L/R Difference

[hansbusch]

Dear all,
the room my speakers are in is large and asymmetric but is this behaviour normal? I mean, are the deviations between left and right speaker OK or are there serious issues with my hardware? Or is it just the room? Thanks for some guidance. Right = Green.

 

[John Mulcahy]

That's entirely normal.

 

[hansbusch]

Thank you for the quick reply. Just for clarity: take 70hz where we see a difference of roughly 5db. I can reproduce this quite nicely with the tone generator and the measurement SPL meter. So, are these stable differences due to the room and room modes? Would these disappear in a perfectly symmetric room? Or this is also due to the speakers itself?

 

[John Mulcahy]

Much larger differences are common, they are due to room effects. The differences are likely to be different at different listening positions, even small changes in position can make a large difference. In principle perfect symmetry in speaker positions, listening position, room construction and materials would reduce or eliminate differences between channels, but I've never encountered a perfectly symmetrical room and even then the response would still not be flat, just more similar between the channels.

 

[hansbusch]

Thanks a lot for the clarification, much appreciated!

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

As John noted, entirely normal. To that I’d add, in your case not enough difference to be audible with program.

Regards,
Wayne

 

[Sonnie]

If you have the ability to frequency match the speakers, it may very well improve on pinpoint imaging, if that is something you really care about. You may not notice it unless you are trying to notice it. With all the speakers evaluations we've done over the years, I've become accustomed to precise imaging on certain songs, and a few dB of variance in the response will affect what I hear. The overall response of both speakers can affect the sound stage and depth acuity... it all works together. Getting it all matched and smoothed out should improve things, if you are listening for those things. Speaker placement will also play a huge part is what you hear as well.

 

[JStewart]

As has been said pretty normal for the frequency range where room effects are in play. I did also see the distinct level difference starting at 1500 Hz and up. Those frequencies are quite directional and not affected by the room, but by placement.
Assuming the speakers were equidistant from the measurement mic, you might look to be sure the angle of the speakers to the mic is the same as well.

The overall response of both speakers can affect the sound stage and depth acuity... it all works together. Getting it all matched and smoothed out should improve things, if you are listening for those things. Speaker placement will also play a huge part is what you hear as well.