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Speaker lnstallatlon
Playback
check mode (yertical
mid-field)
After you've got your mix just right it's always good practice to perform a ,,playback
check" by standing the Ml Actives vertically and makhg the lisiening triangle-
largel. The purpose of the playback check is to simulate what your masterpiece will
sound like in a "typical" home listerring environment. It is in this configuration that
the imaging specificity of your mix can best be evaluated. Generally, in the playback
check mode you want to arrange the speakers in the same equilateral listening
hiangle that you do in a nearfield setup, but instead of each side of the kiangle being
about 3 feet long, the distances between stereo speakers and to your listening
position should be betwem 7 and L2 feet.
When setting the left and right speakers vertically, place the tweeters toward the
center with the ports toward the outside. In this vertical position, the ML Active
becomes a "line source" speaker which is the most common home set up. (A 12',
three-way with woofer on bottom, midrange in the cmter and tweeter at the top is a
line source, as are most forurs of tower speakers.) When the Ml Active is set
vertically in its "column" configuration, thehoinntal dispersion (left and right) d
the speaker is widest, and the vertical dispersion (up and down) is narrowest.
Unforfunately a vertical setup will also increase room effects, so there are minimum
recommmded setup distances from side and back walls: the speakers should be a
minimum of 2.5 feef from the side walls and 3 feet ftom the rear walls. See the
illustration on page 26.
After you've got the requisite distances from the side and back walls, it's often
helpful to adjust the 7 to 12 foot equilateral listening triangle distances. What you
want to find is the maximum distance that you can separate the two speakers while
still holding a solid center irnage. If you get this placement conect and you've done a
good job in the mix, you should be rewarded with a soundstag€ that accurately
places the musicians in the width and depth perspective in which they were
recorded. The sound should be very similar to what you heard at your mixing
board, with possibly a little more ambimce contributed by the listening room.
The "other" playback check mode, sorretimes considered of greater importance than
the home environment, is to listen to your mix over a car audio system. Bear in mind
that an expertly designed car audio system can approach the imaging and
soundstaging capabilities of an optimally setup studio or living room, but most tirnes
this is NOT the case. The inhermt limitations of an always-off-axis listening position
and the variables of speaker placement, bass coupling (boost) in the small interior
and numerous other factors make the car environment higNy suspect. So,
understand the sonic capabilities (and deficiencies) of your (or other) car audio
systeurs, and evaluate your mix accordingly.
TII ACTIi'E
REFffi
If,ATUAL
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