many
people in the control room have an image of the “sweet spot”. However, this wide a
dispersion pattern in a control room with walls in too-close proximity to the speakers
can add strong reflections to the sound you hear, muddying your mix. Figure 4
shows the control room placement/ distance recommendations, which should help
you determine if your available recording space would work well with the M1
Actives set up vertically.