# Issues with bookshelf speakers in a nearfield setup



## zachsilvey

I live in a college dorm so I am limited on space. I have my Energy CB-20 bookshelf speakers setup on my desk so that I am about 3 feet from each. Am I losing anything by listening in this setup? Ideally there would be more stereo separation and there will be as soon as I have some cash to buy or build a set of stands.


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## eclipes

I don't think so, the setup looks pretty good. Not sure how tall are you but if the speakers aren't pointing at your ears then you would need some stands. I would recommend Auralex Mopads which are cheap and very effective. They are isolation foam pads that angles the monitors slightly up or down depending on your needs. Now my monitors are tilted so they are pointing directly to my ears acting as stands and dampers. Better bass, clarity and sounds just as good at low volumes now.


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## zachsilvey

I'm pretty short (5'4") so in my normal seating posture the tweeters are right at ear level.


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## MatsudaMan

I Would not recommend putting your laptop on top of your receiver.  Seriously, what are you thinking, man?  Dong this will most certainly overheat both your laptop and the receiver!


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## zachsilvey

I'm sure that if I was rendering video on the laptop and driving
  5 channels with the receiver to high volume I would begin to
  run into some heat issues but when you sit 3 feet away from a pair oof speakers you don't need to drive them very hard. 
   
  That being said the laptop isn't normally there. I just needed wwhat little space I had left
  to
  work some homework.


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## Somnambulist

Currently I'd just get some Mopads to isolate them somewhat from the desk (they're not going to do much for the lowest frequencies) - if you can get hold of a couple of 1/4 inch steel plates to sit on top of the Mopads, even better (copying the much more expensive Recoil Stabilizers for less money), however stands would be _much_ preferable for the simple reason that not only do you get a bigger listening triangle, but you avoid desk reflections and can move the speakers away from the wall a bit (I take it they're rear-ported) so they have more room to breathe. I'd also look at buying some acoustic treatment kit as well - bass traps for the corners etc, although it really depends if you're cranking them as it's a bit OTT for low-volume listening.
   
  Stands are pretty easy to DIY - there's some good cheap designs on the web, and you can re-use the Mopads for them too. Generally speaker stands are ridiculously overpriced for what they are so it's worth having a stab at doing them yourself.


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## zachsilvey

I'm probably not going to go crazy with room treatments as I won't be living here much longer and I'm not exactly on a huge budget but stand are definitely in my near future. I can already tell that isolation would improve things quite a bit though.


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## eclipes

what stands will you recommend? My Swans M200 MKIII are very close to the wall so i don't if i need to do anything. I bought the Mopads because they were pretty cheap and effective, can't really ask for more for 30bucks. But Im curious what the stands will improve and if its by a significant amount then I might upgrade haha
	

	
	
		
		

		
			




  
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somnambulist said:


> Currently I'd just get some Mopads to isolate them somewhat from the desk (they're not going to do much for the lowest frequencies) - if you can get hold of a couple of 1/4 inch steel plates to sit on top of the Mopads, even better (copying the much more expensive Recoil Stabilizers for less money), however stands would be _much_ preferable for the simple reason that not only do you get a bigger listening triangle, but you avoid desk reflections and can move the speakers away from the wall a bit (I take it they're rear-ported) so they have more room to breathe. I'd also look at buying some acoustic treatment kit as well - bass traps for the corners etc, although it really depends if you're cranking them as it's a bit OTT for low-volume listening.
> 
> Stands are pretty easy to DIY - there's some good cheap designs on the web, and you can re-use the Mopads for them too. Generally speaker stands are ridiculously overpriced for what they are so it's worth having a stab at doing them yourself.


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## Somnambulist

Well, the idea with the stands is simply 
  a) you can keep the speaker away from walls (corners are one of the worst places for speakers to go, for instance), and you don't have to worry about desk reflections or your desk being a big resonator (the Mopads do a decent job but low frequency stuff passes through WALLS easily, let alone a bit of foam)
  b) can space the speakers out more to get that equilateral triangle if you couldn't get it already.
   
  DIY stands would be things like: http://www.tnt-audio.com/clinica/stubby_e.html which is a famous one
   
  I'm stuck with a desk build into a cupboard for my nearfield set up, so the best I could do was wrap a couple of concrete bricks in fabric (to raise the height), stuck Mopads on them then painted 10mm steel plates with black Hammerite on those, then the rubber mat that came with my speakers (Focal CMS monitors) and the speaker itself. If I had a normal desk I'd be looking at making stands.


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## mibutenma

Quote: 





zachsilvey said:


> I live in a college dorm so I am limited on space. I have my Energy CB-20 bookshelf speakers setup on my desk so that I am about 3 feet from each. Am I losing anything by listening in this setup? Ideally there would be more stereo separation and there will be as soon as I have some cash to buy or build a set of stands.


 
   
  Speakers will sound better if you have more distance between you and them. I guess studio monitors work good in short distance but home speakers always sound better when you have some distance like 8-10 feet.


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## dvzzz

I have tried several setups with bookshelf on my table, I was only successful with Peachtree speakers sitting on these isolator cones http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=isolation+cones&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=7124080469227068427&sa=X&ei=pc4oT7HUCM202AX23_TBAg&ved=0CGEQ8wIwAA
   
  but even the sounded overwhelming to me. I could not help but kept moving away from them to keep the soundstage in front of me. Monitors are designed to be very focused on the listener. I would strongly support the point of tilting the speakers up to focus the beam just above your ears. Believe it or not but after all this trial and error I ended up listening to Audioengine A2, they certainly lack lows but they do not force me to move away and sound balanced when I am right in front of them.


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## TMRaven

In my experience, most bookshelves will sound just fine if you keep them at lower levels.  The higher you crank them up though, the more certain frequencies will overpower the rest while sitting in close.


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## eclipes

thats exactly how I experienced it too, I believe the sweet spot is at the 12oclock and that is the highest i will ever crank them.
  
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tmraven said:


> In my experience, most bookshelves will sound just fine if you keep them at lower levels.  The higher you crank them up though, the more certain frequencies will overpower the rest while sitting in close.


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## VCRHIFI

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zachsilvey said:


> I live in a college dorm so I am limited on space. I have my Energy CB-20 bookshelf speakers setup on my desk so that I am about 3 feet from each. Am I losing anything by listening in this setup? Ideally there would be more stereo separation and there will be as soon as I have some cash to buy or build a set of stands.


 

 I believe the CB-20 are rear ported, so you might want to keep them from being too close to the walls. If your speakers came with foam port plugs, you could try plugging them into the ports to see if they improve the sound quality.


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## eclipes

I didn't know that studio monitors can't be too close to the wall. My Swans M200 MKIII are less than 20cm from the wall slightly tilted. It didn't come with any form port plugs but should do you guys think i need them? Other than foam port plugs, any other solutions? My desk is cramped already so not even a slight chance I could relocate it.
  
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vcrhifi said:


> I believe the CB-20 are rear ported, so you might want to keep them from being too close to the walls. If your speakers came with foam port plugs, you could try plugging them into the ports to see if they improve the sound quality.


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## eclipes

and if I do need them, where can i buy these foam port plugs?


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