Speaker Placement - Lexicon DC-1 Supplementary Manual

DC-1 Digital Controller
To some degree, speaker placement will depend on whether your priorities
lean more toward music listening or film viewing. Fortunately, the goals are
the same for both listening situations: stable localization (imaging) in the
front, and diffuse, enveloping surround sound from the sides and rear.
The placement of speakers will be somewhat restricted in your home by the
need to have the sound closely associated with both the screen and your
seating area. Within this limitation, however, there are many possible
variations, for example in the height, angle and distance from the walls.
These choices, again, will depend on the type and number of speakers you
are using, as well as the physical characteristics of your room. Some of the
general effects caused by room reflections are explained in the section "The
Listening Room."
Additional information relevant to your particular system should be avail-
able from your speaker manuals. THX speakers in particular are designed
for specific placement and the manufacturer's recommendations should be
followed for best results. With that in mind, here are some general guide-
lines:
If only two speakers are used, the user is free to experiment. The standard
±30° speaker positon works quite well in many cases for both music and
film. For a single listener you may want to try placing the speakers relatively
close to the sides of the screen. With this configuration and a single listener,
the Panorama effect should be used for both music and films. Be sure to
adjust the speaker angle parameter in the Setup menu to correspond to the
actual angle between the speakers.
With multiple speakers, the main front speakers can again be ±30° if you are
comfortable with occasional sound effects which extend beyond the screen.
Spreading the speakers further apart provides a wider, more exciting
soundstage, and most people readily accept an auditory sound field which
is wider than the visual field. If you wish to put the main speakers close to
the screen, the processing in the DC-1 will make up for the lost spaciousness
in both music and film. The front speakers should be placed at equal heights
and at equal distances from the front wall. Try angling the speakers in
toward the listening position (toe in) and keep them away from the side
walls.
A center speaker is so important for realistic dialog placement that, if it is not
possible to have a center speaker, it is frequently better to plug the Center
output of the DC-1 into the audio input of your video monitor and use its
built-in speaker (if it has one) than it is to run the dialog through the main
loudspeakers. (The DC-1 provides a control for this setup which splits bass
out of the center channel and directs it to the left and right speakers.)
The Center speaker should be located directly beneath or above the screen
(shielded.) Turning a speaker which is designed to be used vertically on its
side will significantly alter the soundwave patterns it is intended to pro-
duce.
DC-1 Theory
and Design

Speaker Placement

CAUTION: Speaker magnets
can distort the TV image. If
you see any picture discol-
oration in the area closest to
the speaker, the speaker is
too close to the screen.
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