Sound · monitors and hi-fi
Speaker placement triangle calculator.
Enter how far you sit from each speaker. Get the spacing between the speakers, the toe-in angle and how far back your head is from the line of the speakers.
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Result
Enter the distance to the speakers.
The equilateral stereo triangle
Genelec's monitor placement guide says to place the left and right monitors at a 60 degree angle, "ideally positioning the listener at the tip of an equilateral triangle", with each monitor aimed towards the listening position. In an equilateral triangle the speaker spacing equals the distance from each speaker to your head. For any angle A between the speakers: spacing = 2 x d x sin (A/2), distance behind the speaker line = d x cos (A/2), and toe-in = A/2.
Worked example. Sitting 2 m from each speaker at 60 degrees: the speakers go 2 m apart, your head is 1.73 m back from the line joining them, and each speaker toes in 30 degrees. At a narrower 45 degrees the same 2 m distance gives 1.53 m spacing and 22.5 degrees of toe-in.
The angle affects only the geometry; the page makes no claim about what angle sounds best other than Genelec's 60 degrees. Genelec also advises placing the listening position at least one metre from room walls, keeping the same distance to the nearest side walls and rear wall for left and right, and placing the listening position on the room's left-right symmetry axis, but not in the exact centre of the room. Measure the distance from the ear position, not from the chair.
Frequently asked questions
How far apart should stereo speakers be?
For an equilateral triangle, as far apart as you are from them. Sitting 2 m from each speaker, place them 2 m apart.
Should speakers be toed in?
In the equilateral layout Genelec recommends aiming each monitor at the listening position, which is 30 degrees of toe-in at 60 degrees apart.
How far from the wall should I sit?
Genelec says to put the listening position at least one metre from the walls, and not in the exact centre of the room.
Does it matter if the room is not symmetric?
Genelec advises the same distance from left and right monitors to the nearest side walls and the same distance to the wall behind, so reflections are similar for both.
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Scope
Geometry for a starting position. Final placement should be adjusted by ear and, for critical work, by measurement in the room.