The large screen in my relatively narrow theater room forces my Left and Right channels close up against the sidewalls. I am concerned about putting powered Tritons too close to the walls. I have read about adjusting sub levels and room EQ, but I would rather prevent issues in the first place.

One answer is to go with passive T5s and separate subs which I could place further into the room. Still, I like the idea or the integrated subs.

If I had only 5" to the sidewall, would placing a 4" acoustic panels (owens corning 703) between the speaker and the wall have the effect of greater distance?

If so, perhaps the panels would only eliminate the issues down to a certain frequesncy, say 50 Hertz (a guess). I could then cross powered Tritons at that lower frequency with a separate subs. Essentially, I would be using them as very large, small speakers. (I already own subs and would likely use them in either case)

Thoughts?

I've actually been in communication with GIK Acoustics, some audio club folks and "my own head" about the exact question you are asking. Room "correction" lets call it is rather challenging and without actual measurements (using microphones, other hardware and software meant for the purpose of audio fine tuning) it is impossible to accurately get an answer.

The aforementioned said, in my opinion, based on my own movement experimentation and the advice of many others, moving the (powered) Triton's AWAY from the wall will yield far greater and preferred results when compared to placing them within inches of the wall and then attempting to correct that with paneling and/or the speakers bass control.

I've recently placed my Triton's just under seven feet apart from one another and three feet from the side and back wall and hear an improvement over a previous placement of 9.5 feet apart and 1.5 feet from the side walls and 9 inches from the back wall. Even the imaging with the reduced space between them hasn't suffered. I'm also able to leave the bass dial at the 12 o'clock position with this arrangement. Personally I believe the 12 o'clock position should be the goal because this is where GET has presumably tuned the speaker to be completely balanced from an EQ perspective.

Two things happen with wall proximity: 1) Boundary gain in mid-bass through bass frequencies, 2) Loss of some imaging specificity due to short duration reflections. That said, it is not unusual to have speakers in a typical home theater room fairly close to the side walls - all of our trade show demos have the speakers fairly close to side walls to maximize distance between and toe-in, without ill effect.

Acoustic panels will have no effect on the first item, might help the second - and both will still be the case regardless of what speaker you choose. The powered Triton BY FAR is the best choice as you can adjust for item 1 with the gain control. To mitigate item 2, acoustic absorbers and diffusers on the side walls will help and should be positioned at the point of first reflection for best results.

Thanks for the information and advice. GDHAL, very helpful sharing your experiences. Thanks for taking the time

bsinger wrote: Thanks for the information and advice. GDHAL, very helpful sharing your experiences. Thanks for taking the time

You're very welcome bsinger. Undoubtedly you will find a number of knowledgeable and rather helpful forum members (owners of one or more GET products) here, including the Moderator. This forum has been and continues to be a great resource to learn and share our experiences while in pursuit of "audio nirvana"

bringer,

Moderator Dude and GDHAL have done a great job here. I can add a few points based on my experience.

Acoustics are very tricky and without having a pro come in and evaluate your room, you could spend a lot of money and never really resolve your issues. Different placement options will effect various frequencies. In the end, it's all about compromise. You will need to find the best placement option to your ear, in your room, with your gear.

I purchased several acoustic treatments from GIK for my room. While they have improved the sound of my theater/listening room, I still require room correction to resolve some suck out in the 200-400 Hz range. Regarding placement, I get the best frequency response (flattest) in my setup when my T1s are jammed into my front corners. Unfortunately, the bass is very muddy and the imaging is not as good, as Moderator Dude described.

I've finally settled on placing my T1s about 40" away from the front and side walls. Bass and imaging was greatly improved for me at about 36" as GDHAL has also observed. I think my suck out is better at around 40" from each wall. The room correction software in my Anthem AVM60 does a good job correcting the issues with this placement. I've had to turn my gain knob up a bit with all of the room treatments I have along with the room size and distance from the walls. Even with all of these challenges, I only have the gain knob at the 1 o'clock position. Room correction also does a great job on the LFE.

So, in the end, it's about compromise. You will need to decide what works and sounds best for you. Just keep the spikes off of your speakers until you lock in your preferred location. Carpet sliders/furniture movers are handy for easy moving while your dialing in the position.

Cheers,

T Cobe