How to position speakers in your living room Listening triangle, distance from the wall and toe-in: the rules for good sound in your living room
Moving your speakers a few centimetres costs nothing and changes the sound more than you'd imagine. Here are the rules to start from, and a test to tell whether you've got it right.
The listening triangle.
This is the starting rule. The two speakers and your head are the three corners of a triangle with equal sides: the distance between the speakers is the same as between each speaker and you. Seen from the sofa, the two speakers are 60 degrees apart.
In a living room that isn't always possible, and a slightly wider or narrower triangle is fine too. What matters is that both speakers are the same distance from you. If one is closer, the sound arrives unbalanced: the whole soundstage shifts towards that side.
Turned towards you.
Turn the speakers slightly towards the listening position. Start with them pointing at your head, then adjust by ear: turned in more, the voice in the centre is more focused; turned in less, the soundstage gets wider. Don't overdo it: beyond a certain point the sound closes in.
To check, sit in your seat and look at the speakers: if you can still see a lot of their inner sides, turn them in a little more.
At ear height.
The tweeter, the small driver for the treble, should be at the height of your ears when you're seated, or slightly below. Treble is very directional: if the tweeter points at your chest or above your head, the sound loses detail. With the speaker stand height calculator you'll find the right measurement for your sofa and your speakers.
Away from the wall and the corners.
The closer a speaker is to the wall behind it, the more bass you get, but it becomes bloated and muddy. In the corners the effect is even stronger. With a rear bass port, the distance from the wall matters even more.
There's no single right distance. Start from the one given in your speakers' manual, then move them forwards or backwards 10 centimetres at a time and listen to a track with a bass line you know well: the bass changes more than you'd expect.
Also keep both speakers at the same distance from the side walls. If one is next to a wall and the other next to an open door, they'll sound different.
The listening position.
The sofa matters too. Right against the back wall the bass booms; in the exact centre of the room it often disappears. A good starting point is to sit at about 38% of the room's length, measured from one of the two short walls: in a room 5 metres long, about 1.9 metres from the wall. From there, move the sofa or the speakers a little at a time and listen.
On stands, not on furniture.
Bookshelf speakers sound better on rigid stands than inside a bookcase or on the same furniture as the turntable. Inside a shelf the surrounding walls bloat the bass; on the turntable's furniture the vibrations reach the stylus. I cover this in the guide on how to isolate a turntable from vibration.
My stands. The speaker stands I build are in solid wood and plywood, in different heights, and on request I make them to measure for your speakers and your sofa.
A simple test.
Put on a well-recorded track with a single voice. Close your eyes: the voice should stay still, in the centre between the speakers, as if the singer were there. If it drifts to one side, check the distances; if it's blurred, turn the speakers in towards you a little more. Repeat the test after every change.
Once the position is right, if the room still sounds harsh or boomy, the next step is acoustic panels.
Speakers and stands on ExtrasoundOn Extrasound, the hi-fi shop that sells my stands, you'll find bookshelf speakers and speaker stands.
Frequently asked questions.
How far apart should speakers be?
Roughly as far as each of them is from you: that's the listening triangle. In a living room it's usually between 1.5 and 3 metres.
Should speakers be turned towards the sofa?
Generally yes, slightly, towards the listener's head. Then adjust by ear: turned in more for a more focused voice, less for a wider soundstage.
How far from the wall should they be?
It depends on the speakers: start from the distance given in the manual and experiment by moving them 10 cm at a time. Near the wall and in the corners the bass increases but becomes muddy.
How high should speakers be?
With the tweeter at ear height when you're seated, or slightly below. The calculator in the speaker stand height guide gives you the right measurement.
Can speakers go in a bookcase?
They can, but they sound better on stands: inside a shelf the bass bloats. If they have to go there, bring them to the front edge of the shelf.