For better sound try nearfield listening

Vinnie Rossi is the Audiophiliac for a Day! He really does have a real passion for nearfield listening.
Vinnie's electronics are pretty amazing, check out his website, www.vinnierossi.com

[@wildcat1065]

This is so right. It is hardly ever talked about and can give the most spectacular imaging in the room looking through the gap between the widely space,toed in speakers. If you have a dedicated room you owe it to yourself to try it, your chin will drop !

[@HiFiInsider]

Vinnie is a cool cat. Typically, speakers are measured at 1m away so nearfield makes a lot of sense to experience the designed effect

[@BB-Rareburto]

Standards of distance for certain measurements are not the same as designed listening distance.

[@dutchqt]

I've discovered nearfield listening about 5 years ago again. Some 30 years ago I bought some Martin Logans CLS I. My room in which I listened was 3m30 or 10 ft wide and 8m or 30 ft deep. Accounting that Martin Logans should be placed 1 m or 3.3 ft from any wall the speakers stand very close together. To get a good listening position I had to place my listening chair accordingly. My listening chair is a Cassina Le Corbusier LC4. I reclined the chair almost to horizontal position, my head just above my knees. The Martin Logans CLS I are famous for their translucent and huge sound stage. But in this position I've found the perfect sweet spot. It sometimes felt the music even touched my ears litterally. Now about 30 years later I listen music via some PC speakers from Logitec in my bedroom (3 x 3 meters or 10 x 10 ft). They are Bi-Amplified 15 watt RMS. I have a bed with a high headboard deep enough to set my pc speaker on. The speakers are angled 18 degrees up to the ceiling, 1m50 or 4.6 ft apart and 50 cm or 1.5 ft above matress level. When I ( 1m67 or 5'6" tall) lay on my bed reversed the sound stage is huge. Especially when you listen to Yello, Boris Blank but also Eefje de Visser - Scheef, Eva Serena - Somebody Human or Allan Taylor - Colour to the Moon. Make your room pitch black, no lights of anykind to distract you, close your eyes and imagine you in the midst of a field or lying on the beach and looking up into the vastness of milkyway. The sound is coming from all directions, it is like a blanket of sound that engulfs youf The Bi-amplified Logitech speakers by itself already sound great. I won't tell you which ones as they are out of production over a decade ago and when I come accross them on an ebay site for a good price I snatch them to have some spares.. lol

[@jonathansturm4163]

Already did this starting back in the mid-seventies. I had a pair of AR bookshelf speakers at a distance of a metre driven by a decent 25 W per channel Kenwood amp. I called the setup my nearphones. As a spectacle wearer, I was frustrated by the discomfort of headphones and nearfield listening (I didn't know what it was called) was my response. Real hi-fi on the cheap :-)

[@TheWeekendGamerz]

Jonathan Sturm same this is how I listen to music. Best thing is you don't have to increase the volume by a lot to get it to sound just right in your ear.

[@MangoZen]

Big fan of near-field listening (6.5ft) and the speakers 5ft from the back wall. I’ve been doing it with my Apogee Stages for decades.. honestly I stumbled on it by default due to my room layout, but love the intimacy and impact of the sound.

I discovered it the same way.

[@carminedesanto6746]

Same thing with my Scintillas back in the day

[@bugpack6]

I agree. Had a near field set up at my last job and it was fantastic. Thought it sounded better than my big home system.

[@a-j6798]

I tried it today with my Orphean horns with open baffle bass. Listening distance was about 1, 5 meters. And boy oh boy! It was little bit scary to dig into the recording like never before, but now I realize how much information of the music just gets messed up because of the room. Just moving 1 meter more away and room is what you hear.

[@ryanchenoweth5673]

I love the depth and detail listening to near field 2m. When playing around with placement of my current pair I could not believe how good it sounds sitting right in between them. The detail of headphones with the depth and imaging of speakers, really could be the best of both worlds! 👏👏👏

[@tomgillett4791]

A friend does his nearfield listening sitting in a barber's chair, He can change the vertical listening angle.

[@raphaelemail]

Great tip! It realy helps to get less of the room in the sound.

[@nathandaniels4823]

I sit about 12' away from my mains in my current hi-fi setup, which is a 7.2.4 Atmos mixed listening rig. I love it, but probably my most memorable listening experience ever was 18-year-old me standing no more than 4' away from my refurbished Sony stereo, with newly purchased Bose 301 series III speakers(they were my gateway drug to hi-fi), eyes closed, listening to Duetsche Grammophon's recording of Gustav Holst's Uranus the Magician. After the initial burst of horns, I could hear one of the musicians shifting in their chair. The soundstage was what I would now describe as holographic. I still get chills thinking about that. Over 20 years later, thousands of dollars of gear under my belt, I'm still chasing that experience.

[@bluelines1792]

yea travel RVs/trailers have nice nooks for powered tower speakers either side of their fake fireplace and imagine owning your own nearfield mancave on wheels with a roof you can walk around on.

[@Invictus96vid]

Near field is ideal for me. An impediment to making rooms of various sizes work well for audio is trying to do so while simultaneously accommodating conflicting non-audio considerations. I gave up on attempting to address those conflicting sets of interests 20 years ago. My listening/viewing room is 12 X 33 feet, and is set up for 2.1 audio lengthwise, and 5.1 video crosswise. This is a single-user space. It does not accommodate others. (They have their own spaces.) The large 2.1 speakers are about 9 feet into the room, where I listen to them at the vertex of a 6.5 foot equilateral triangle. The small 5.1 speakers (left and right ones) are placed about 6 feet apart and about 15 inches from one long-side wall. The 10 inch subwoofer for the 5.1 system and the 18 inch subwoofer for the 2.1 system are placed where they work best sonically. Listening in both instances is near-field. The medium sized monitor I use for “theater” is so close that it fills my visual field of view better than a 100 inch screen would at typical group-viewing distances. There is only one seat: a swiveling, non-reclining mesh-backed office chair, placed so I can enjoy the sweet spot of either system by turning the chair 90 degrees. There are lots of book-filled shelves (looks kind of like some of Steve’s background), and cluttered racks of computer and other hardware all around, whose irregularity diffuses most offensive reflections.

[@gerritfridericksohn4627]

I had small DIY coax firing across the short dimension. Used 2a3 Monos. My head was perhaps half meter away from back wall. It was treated. Wall, not my head. The speakers were moved around but ranged from one to two meters from me . So that probably left 2 to 2.5 meters behind speakers. Sounded very open. A few things were repeatedly phenomenal. At least to these ears at that time. Ultimately it was a tough room to walk around in. I believe bass suffered. I made a few woofers, but then spent time messing with those and not listening to music. This was pre internet and I never read about anyone else doing this so I figured everyone else must know better. Went back to conventional positioning.

[@ericnortan9012]

I have a small bedroom (10'x12'). I am turning it into a listening room. I will end up roughly 6' away. I have a couple different speakers to use for now but plan on getting a real nice set for in there. We have a nice setup in the living room, but sometimes the wife doest want to hear it, and I don't want to hear her, lol. Though it may not be my "dream" listening room in dimensions, it's always been a goal to get one set up. I have done a little near field "testing" in the living room and think this might turn out pretty sweet. Small speakers are much cheaper too, bonus!

[@dougg1075]

Best experience I’ve ever had with my system is when I lived in a apartment and had to listen near field. Amazing and enjoyable at lower volume.

[@awdadwadwad1723]

It's not like you can't do it now too

[@RonaldStewart]

I love listening to headphones with a sub on. The first time i did it by accident, but boy, it's a unique experience.

[@RickSPI2009]

Definitely got into nearfield listening about 20 years ago when I was able to have a separate space for my system. I use triangle Titus monitors which may or may not be designed for Nearfield listening, but they sure work very well. They throw a huge soundstage between and behind the speakers, and there is no sense the music is coming from the speaker boxes themselves.

[@mikej.2803]

Vandersteen, Cardas or the "rule of thirds"are all great helpers in finding this near field experience! Speaker positioning and listener positioning make it ALL happen.

[@JohnDoe-np3zk]

I do minefield listening. One wrong step and it's over.

[@richardsoffice9176]

John Doe Ha!

[@amb3cog]

🤣🤣🤣

[@nephisturgill5082]

Hey JD, for making me laugh out loud!

[@WWeiss-nv5vz]

I have a sealed SVS SB3000 up front. I've never tried two subs before. Will it work also putting a ported 12" behind me?

[@dhpbear2]

You're audio is distorted! Are you using near-field miking' ? :)

[@amanieux]

what is the woofer recommended size for near field ?

[@awdadwadwad1723]

Doing near field very often, you get best details and don't need to listen loud plus no room influence. Great thing, just sometimes bass is lesser, those waves need more distance with some speakers.

[@ericw1330]

Thats what I have found myself doing. Mr. Guttenberg recommended some percussion focused albums which I sat close to at volume. First night with my new speakers. Have you heard that 50s space age jazz loud thru good speakers? Holy crap. Sometimes everything is excellent.

[@borey123xx9]

I do extreme near field listening at 20 inches with small 4 inch genelec studio monitors and add subwoofers for the bass. The soundstage is small but clarity is high

[@kirkcunningham6146]

I'm 8 feet away from the front three speakers and 4 feet away from the surrounds in my 5.1 and it's perfect for me. With all of the different set ups and rooms I've had over the years, 8 feet seems to be the best of both near field and room. When you sit 10 to 12 feet away, you can induce many room problems.

[@ChadWork1]

I'm an audio engineer, and nearfield is definitely more accurate. The further away from the source, the more room reflections you hear.

[@Montreal_Audio_Systems]

Yeah for sure but there no bass and the drivers don't mix together as well the best is far with more power in a huge room with speakers nice and wide away

[@adamant3844]

I have my Klipsch Pro media 2.1's satellites set 2.5 feet from my ears. From below the subwoofer is also set 2.5 feet away from my ears. The satellites have a slight toe in and some streamed material sounds downright amazing. Yes, i'm a firm believer in near field listening.

[@SteveGuttenbergAudiophiliac]

Thanks for sharing

[@tomgillett4791]

I love nearfield listening. It lets me avoid overpriced, overpowered amplifiers in favor or more humanly scaled electronics, like those from Vinnie Rossi. Here's a trick. After you set up your speakers, try moving your listening chair instead of the speakers. The focus will change, for sure.

[@carminedesanto6746]

On the PS Audio channel thru have listening room 1. IRS speakers and they listening is done “relatively close “..so yea..even with great gear the less room interaction the better😊

[@jeremywhittler8591]

This sounds like the listening experience and seating set up of Electrostat speakers.

[@astrotrance]

I'd love to have a near field 7.1 system, with 7 of the same bookshelf speaker all about 5 feet from my head and a big sub nearly touching the back of my chair, with a short-throw projecter and a 100" screen.

[@MisterNiles]

I like this guy.

[@20CycleMonger]

Maybe with coincident driver speakers like the Kef LS50s. Too close and the driver integration falls apart. Be careful not to sit in the centre of the room where bass nulls and peaks are the worst. 38% into the room is said to be ideal for listener and speakers ( In a 21ft room that puts you pretty close to the speakers!). I just lean forward to change perspective and intensity for serious listening ;-

[@dab42bridges80]

I have used full-size speakers as headphones in the past.

[@Vinylbop]

Nice shirt!

[@theosudarja]

I listened to my bookshelf speaker in near fields configuration for ages. The idea comes naturally as I am a photographer. I do light control and how it falls onto and shapes my object. That's what I do my entire career. Similar to controlling the sound projected from the speaker. I wonder why not many people are doing this. Just place your speaker as wide as you can. And after, you can actually adjust where you stand to get the most of the 3D staging. For me; the effect is ridiculously entertaining. And always able to make me laugh for real. At the first impression. The sound feels very focus, yet I know I place the speakers as widest as I can. It's like someone suddenly places one giant speaker in front of me. Although I know I only have a pair of stereo speakers. It's exaggerated more when I close my eyes, and when I open my eyes I realized it's just a plain wall. Later on, as the music goes. I get myself orientated to the stage space. I feel how wide space. I can count how many vocalists, who're singing in the background, how many. The instrument floating right-hand side, and left, almost as I can grab it. Something like you get when you went to 4D Cinema. In my experience, only the stereo can give me the same sensation. I never had the same experience with any other system; headphones, multi-channel etc. For me; the multi-channel always feel speaker(y). The sound comes from the speakers doesn't blend seamlessly as stereo does. It has too many factors to calibrate overlapping sound source just right. And I have never been able to tune that right. And headphones, it only good for details listening. That's why they're made for. It reduces many acoustic constraints out of the equations.

[@bayard1332]

I decided I was getting carried away and should retreat while I was trying to cut away the duct tape I used to attach the speakers to the sides of my head...

[@bassman4632]

How do we know if a speaker is designed for near field or not?

[@NiSHAN256]

they usually mention that in the official page of the product and they are usually active 2-ways speakers sized less than 8" for the woofer.

[@bassman4632]

@@NiSHAN256 so if there is no mention of near-field placement, we can assume speakers are not recommended for it?

[@emreisiklar]

Show us some examples man!

[@johnstone7697]

The late Siegfried Linkwitz called this kind of nearfield listening; "headphones at a distance". Great for picking out nuances in recordings, which is why you set them up this way in a studio setting. But for home listening I find it totally unnatural sounding.

[@klogg1987]

Please try listening at lower levels. When the volume goes down there will be less energy produced by the speakers thus the room will have less impact on your listing experience.

[@jonathanknight8251]

klogg1987 not true. Reflections (midrange and up) and room modes (low midrange and down) are independent of level.

[@undress62]

Jonathan Knight yes but reflections are more delayed from the direct sound from the speakers so have less volume. I read somewhere It’s like your brain detect this delay and removes it from your perception. It’s psychoacoustics or something. Maybe someone can explain it better. Anyway I think near field is a great thing and low volume is just the natural consequence of it.

[@tomgillett4791]

Oh, yes! The lower the volume, the more you hear. Down to a point. With classical, you might appreciate the quieter passages far more.

[@bc527c]

simply untrue. I know this from personal experience doing the acoustic treatment on my listening room. Before I was done with my project I had to listen at much higher levels to hear things, and as the acoustic treatment got better I was able to listen at lower levels as the room was pushed out of the way. I can now listen at -50db on my volume control and hear everything, where befopre I started I had to listen at -10db to hear anything in any sort of connectable level.

[@ryana.7257]

"...AND I AM THE AUDIOPHILIAC" Steve made it his own :)

[@DannyHoffman57]

Everything Vinnie says is correct, but the elephant in the room is "do you have a suitable room"? Most people don't. So you need room treatments, or DSP, or speakers designed not to excite the room (cardoid output).

[@nl_2652]

The clipping audio here. My goodness.

[@awdadwadwad1723]

and I thought it's my cheap in monitor speaker xD

[@craigsaunders5306]

Due to the witch up stairs who keeps thumping my ceiling with her broom I'm forced to listen near field.

[@theosudarja]

Yet people are buying soundbars, or omnidirectional speaker. With fake to none stereo projection, often times adding pseudo room DSP which only a fake echo.

[@mozartfx1]

This is why for many ppl their car is the best listening room....space.

[@tom-iv6lc]

only 5k for his preamp.

[@kcjb7861]

My dog sounds hi res barking into my ear

[@Frisenette]

Far more than fifty percent is reflected sound. Try taking your speakers outside on an open lawn and hear how thin and weak they sound.

[@dmtphone]

I am unfortunately very limited by my room. The closest I can get to my speakers is around 8ft but it sounds phenomenal at 6ft. I may attempt to fuss with placement even further but if i remember correctly I am also at the limit of how far I can pull my speakers away from the wall without them sounding unnatural.

[@sudd3660]

you missed the point, you have to also move close to the speakers

[@dmtphone]

@@sudd3660 perhaps I didnt clarify enough that my being limited by my room means that short of rearranging the furniture every time I want to listen to music I cannot sit any closer to the current speaker placement. (Unless someone invents a way for me to sit on my coffee table without breaking it 😂)

[@sudd3660]

remove the table

[@dmtphone]

@@sudd3660 simply brilliant, wish I would have thought of that 😒

[@mohdpazli]

@@dmtphone hey man i understand your situation..same like mine actually..what i do is.. I bring the speaker near to me instead..so the sofa/chair stay where it were only the speaker is in the middle of the room now.. Wife is ok as long you move it back to the backwall when you done listening

[@TamirylAuvahn]

Within 4 feet is best

[@sudd3660]

im at 2 feet,

[@TamirylAuvahn]

@Larry Niles Of course it depends on the speaker. What is important is that you can the right balance of all the drivers and that the reflections coming off the ceiling walls and floor arrive after the initial sound coming from the speakers....Just like in any recording studio. However in the recording studio the problem is that the sound reflects off the recording console up to your ears....So what I did when I was doing the final listen to the mix is I would lay a thick blanket on it so I could here more exact what was coming off the speakers

[@Chuckychazza]

Now add electrostatics

[@leon23leon]

Do you even know how to “critically listen” if you didn’t pick up on the “GO” at the very start of the video?

[@Montreal_Audio_Systems]

But....there's no bass not deep at all near field so... what's the point ... Your the audiophile for the day? Hum....

[@leejmeek]

bull fkn shit

[@AlbertWeijers]

Your voice is badly recorded for audiophiles...

[@TheWeekendGamerz]

Albert Weijers just lower the volume

[@CraigFlowersMusic]

Nearfield as opposed to what? I've been googling "speaker placement" for years, and nobody recommends anything else nor is there nomenclature on the books for it. There is no opposite of nearfield, that I know of, besides simply leaving them against the wall which is an absolute no no. So, what are you talking about exactly?

[@gr500music6]

Midfield and (maybe?) farfield. Some larger studio monitors are marketed as midfields - to be located maybe 10 to 25 feet away from the mix position. I guess farfield is what we hear at the ballpark.

[@zaldam]

This is a channel about sound quality. Why is it than that we get such a distorted (clipped) sounding speech here? This is so bad it detracts from the content delivered.

[@RoseGold823]

Lol who cares? It's a guy talking for a few minutes on KZbin.

[@zaldam]

@@RoseGold823 A few minutes every day, about things audiophile?

So what? It's KZbin on a computer.

[@RoseGold823]

@@zaldam 95% of the people are watching this on their smartphone....

[@zaldam]

@@RoseGold823 It's all good. It is just that there are car polishing channels, keyboard testing channels, cooking channels.......that give us a very good speech quality. And then we have Steve Guttenberg and Paul McGowan that don't give a toss while giving us advice on hifi. Can't wrap my head around it.