"Book shelf" speakers put on speaker stands = less bass??

[992Sam]

Ok, so I have noticed that ever since I put my XR50's up from the 3" stands they were on before (effectively at floor level) to my 2.5' tall stands (they are a solidsteel,  high quality stand)... I am getting a bit less bass... not bad bass per se, but not as good as it was when they sat nearly on the floor.

 

Carpeted smallish room, speaker distance from the wall hasn't changed, and the speaker stands are on spikes that are pushed all the way thru the carpet onto the concrete below. 

 

Any ideas on why this counter intuitive situation could be happening?  

[992Sam]

Just now, botrytis said:

 

Not if the stands are designed properly and weighted. If not then well, it is a crap shoot.

 

yeah it's not a quality problem with the stands ... it's just the laws of physics and I got used to listening to them close to the floor for 2 months, but with the delivery of the stands yesterday, the sound / tone has shifted to a more balanced tone (As the tweeters and mids are more ear level now)... and this the impression of less bass... 

[992Sam]

8 minutes ago, fas42 said:

 

Yes, if the stands are designed well, and weighted adequately, then it will work to a decent degree. IME, the way most small speaker sound as normally set up, is, well, small - wind up the volume a bit, and the SQ falls apart; and the bass most certainly doesn't work properly - non-existent, or boomy.

 

A stack of papers is a simple method of increasing effective mass, while allowing it to be readily adjustable. As a long term, aesthetic solution it obviously is a no-go - but it serves to give one answers. It worked 30 years ago, and it still is a simple approach for getting results.

 

I aim to hear the recording, at any volume level that the system can sustain - not, the limitations of the system setup.

 

these definitely don't sound small.. my problem isn't either a lack of volume, or bass (well at least not when they're sitting on the floor)..  I was just a bit surprised at the perceived drop in low end (sub 60Hz) volume when placed on the 2.5' tall stands...  I did move them closer to the wall to off set this, but it's still more middy than it was before...  Like I said above, part of this problem is while waiting on the stands (nearly two months) I got used to / my ears trained to the tone of the bass when close to the floor.

[992Sam]

On 11/4/2020 at 3:13 PM, fas42 said:

Tracked down a YT clip of your model of speakers running, if only for a second or two,

 

 

The smallness of the sound, here, is what one usually gets with this size of cabinet if it's just plunked on a convenient surface - I don't believe the full capability of such units can be realised until the stabilising of the cabinets is thoroughly explored, 😉.

 

 

I got one better... here's a YouTube clip of my exact system...  once I moved the speakers back closer to the rear wall... the bass opened up.  Its a compromise due to my smallish room... but it sounds great! 

 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MH5YAbCfDJ8

[992Sam]

34 minutes ago, fas42 said:

 

Hope you don't mind, but I would just make a comment about the stands ... very much like the style of construction, the three legged approach - but I find that the top of the legs come too close together - the speaker "hangs over" the platform it's sitting on. If I were to do my own version of what you have I would have a very solid platform at least the size of the base of the speakers, with the legs effectively in line with the bottom of the sides of the speakers. And most importantly, couple the speaker cabinet to the platform it's sitting on only at the most rigid points; for a box, these are obviously the corners, directly under the vertical sides.

 

The point of this is that the vibration of the cabinets is transferred to the stand and floor in the most effective way - I have found the better I do this, the more 'authoritative' is the bass.

 

strangely their shorter version (The SS5's) which are 6" shorter, come with a larger base... might be the geometry of how they're constructed due to the same size footprint.... but I use a very high quality rubberized pad underneath the speaker to both provide a solid grip and also a solid connection to the stand..  I can honestly say, they sound nearly perfect to my ear, some something turned out right in the setup...  the biggest help was moving them closer to the wall, but at a 45 degree angle,  (ironically). 

[992Sam]

8 hours ago, semente said:

I would follow the manual's positioning suggestions:

 

https://www.mcintoshlabs.com/-/media/Files/mcintoshlabs/DocumentMaster/us/xr50om-01.ashx

 

Loudspeaker Placement

Loudspeaker placement in a room can greatly affect performance. The XR50 Loudspeaker is designed for both Music and Home Theater Systems. The optimal method for selecting speaker locations includes the use of a real time spectrum analyzer operated by an experienced system installer. An uncompromising installation would take into consideration the floor, wall and ceiling coverings, the type and placement of furniture and can even include the architectural design of the room and its construction materials. In those instances where placement in the room is fixed, an en- viromental equalizer may be needed to restore proper musical balance.

Placement near a wall, corner, floor, ceiling or any intersecting surfaces will reinforce or diminish some bass frequencies. The bass frequencies that are altered by placement in a particular location is dependent on the dimensions of the room. If professional measure- ment equipment is not available, listen to the Loud- speaker. Try various locations by listening to music containing continuous bass and finding a location where there is an over all musical balance in the sound and the bass content does not dominate.

The XR50’s Smooth Frequency Response may be altered by a large object(s) located in the sound waves path or by locating the Loudspeaker too close to a side wall. There should be an unobstructed area in front
of the Loudspeaker of at least 30 degrees either side from the center axis for the best performance. Refer to figure 8.

 

Thanks ... real time spectrum analyzer?  I've got that beat ..