Near Field monitors height?

Monitor height?

  • Tweeters on ear level

    Votes: 4 50.0%

  • Woofer center on ear level

    Votes: 1 12.5%

  • Ears between tweeter and woofer

    Votes: 3 37.5%

  • doesnt really matter, put them anywhere..

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    8
M

Maor

New member
So, considering my ears create a perfect Equilateral triangle with the monitors, what height should the monitors be?
 
I asked a similar question a few years ago and was told the woofer should hit the ear. Tweeters just above.
 
I like the cabinets at about ear height in general, but I often tilt them slightly so the tweeter and woofer are in phase at the crossover frequency. That depends on the inherent physical and electronic alignment of the drivers. I'd rather the speaker system be in phase at the crossover and lose a little at the top end.
 
Ethan Winer said:
I'm good Bob. :thumbs up:
Click to expand...
Glad to hear it.
A bit late but, congrats on your book!
 I was very excited for you when I heard about it.
You Da Man!!! ;)
Take Care and have a great weekend.
Bob G.

I hear a snow plow comin
A comin round the bend
Now I aint seen my driveway clear since
I don't know when..................:D
 
 
Last edited:
Jens Eklund said:
Normally, the acoustic axis originates from the point exactly in-between the tweeter and woofer (assuming normal 2-way design):
Click to expand...

In general true, but there are variations. I find the best configuration is for the drivers to be acoustically in phase when their acoustic centers are physically aligned in the vertical dimension. That means their crossover must be electronically in phase at the crossover frequency. That way if there are listeners who can't be in the sweet spot the phase relationship between the drivers doesn't change as much. This is also a good reason not to orient your speakers horizontally.

Many speakers have the tweeter mounted so that its acoustic axis is forward of the woofer's. If the crossover filters compensate by adding the right amount of delay at the right frequency to the high band then as you move off axis the two drivers go out of phase. If it doesn't compensate then the two drivers start out of phase and the phase changes as you go off axis. Both situations are less than ideal.
 
Jens Eklund said:
Normally, the acoustic axis originates from the point exactly in-between the tweeter and woofer (assuming normal 2-way design):
Click to expand...

My main consideration for having your ears on-axis with the tweeter is to hear the flattest response. But yeah, phase differences at frequencies around the crossover point is also a factor.

--Ethan
 
bouldersoundguy said:
In general true, but there are variations. I find the best configuration is for the drivers to be acoustically in phase when their acoustic centers are physically aligned in the vertical dimension. That means their crossover must be electronically in phase at the crossover frequency. That way if there are listeners who can't be in the sweet spot the phase relationship between the drivers doesn't change as much. This is also a good reason not to orient your speakers horizontally.

Many speakers have the tweeter mounted so that its acoustic axis is forward of the woofer's. If the crossover filters compensate by adding the right amount of delay at the right frequency to the high band then as you move off axis the two drivers go out of phase. If it doesn't compensate then the two drivers start out of phase and the phase changes as you go off axis. Both situations are less than ideal.
Click to expand...

Yes, exceptions will always exist, but since most "normal" nearfiled 2-way monitors use 4th order LR filters (drivers in phase i o w), and often have the drivers signal aligned (physically or delayed), and often tuned to have the best (most linear) response on the acoustic axis (that will originate from the point in between the drivers if 2-way design), I think that the only sane advise one can give (without knowing that model is referred to) is to recommend to have the acoustic axis pointing towards the ears of the operator (and also note that this might result in a situation where the woofer are in the same height or even higher as the ear, but as long as the speaker is tilted so that the acoustic axis is shooting at the ear, it doesn't matter much as long as the angle is not too large).
 
Jens Eklund said:
Normally, the acoustic axis originates from the point exactly in-between the tweeter and woofer (assuming normal 2-way design):

http://www.neumann-kh-line.com/klein-hummel/globals.nsf/resources/neumann_acoustical_axis_definitions_v04_en20120907.pdf/$File/neumann_acoustical_axis_definitions_v04_en20120907.pdf

Acoustic Axis


Some general setup guides:

http://www.neumann-kh-line.com/klein-hummel/globals.nsf/resources/neumann_setting_up_studio_monitors_551671_201302.pdf/$File/neumann_setting_up_studio_monitors_551671_201302.pdf

http://www.genelec.fi/download.php?page=documents/catalogues/Genelec_Monitor_Setup_Guide_2011.pdf
Click to expand...

^^^ Generally speaking this for 2-Way! However, consider manufacturer recommendation for specific models. I also recommend vertical alignment in most cases.
 
Near Field Monitor Height should be 120 cm to the acoustic center of the speaker box on average. This is for a general studio setup (commercial) where multiple engineers and producers work. For a personal studio it can differ greatly and should be set so that optimal accuracy is obtained by the owner/operator. It really is a personal preference within a few cm / inches. As previous posts have detailed, the speaker MUST be aligned VERTICALLY or imaging smear will result due to the horizontal misalignment - since our ears are located left to right, horizontally, the alignment of Mid unit and HF unit must be vertical. There are a few exceptions, but generally this rule should be followed.

Other posts above are speaking of flush mounted systems or mid/far-field monitors. When multiple monitor systems are used, the speaker should be arrayed in a fashion so that active monitors can be switched and compared without moving the units. And line-of-sight maintained with the MF/Tweeters of all speakers in the system.. AND near speakers should be arranged so that minimal diffraction of the far speakers is caused by their position(s).
This is usually done by the designer using 3-D geometry to maintain the system phase response, etc., etc., etc.

Cheers,
John

Cheers,
John
 
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