by JeremyC » Wed Apr 29, 2015 10:46 pm
Sorry it took me so long to respond. I started a new job, and bought a house. So I haven't had much free time to help out around here.
So let's start with your question. Why does the drivers side sound so narrow?
It sounds narrow, because it is narrow. Look at the location of the speaker, and now imagine where the boundary on that side of the stage is. I would bet the boundry rests right around the voice coil of the speaker.
There really isn't a magical way to make a stereo seem wider, or deeper. If you want to move the stage back mount the speakers farther away from your ears. If you want the stage to feel wider, mount them farther apart.
So that leads us to the real question. Why does the passanger side seem wider?
Reflections.
I would have to refer to Jonathan's post to nail down the exact method and timing that makes it work. But to keep it short and sweet I will explain it like this. What you are hearing in the drivers seat is a reflected sound wave. The wave leaves the speaker, reflects off of a surface and then travels to your ear. The distance your brain perceives the speaker to be at is equal to the distance from the speaker to the reflection point + the distance from the reflection point to your ear.
What I said earlier, that there is no magical way to make a stage wider, or deeper is still true. However, we can use reflections in a strategic manor that increase the PERCEIVED length between the driver and our ears giving us more depth, or width (as you have noticed)
Sorry it took me so long to respond. I started a new job, and bought a house. So I haven't had much free time to help out around here.
So let's start with your question. Why does the drivers side sound so narrow?
It sounds narrow, because it is narrow. Look at the location of the speaker, and now imagine where the boundary on that side of the stage is. I would bet the boundry rests right around the voice coil of the speaker.
There really isn't a magical way to make a stereo seem wider, or deeper. If you want to move the stage back mount the speakers farther away from your ears. If you want the stage to feel wider, mount them farther apart.
So that leads us to the real question. Why does the passanger side seem wider?
Reflections.
I would have to refer to Jonathan's post to nail down the exact method and timing that makes it work. But to keep it short and sweet I will explain it like this. What you are hearing in the drivers seat is a reflected sound wave. The wave leaves the speaker, reflects off of a surface and then travels to your ear. The distance your brain perceives the speaker to be at is equal to the distance from the speaker to the reflection point + the distance from the reflection point to your ear.
What I said earlier, that there is no magical way to make a stage wider, or deeper is still true. However, we can use reflections in a strategic manor that increase the PERCEIVED length between the driver and our ears giving us more depth, or width (as you have noticed)