Horizontal orientation for monitors?

dverno

dverno

Average Member
Hey all,

I'm not sure this is the right forum for this, but here goes.

I've always oriented my monitors vertically, to keep the balance between the lows and highs correct at the sweet spot, and avoid weird phase problems. I have, for the last few years, used one pair of medium sized (8") monitors, and a smaller set (5") on top of those. This has worked for me sonically, even if it does create a tower on either side of my desk (I live in earthquake land, so I'm always a little worried those towers are gonna tumble).

At this point, I have another pair of monitors I would like to add, but that would make my "stack" ridiculously tall and unstable.

MY QUESTION (finally) is this: If I place my medium sized monitors horizontally, to have enough room to place the new set on top, which would be more ideal - woofer at the outside edge, OR tweeter outside?

I've seen many pictures of studios that use monitors specifically designed for horizontal placement, and wished I could afford a pair, sigh.

I truly don't know that it makes all that much difference, but I would hate to spend a bunch of time and energy finding out the hard way, when there is this repository of experience and wisdom to tap into (HomeRecording).

Anyone have some good info on this, or is it kind of a "non-issue", and I shouldn't worry about it?

.
 
I've only ever found tweeters to the inside to work well (although I know a lot of people who keep the tweets to the outside "because it looks cool that way").
 
Thanks John,

Yes, well I don't really care how it looks, as long as I'm getting the most accurate impression of how the mix sounds, that my equipment is capable of.

Someday, if I ever come into a great deal of money (ha!), I'll worry about making it all look cool.

The inside is the way I would EXPECT to get the best representation - it is logical that lining up the high frequencies would result in better sonic imaging. But one thing I've discovered over the years is that logic is sometimes "miss-informed". That's why I'm asking on this forum, and hopefully getting more experienced opinions like yours. Thanks.
 
A lot depends on the speakers themselves. Typical tweeter dispersion is horizontally, not vertically, so by turning the monitor on its side you are making the 'sweet spot' very small. Why not just put the new set of monitors NEXT to the existing ones?
 
Good point, Mike. I unfortunately don't have enough room on the desk for two (let alone three) monitors side by side. Lucky for me, all three pairs of my monitors have omni-directive tweeters. I thought about that, and worried about it, but after testing I was much less concerned.

My only concern at this point, is whether there is any serious argument for using tweeter in, or tweeter out.
 
dverno said:
My only concern at this point, is whether there is any serious argument for using tweeter in, or tweeter out.
Click to expand...

Massive Master likes tweeters out.

My monitors are designed to be horizontal with tweeters out.
monitors.jpg

Try both ways and see which works best for you
 
Thanks, gecko. I will try both directions, but I asked just to get feedback from others who might have tried both, and thought of things I might not.

Hopefully, I'll find the differences easily discernable. Some changes, in room treatment for example, are subtle enough that they can take many hours of mixing with them in order to truly appreciate the differences.
 
MM says some people have tweeters out they reckon "it looks cool that way".

Even if my monitors weren't designed to be tweeter out, I would still orient them that way. Not because it looks cool, but because it feels right. That's not very scientific, except in a vague sort of way: higher frequencies are more directional than lower, so I think maybe I get a better stereo picture.

However, in the end, I'm not sure that it makes much difference: the tweeters are still roughly at the apexes of an equilateral triangle.
 
I would rather the drivers be in phase alignment over a wide horizontal range. That means orienting them so the tweeter is above the next lower band pass.
 
bouldersoundguy said:
I would rather the drivers be in phase alignment over a wide horizontal range. That means orienting them so the tweeter is above the next lower band pass.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure I understand what you're getting at here. My impression is that is an argument in favor of tweeters-in orientation. If not, the point would appear to be: don't orient monitors horizontally.
Would you clarify?

Either way, thanks for the input.
 
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