What is the difference between placing home speakers vertically and horizontally?
We believe placing speakers horizontally likely originated with the Yamaha NS10 monitor speakers.
The Yamaha NS10 has had many versions in history.
The most famous Studio version is designed to be placed horizontally.
In the past, the NS10 monitors were a common sight in many famous recording studios.
But that doesn’t mean that all speakers are suitable for horizontal placement.
We have summarized some considerations for your reference and discussion:
No.1 Let's start with the directionality of the driver unit itself:
The driver units are categorized into woofer, midrange, and tweeter, each with distinct directional characteristics.
The high frequencies emitted by the tweeter have the narrowest directional range, followed by the midrange frequencies from the midrange driver, while the low frequencies produced by the woofer are almost non-directional. Therefore, when positioning the speakers, the priority order should be the tweeter, midrange driver, and woofer.
In other words, the tweeter has the most defined directionality, and the human ear is much better at pinpointing the source of treble sounds than bass sounds. For the best listening experience, the tweeter should be aimed directly at the listening area, and its height should be aligned with the listener’s ears.
No.2 The impact of the waveguide on the directivity of a tweeter.
Leaving this sound axis range, the high frequency will attenuate!
Horizontal elliptical waveguide panel
The shape is narrow at the top and bottom but wide on the left and right. This design lets you move left and right within a specific range while listening to the sound. High-frequency sounds remain well-focused and do not easily stray from the central axis.
If the structure is narrower at the top and bottom, it can help reduce some reflections from the ceiling and the desktop.
If you place it horizontally, these two sides will be opposite, and the waveguide will become narrow on the left and right and wide on the top and bottom.
In this case, if another person is sitting next to you, the sound this person hears may be quite different from yours.
The Waveguide panel with adjustable direction:
Some larger speakers have adjustable high/mid-range waveguide panels to address placement height issues.
If you want to place it horizontally, you can remove the waveguide of the mid/high unit and put it back in a different direction.
The tweeter has a flat faceplate.
For a round tweeter like this, its flat faceplate and lack of a waveguide design mean that high-frequency directivity is not significantly impacted by whether it is placed vertically or horizontally, assuming we do not take into account the crossover and other factors. In a small space, the high-frequency sound will remain relatively unaffected as long as the tweeter is aimed at the listening position. Therefore, there is no need to worry too much about its orientation.
Note: If the crossover design is optimized for vertical placement, horizontal placement may destroy the phase consistency between units and affect sound clarity.
No.3. Low-frequency response(Woofer):
Vertical placement: The woofer is farther from the ground or desktop, reducing low-frequency reflection and making the sound cleaner and clearer.
Horizontal placement: When the woofer (or bass reflex port) is close to the ground or the desktop, the low frequency may be enhanced due to the boundary effect (such as desktop reflection), but too much low-frequency reflection may cause a muddy sound.
No.4 Impact on Sound Field and Stereo Positioning:
Vertical Placement: Arranging the left and right channel driver units vertically aligns more closely with the human ear's perception of horizontal sound sources, as natural sound sources are primarily distributed horizontally. This configuration enhances the sound field's width and improves sound positioning accuracy.
Horizontal Placement: When the left and right channel driver units are placed closely together, stereo separation and limited sound field width may be reduced. This is particularly noticeable with two-channel stereo speakers, where horizontal placement can weaken the sense of space and sound positioning.
Our Recommendations:
1. Follow the Design: Most traditional speakers are intended to be placed vertically. To avoid issues, try to position the speakers by their design.
2. Listening Test: If you need to place the speakers horizontally, listen to familiar music. Compare the clarity, sound field, and positioning of the sound. If you don't notice a significant difference, horizontal placement may be suitable.
3. Adjustment Tips: When positioning the speakers horizontally, ensure that the tweeter aligns with your listening position. Try to keep the height consistent with your ears. If mounting the speakers on a wall, consider using adjustable wall brackets to fine-tune the angle.
That's all for this time. We hope you have a great time!
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