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| An Ideal sound |  An ideal setup for sound would be achieved if you could:
• Select a room with width, height and length measurements that are not multiples of each other. (A cube is the worst!) Good numbers might be something like, height = 8 feet, width = 15 feet, and length = 26 feet.
• Select a room that has an irregular shape, non-parallel walls cut down on standing waves.
• Put the speakers so that the woofer cones are at irregular distances to the floor, walls and ceiling. This can be complicated. Use a tape to measure the distance from the center of the woofer to the room boundaries. Move the woofers around till you have cut down on the number mathematic multiples. (You don’t want distances like 12 and 24", but more like 12 and 22").
• Use the distance from the woofer to the boundaries to enlarge or decrease bass production. Placing the speaker in the corner or close to walls will give more bass output than putting the speaker out into the room. You can employ this to reach the best balance between bass output and upper range output. One of the benefits of employing separate subwoofers is that you can put them in corners for best bass response, while keeping the main speakers out into the room for best mid-treble response and imaging.
• Employ absorbent materials to help smooth upper-range answer and make better transient answer and clarity. Why? Let’s take the sound of a bell for instance. First you will hear the direct sound from the speaker. But before it comes to your ears some of that sound bounces from wall-to-wall, ceiling-to-floor, off furniture. Because the time dissimilarity is short, you don’t hear an echo, but the sound of the bell is stretched out from something like a "ding" to a "ddiiinngg".
• It is better to put speakers as far as possible from other furniture and room borders. Keeping the mids and tweeters away from the floor is greatly essential. Many speakers sound best when put on strong stands to get the proper listening height.
• If it is possible employ padded furniture and drapery to cut down on reflections. Furniture can help to break up standing wave patterns in the bass.
• Employ a symmetrical placement of the speakers in the room. Of course the distance between the speakers is also essential. Generally, the further back your listening position, the farther apart should be your speakers. Think in terms of approximating an equilateral triangle.
• You may want the main speakers placed between five and eight feet apart in your room. Experiment! Too much distance can cause the image smear and it will seem like there is a hole in the middle. Too small a distance can squeeze the image. Experiment with facing the speakers straight into the room or toed in slightly toward the listener. It is important to place left and right speakers close to the edges of the screen for video applications.
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