How far apart should speakers be for stereo sound?

  • Thread starter Thread starter romanianreaper
  • Start date Start date
romanianreaper

romanianreaper

Well-known member
I am planning on using two amps with my delay pedal and was wondering if it will sound as good if the speakers are side by side or need to be spread out?
 
It all depends on your location listening to it.

If you don't have a huge room, put them close together.
 
I have done the side by side and 5 feet apart.
The ping pong delay will be much more pronounced if the cabs are separated a few feet or more.

And a bonus if the pedal can be set to do two different times....HUGE sound
 
As far apart as physically possible to get the widest stereo field.

If not worried about the width of the stereo field you can stack the cabs or put them side by side.
 
I am just setting it up in my man cave and wanted to get a great sound, but ideally wanted them fairly close. I can put them in front of me with about 3 feet in-between (ideal) or 10 feet apart
 
there’s always a practical side to this stuff too. draping long speaker cables about are not always a healthy practice for cables and speaker jack longevity if you move gear around the room often. most live wdw cab configs i’ve seen are fairy condensed. i found a happy place with a center 4x12 and two 1x12 wet cabs on stands aimed at my head. ymmv.

exhibit A: michael landau wdw live rig with tone tubbies 2x12 dry center cab and two CAE 2x10 wet cabs
IMG_7168.jpeg


my braddah zach’s wdw 4x12s
IMG_8056.jpeg

neither were hurting for a lack of stereo imaging. wall space maybe… 3 x 4x12s is about 7&1/2 feet wide packed tightly side by side which is fairly significant!
 
depends what you are trying to achieve ... if you are wanting ping pong type delay stuff (which would be more suited to a W/D/W rig) then wider is better ... but for me a stereo rig really means having 2 amps blended to give one HUGE sound so cabs right next to each other angled slightly away from each other gives a nice big sound
 
mentoneman said:
my braddah zach’s wdw 4x12s
View attachment 239102
neither were hurting for a lack of stereo imaging. wall space maybe… 3 x 4x12s is about 7&1/2 feet wide packed tightly side by side which is fairly significant!
Click to expand...
it looks as though a tv was supposed to be there. Nice.. “hunny, come watch me play guitar. I have a special seat for you”
 
alund said:
it looks as though a tv was supposed to be there. Nice.. “hunny, come watch me play guitar. I have a special seat for you”
Click to expand...
i have an old school wooden tv/stereo entertainment unit and 2 cabinets in the garage filled with guitar gear besides my 4x12, 2 1x12s, 3 heads, rack, and pedalboard. tone pile!

holdsworth used to stack 2 clean combos on his two lead tone boogie half back slanted extension cabs for his stereo rack rigs so speakers were better aimed at his head

IMG_9048.jpeg


my other friends just let the chips fall as they may setting up their rigs around available space v sound spread. it’s more about volume balance and clarity to me. if you want wider separation, increase the delay!
IMG_1077.jpeg

IMG_5634.jpg
 
I have not read the responses but to the op...in my experience one half stack on each side of the room really worked great for me. But I was doing crazy wet chorus effects and running the second amp milliseconds behind the first. Maybe 40 milliseconds. Tremoverb halfstack and boosted Zakk Wylde sig halfstack. Just crazy-swirly-massive sounding rig.
 
A bit more specifics, I'm using this for a wdw rig with my new Boss EVH SDE-3000 pedal. Right now I'm just doing stereo but eventually want to do three amps. I currently have the cabs a few feet apart.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top