Monitor Setup: Tweeters In?

[James Steele]

Just a question. Whenever I had to take nearfields and set them up horizontally, I’ve set them up so the tweeters are to the outside of the main speakers (woofers). An engineer that influenced me many years ago did that with his NS10s and I just emulated him.

However, as I watch a lot of YouTube videos I see that most users and even manufacturers seem to favor “tweeters in.” Have I been doing it “wrong?” Seriously considering flipping around my ASP8s now.

[Rick Cornish]

Hey, James…..
My first reaction is to set the tweeters to the outside for a wider stereo image, but then I remembered an article I read years ago (might've been from Genelec) that made a strong case that 2-way speakers should be set vertically (or "portrait”) in order to have a wider sweet spot and avoid comb filtering issues. I suppose it might depend on the dispersion characteristics of the tweeter.

(Was that any help?)

[Rick Cornish]

Found this…

https://youtu.be/bZp2_bJi3a4?si=f3XMmPjev96bwuP0

[James Steele]

Found this…

https://youtu.be/bZp2_bJi3a4?si=f3XMmPjev96bwuP0

Thanks, Rick! Added to my history to watch later tonight!! In my setup I'm not sure I can go vertical with my nearfields.

[Rick Cornish]

In my setup I'm not sure I can go vertical with my nearfields.

Yup… I've been in that situation. Fortunately, I solved it when I built my room back in 2014: I made just enough room to set my Genelecs vertical and my Westlakes horizontal.

[monkey man]

It's tweeters out IIRC.

[mikehalloran]

Found this…

https://youtu.be/bZp2_bJi3a4?si=f3XMmPjev96bwuP0

That's good. I had never considered the crossover as the major ingredient of this debate before.

[James Steele]

It's tweeters out IIRC.

This is what I always thought an then lately I've seen a LOT of videos on YouTube with monitors places horizontally with the tweeters in. Now that I think of it, many of them were ADAMs or Eve Audio which have ribbon tweeters so maybe *that* is also a factor?

[HCMarkus]

IMO, tweeters in or out it is just a function of speaker location... if the speakers are in a broader configuration than that which would place the tweeters at an optimum position, then "tweeters in" is preferred, as we more accurately locate sounds that are in the range reproduced by tweeters than woofers.

Also, I took an (admittedly quick) look at the video posted by Rick (Thanks Rick1) and noted that, when vertically oriented, the ADAM tweeters (derived IIRC, from the Heil tweeters of yore) have a broader horizontal dispersion pattern than they do vertical; when these speakers are placed on their sides, their horizontal dispersion is thus reduced. Many tweeters, such as the typical dome variety, have more uniform 360 degree dispersion pattern, so the undesirable reduced horizontal dispersion the ADAMs provide when placed horizontally is not present.

I believe the reason placing typical 2-way speakers vertically is recommended is this: our ears tend to sit at a relatively fixed distance from the ground while listening; we don't move up and down in our seats while mixing to the extent our position may vary horizontally. As discussed in the video, the distance between the woofer and tweeter causes phase interactions in the crossover region and that interaction will cause frequency response to shift as the listener's ears move vertically (when the speakers are vertically oriented). These two facts combine to suggest that the listener is less likely to experience crossover phase issues when two way speakers are placed vertically.

If speakers are placed horizontally, it is critical that they be toed-in enough that the distance from tweeter to ear is identical (or very close) to the woofer to ear distance. In my studio, I've gone with horizontal, tweeter in placement for my Dynaudio BM5s to get the best possible speaker-ear relationship; the BM5s sit, toed-in and angled slightly down, on top of a pair of ear-level co-axial Tannoys for which orientation is moot.

[Rick Cornish]

(sigh) This was all so much simpler when all we had to think about is which brand of toilet paper to tape over the tweeters on our NS-10s.

[mikehalloran]

…
If speakers are placed horizontally, it is critical that they be toed-in enough that the distance from tweeter to ear is identical (or very close) to the woofer to ear distance. In my studio, I've gone with horizontal, tweeter in placement for my Dynaudio BM5s to get the best possible speaker-ear relationship; the BM5s sit, toed-in and angled slightly down, on top of a pair of ear-level co-axial Tannoys for which orientation is moot.

A good point.

I'm thankful that my Equator D8 IIs are still going strong with their concentric drivers. Mine are above my head, toed in a little and angled down a bit. Placing them above was recommended to me by Steven Levine and, when I ran into space problems (who doesn't?) this position came to the rescue. Hard to see but the foam wedges were designed for angling up and came with the speakers—reversing the wedges worked perfectly.

IMG_3839.jpeg (4.37 MiB) Viewed 16192 times

(sigh) This was all so much simpler when all we had to think about is which brand of toilet paper to tape over the tweeters on our NS-10s.