I put a 70" picture of a better hifi system between my speakers. It optimizes my listening experience, it's basically science.

In an ideal world we would all have a dedicated listening room, but we don't, we have an area that is generally smaller than we would like, and we have stuff, a partner, pets, crap that we bought on holiday that we thought would look good at home. Unless you're super rich, everything is a compromise, just learn to live with it.

Most of us are wishing that the television between our speakers was the worst problem with our room.

I am more concerned with the clutter between my headphones

Seems to me like the best way to test the best position of speakers is with your eyes closed, not knowing exactly where they are.

Thanks for answering my question Paul. I was asking because I am setting up my listening/home office room and I have the choice or either front wall/short cables or side wall/longer cables. Will go for side !

I don’t think a flat tv-set on the wall, 2-3 feet behind the speakers alignment is going to ruin your soundstage.

If you put a video of the band that’s playing on the television then you have a better image of the band than looking at the wall i suppose.

Thanks for your comments Paul they're very valid but unfortunately sometimes you can't do anything about it I personally don't have a separate room thank you very much for your show.

That may be true for music only rooms, but for a media room where you watch movies with surround sound the TV has to be between the main speakers. Few of us can afford a dedicated music room.

I’ve always read that it’s important for the main L&R speakers to be able to “see” each other, meaning that there should be an unobstructed line between the fronts of the speakers, with any gear or furniture being behind that line. In practice, this should not usually be that difficult to achieve. Most of your audio gear will be backed up near to the front wall (i.e., the wall behind the front speakers), while the speakers should generally not be directly against the front wall. Then, if your speakers are pulled out a little from the wall behind them, the gear and/or TV between them will be behind that line between the fronts of the speakers. As well, if the speakers are even just 6”/15 cm. from the wall, their bass response will be smoother, because the peak-causing boundary gain from the front wall will be reduced. The imaging also tends to improve if the speakers are a bit further from the wall. So, moving the speakers away from the wall, even a little bit, improves their sound in two ways: smoother and less peaky bass response, and better soundstage imaging. Win-win! As for putting a blanket over the TV, I’ve often read that it’s helpful, but I haven’t tried it, so I can’t truthfully comment on it.

How about 4-5 mannequins between the speakers?? Would I get a better image of a R&R band or jazz quartet??

I can vouch for this. I used to have my TV in between my speakers, but then mounted it over a fireplace on an adjacent wall. I am now getting much better imagining from my system, even when swapping two sets of different speakers. My A/V rack is still there, but its low to floor and space between the speakers is freed up. I also have the speakers about 5 feet from the wall. Music has really come alive in this setup.

Sometimes it is also ideal to fill the room with some extra nitrogen. It allows speakers to breathe better and thus enhances soundstage.

Hi Paul, thanks for your great videos and inspiring ideas! Best regards from Mexico!

I have tried it, and I've found that as long as you keep your gear below ear level or around shoulder height (when you're seated) it wont have any negative affect on imaging, even if you place them between speakers, just keep them below ear level and you should be fine.

I have a TV on the wall and a curtain that I can pull in front of it when not in use. Seems fine. Perfect - maybe not, but I like to look at all the gear and the symmetry.

One of Paul's best videos and all those room and setup related.

Paul, you are so honest! hahaha.. In Hong Kong, our apartment is so small that we consider ourselves lucky to have a wall that is dedicated to listening.

Decades ago I bought a Solid Steel 5 shelf rack, long before I understood the negatives. Worse, it has been well out in the room interfering with speaker imaging. Recently, I FINALLY moved it back near the front wall. The speakers are now some 3ft in front of the rack, minimizing imaging issues. Moving it to the side is very expensive as HQ interconnects or speaker cables are uber expensive. Plan B is to replace the vertical rack with a 2 shelf horizontal rack, which aren't cheap either

I agree. I have a small room, so I have 2 x two shelves audio racks and the amplifier in between the 2 audio racks to solve the cable issue. All placed in the front wall about 2.5 feet behind & in between the speakers. Its not perfect because it gets a bit of sound wave on the equipment but a compromise.

Like most people I don't have a dedicated sound room and have to have TV and equipment between the speakers. What I have done is to move my speakers out from the wall and in front of the tv equipment. Then, I take a large soft blanket and drape it over the TV and it covers the whole thing up (but is open to the back wall for air flow. Is this ideal? Probably not. But it does help!

My TV Is around 1.5 meters behind speakers, and I noticed big improvement when i lowered it below ear level. But the biggest difference is when TV is turned off. I think that distraction from music that TV can make, even if it is only some static picture is quite big, just having something to look at takes away that feeling of empty space behind speakers.

Thank you sir for your clean language pronounce, so other ppl can understand your videos. Also thank you for your effort sharing your expierence. This is absolutely brilliant and i appreciate that. I just purchased hifi system, but for the upgrade i'll definately consider products of your company. Peace. Vladimir, Russia

I agree with this. I still live with my parents in my room. I have a pair of mission 753 speakers. They sound beautiful. But i still have to put all my stuff in one room. I have my tv in the middle of my speakers and it seems that this puts the soundstage above my tv instead of in the middle. My speakers stand at least one foot in front of my tv and this still affects the soundstage. Its just that i dont have a better solution. But i still notice the difference. Iisten mostly with my eyes closed so i can visualize the image more effectively but still there is some difference in the soundstage.

I get it for music but home theater makes no sense without your left, right and center on both sides of screen and below it.So many people can afford only one system thus home theater doubles as music system.

In a perfect world. Never heard this one before. Happy music!

A good way to test see if your Volume is louder behind the tv if so move the speakers in front. Thank u for the video I was wondering what I was doing wrong

This is a bit like saying asphalt damages your tires when you drive. Okay, but I need to use my car on asphalt if I want to drive it.

well, I prefer to watch live discs to studio - blu Ray of Opera's Anna Netrebko , La Traviata for instance. and the speakers are about 2 ft on each side. works for me. practical rules.

My Marantz SR7012 was just pushed an update today. Any idea what it included? Hopefully to allow my Heos Tidal App to play Atmos music! 😉👍

For Home Theater, it's fine and it doesn't matter. The sound of a movie is not hampered at all. However, for two channel stereo, i made an absorber out of ordinary foam board by installing two plastic hooks that attaches to my 55 inch tv and glued two inch acoustic foam to the front side of the board. It drapes over the tv and looks and sounds great. When im done, i remove the foam board and store it until next time i do two channel stereo listening.

Setting everything up in an ideal manner is virtually impossible for those of modest financial means. Fitting a decent system into a small space AT ALL is hard enough to do. In my longest-lasting residence so far (over 15 years), I had the audio equipment off to the side and most of the video equipment (all but the LD player) between, but well behind, the speakers. The arangement came about not because I wanted it that way but because that was the only way I could get it to fit. Sound-wise it was pretty good, I thought, though I'm sure there were many errors and deficiencies of which I was blissfuly unaware.

Looks like you're sitting on a contemplation bench. It's certainly placed in a beautiful setting around your home

i have a 75 inch flat screen betweet (slightly behind) my tannoys. my friends cant believe that the voices come from the speakers. imaging is sharp as heck.

I can't say that I've found much issue with having my main speakers set up with my TV. Regarding reflections in general I have luckily not had much issues when measuring the frequency curve. The center image is so good that I've abandoned any thoughts of getting a center speaker for the set up (not that I would have used that with music, but for other media) and, when playing recordings with detailed soundstages I can clearly pick out detailed changes in the sound placement. I can't say that it's an issue that there's equipment where the musicians might be because I can see just as well that they aren't there if the space is empty, so I don't think the visual aspect matters. The positive for me is that I can have full access to my home media server (with lossless music and UHD Bluray rips) on my TV, so when listening to music I have a nice GUI that displays big album covers and so on, plus that I get to use my best speakers for viewing video material. Concert videos are especially amazing. I won't say that it's the absolutely optimal solution, but I think it's the best compromise.

I live in a condo apartment situation but good tip because I'm moving soon and I will try to put my gear to the side of the room or near a separate room set from my main speakers. It's the space issue.is it ok to have a screen between the speakers from your recent video you talked about transparent.

With old box Tv's this may have been relevant, but with today's flat TV's I don't see it affects the sound much.

Does it matter that much for near field listening? I have my whole desktop and monitor between my bookshelf speakers. I wish I could put the desktop in another place but I can't.

I have a Samsung “Frame” tv between the speakers. Flush to wall and only projects about 1.5 inches. How bad could they be?

This episode is mind-blowing. I look at hi-fi reviewers like steve Gutenberg, Zero Fidelity, Thomas and Stereo, Z reviews etc, and all of them have gear between the speakers!

I use my 70" TV as a baffle for my horn system. Thus it's part of the speaker and adds to the overall sound quality.

The flush mounted monitor is usually not a big deal. Unused tv speakers passively re-emitting sound may very well deteriorate your main speakers' sound

I stream my Tidal from an app on my Sony TV right to my Denon, works great, only need one remote to control everything, sounds just as good as when I was using my laptop

I have a low bench that is 2 feets (60 cm) high to the top, where I only have my Elac CC501 Center, and I can't imagine how a low bench like the one I have can affect the sound.

how about putting rack in between speakers but it is quite low about 50cm tall. is it still bad?

I've seen blankets drapped over TVs between speakers. This would stop reflections heading to the listening position?

I don't know Paul. Like many others have said in the comments, I, too have my tv (a big box) and stereo equipment in between both speakers and it sounds fine to me. The sound stage seems to go behind the back wall (music) and vocals are projected forward (depending on the mix) with sounds happening on the left and right. Watching tv, the sound seems to come right from the tv and my speakers are not spaced evenly. One speaker is 4 ft from tv the other is 5 ft from the tv. And I've heard lots of super expensive hifi systems when they had hifi shows in LA back in the early 90's.

He is probably right in a technical and aesthetic sense, and it would be a fun experiment to hear the difference.

All of my equipment is to the side of my right speaker but my power amplifier is on the floor between them. It doesn't seem to affect the soundstage. I can even keep my eyes open and picture of the full soundfield.

Love the garden.

I remember the days of CRT TVs... now those produced quite some noise 😅

Is there a difference if the wall behind the speakers is black or white or which color do you prefer.....

Thanks for clearing that up, mostly. So my followup question is, how much would putting a TV on the wall at the opposite end of the room, say one that is 16'W x 30'L? thanks so much.

I cover my 55” screen (centered between my speakers on the wall) with a table cloth when listening. Kills the reflections nicely. Center image is very good.

I remember the early days of stereo TV. There was much confusion on the studio's part of where to place the microphones. Early attempts resulted in many flanger sounds as the two mics with small spaces between made comb filters of the sound. Sound engineering for stereo is much different than for mono when you consider the typical speaker placement for a television receiver. Due to the problems of dual microphone pickup patterns in the same sound field, most studios have returned to Mono for the news and related broadcasting. Music and ambiance is in stereo. Televisions should reproduce in kind. The stereo signal should be processed in a matrix just the same as FM radio with Main, which is L+R, and played on the center speaker. Any difference information should be on side speakers or on side facing speakers to produce the L-R difference signal. This would work exactly as the Mid/Side capsule for the Zoom H6 recorder but for playback. TV sound is best processed to produce the center main channel with a center speaker. This is the heart of the soundbar concept, but that bar is undersized for full fidelity. TV sound is not high fidelity, so not an audiophile subject for the most part. If you build a home theatre for sound, consult the THX specifications and find the DVD's with the THX test signals on them. forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/987776 Surround Sound Test CD (DTS) - Lasertrak CD2500 - For surround and home theater sound setup

I am lucky to have two complete systems in the same room, a 5.2.2 and a 2ch only, the home cinema components are on a rack to the side and the two channel is on a low level rack in front of the TV, is there a difference in sound quality, of course there is but I like to think it's down to the different amplifiers used and not where in the room my equipment racks are located.

Perfect world' even the speakers would be behind an acoustically transparent barrier. I'd have nothing other than a tablet controlling Roon and the rest would either be a pitch black room or a view out into the garden. No indoor plants. No artwork. Like I said.- perfect !

Yep, as much as it looks nice and symmetrical, that's the only benefit, but it's up to the owner to decide if that benefit outweighs the cons, I guess. Maybe modern flat TVs, mounted on walls isn't so bad though (apart from high frequency reflection of the screen), but not on the floor between the speakers.

Tks Paul though it'd be easier said than done say in Hong Kong where I'm from!

I've got a 48" OLED TV between my speakers and I drape a dark grey towel over the TV when I'm listening to music: it takes away the visual distraction of looking at reflections on a blank screen and I think it helps with the sound quality as well. Plus, it helps keep dust off the TV so there's that as well. My TV is obviously exposed when I'm watching films but when it comes to listening to music, draping a towel over the TV is a simple, real-world solution when it comes to having a TV between a pair of speakers :)

New cameras? Video quality is awesome. When can we start ordering the books?

I'm curious as to the consequence of placing speakers on either side of a window & indeed a heat source, such as a radiator?

What about headphones? Is it ok to put your head in the middle of the sound stage or should I just hang them up and play them really loud?

I understand what you're saying Paul, but I have my system in such a small room that I have no choice. I will say that I do still notice the effects of any upgrades that I make, and my enjoyment of music is undiminished. P.S. I love your content and I watch every day!

That's not what's really important. What's really important is there's a tree coming out of Paul's head!

Watching you on You Tube with TV between speakers. The tv has become a pre amp. With HDMI inputs TV has computer, blueray player, and TV over internet going to it. Now it gets confusing. If that is all a power amp connected to the headphone out jack makes life simple and it sounds better than the tv speakers. However if I want to add a CD, Tape, MP3, and source from another system, I use an integrated amp or receiver. I know it's a compromise. It's a relationship.

normally the speakers have diferent types and they are made to be used in a perfect position so it can give you the best sound putting them in front of you with a tv or hi-fi system inbetween you would have 20% of it´s quality and stereo efect , i´m going to writte about normal speakers 2 or 3 ways and bass reflex, normally it also depends on the size of the room ,the better way is using the corners of the room to put each speaker and left a 30 cm espace between the wall and the box of the speaker no matter how big is the room, it starts to give you a more rich sound in high and low frequencies ,you´ll notice that by having the bass knob on defeat or 0 position while if in front of you with the hi-fi or tv equipment, you need to increase at least four in the scale to have the same bass level but also you´ll feel the bass not as a direct sound but cleaner coming to you and bass either than listening to it you also feel it, if powerfull enough it makes vibration on the windows of your furniture or even in your body, the treble is the same you want the sound to come natural as if the band was playing in the room so the more apart they are, the sensation of quality in the sound increases if next to eachother it doesn´t give you the sound they were built for as the sound controls don´t have a strong response as it should, this is the basic instalation ,there ´s other types of speakers and normally they come with instructions for it´s instalation, but if you have a 4 speaker system you would put the other two behind you in the same position of the front ones if possible, normally with early 70´s 4 channel matrix is the same type of instalation, but i would writte for hours to explain how diferent speakers are to be installed on your listening room, regards

There is absolutely no problem placing a TV and other equipment between the speakers. Firstly, many people play their TV sound through their stereo system because the sound quality is much better than the tiny TV speakers. The TV needs to be dead centre for the correct effect. Secondly, the sound does not “cross over in the centre”. The centre sound image is an illusion caused by the direct sound from both speakers, it does not actually come from a point between the speakers.

Thanks paul

This is why I´ll be getting a projector instead of a new TV, well part of it.. Having a projector screen and maybe some acoustic panels behind it (along with the centre speaker) is probably better than a hard tv screen.

Perfection can be a burden

Makes sense, but no equipment between the speakers is just not practical in most real world settings.

My Flat Screen HD TV is between my Infinity QLS-1’s But it is slightly back from the front axis of the speakers !! It DOES NOT INTERFERE WITH THE IMAGING AT ALL !!!!! MATTER OF FACT, WHEN WATCHING A MOVIE USING MY STEREO SYSTEM, WHAT SHOULD SOUND LIKE IT IS COMING FROM THE TV DOES, AND WHAT IS OFF AXIS ALSO IS IN THE FIELD !!! MY SPEAKERS HAVE BLOWN MY MIND FOR OVER 40 YEARS !!!

i want to upgrade the midrange drivers in my cerwin vega D9s, but i don't know how that works at all. can i put any driver of the same size in there and hook it up? thanks

Hey Paul, Never mind equipment between the speakers, the way you're sitting on that bench, I can almost see YOUR EQUIPMENT! 😂😂😂

I noticed zero difference in the imaging when i removed my 60inch Panny plasma from the rack. Speaker front baffles are well in front of the screen of course. I think only if the TV is well in front of the baffles and the speakers are toed in more causing obstruction would i notice it. Even then i suspect most of what id notice would be from the toeing in anyway. No removal of my TV is ever going to fool me into thinking a band is suddenly playing live in my room. Hifi and live music in any room or venue is easy to distinguish apart regardless of hifi cost. I recall an expensive Audio note system at north west audio show last yr playing a violinist Cd. Said violinist then came and played live. It was easy to tell them apart.

home theater setup??

I think the true meaning of "Audiophile" is "one who has enough room to not crowd the imaging location"😂 Here in the states it's a bit easier as homes are built with an insensible amount of extra space. I would recommend to start with 86'ing the spouse!

So it sounds like the trick is to keep the speakers above anything that would otherwise be between them? I hope so, because my space is limited. I’ve got a deejay studio in my house, and I have the speakers arranged on either side of the booth, about 5.5 feet apart and pretty much flush with the front side of the booth, so they’re about 3 feet from the wall behind them. I had heard this admonition about not putting a TV between speakers before, so I made sure I had the speakers raised above the turntables and mixer that would otherwise come between them. The turntables are at a low height, so I sit down to use them. A line drawn from the bottom of one speaker to the bottom of the other would be about 4 inches higher than the top of the mixer, which is about one inch higher than the turntables. I think it sounds terrific, but if anyone reading this has any advice I’d love to hear it. I’m definitely not an expert at this.

Because so many people complain about this and are probably misinterpreting Paul here, I am going to try to clarify here. I don't believe Paul is talking about reflections and interferences when placing a TV in the center behind speakers.The things you are looking at while listening to music could distract you when trying to imagine the soundstage right between the speakers.For home theatre this is the opposite of course. You want to attach the sound to the screen there.

I have had the equipment in the middle, behind, next to, on top, underneath and even in the next room from the speakers. Never once was the imaging "soundstage" affected. If you set your speakers up properly you will not have a problem, unless your wife stands in front of the speaker. It's so nice being single. ))))

I'm not totally agreeing with the notion that equipment between speakers degrades Hi-Fi Sound. My speakers are about a foot further into the room than my equipment rack. My system sounds perfectly fine, even better than some which have equipment rack elsewhere than between the speakers. In the real world it's not practical in most households for such freedom to place speakers and equipment as we see fit. Would it sound better elsewhere?.. May be... but that's the least of my worries.

how about a TV mounted to the wall above the speaker level?

Like many others, ive never noticed an issue as long as the equipment is behind the speakers and not interfering with the main dispersal sound. Maybe my systems are simply not revealing enough to notice (im a 15k system kinda guy). I spent a long time in my youth both installing and working in studios and they follow none of this logic, which is baffling if its easy to hear...

Is moving your loudspeaker more forward not a solution or an improvement? Grtz Phil

Didnt really ans the question again. These days, flat screen TV is set on the plane of the wall behind the speakers. What effect do their built in speakers have on the main speaker's output? I cover my living room with a throw for serious listening, just in case. No tv in the music room!

This great knowledge I needed to know Thank Paul

I get what you are saying but lack of space prevents me from doing it that way.

You got the pronunciation almost right!

The reason Paul puts the system up by where he sits and not between the speakers is because that system has a the turn table. Tone arms will pick up sound waves and bounce.

What is an acceptable height limit for anything between the speakers ? If one does not stack audio equipment, you may get a call from the Royal Society For Putting Things On Top of Other Things.

I'm someone who just doesn't care about getting the best possible sound quality or the best sound imaging. Having my TV between my speakers works well enough for me. I play my music just to enjoy it, not to worry about how real it sounds, whats wrong with that?

I have a TV between my speakers, so I can see what my Atari Video Music is showing while enjoying the music.

Well.. I want the best sound and I do put my equipment between the speakers and the TV hangs on the wall ;P It's more convinient for me and makes the room look better and it works really, really great :P Not ideal but still better than 99% of people I know :P

Must of us dont have the space or money to have 2 seperate systems. I use my hifi system to ,my tv, my tv is between the speakers and it works pretty fine, But takeing the speakers to far apart is not a good idea

A TV behind the speakers is no more an audible obstruction that the wall. I hear you re the illusion of stereo, for sure - close your eyes if you need to. But for enjoying a good blu ray concert, film etc- the TV is in the right place!! - sits back and continues Hans Zimmer live in Prague -

what??? in most gear presentation shows and hi end installations i see all the expensive gear all in the middle of the fancy speakers...is all that wrong???

That’s perfect world Paul, but how about when you want to use your stereo to watch TV either it will be on a stand or on wall - nothing you can do about that Tv - so just enjoy it

Moving the equipment rack to the side from center is a compromise, not a full solution. Youre trading a change in sound from the middle to a change in sound from only one side. Youre losing out on the symmetry with the rack on the side wall. The absolute best solution would be to have the equipment rack behind the listener dead center.