How to place your Hi-Fi devices?

How to place your Hi-Fi devices?

A High-Fidelity system is equipped with audio sources, electronics and speakers. So we can find various Hi-Fi elements on the market: turntables, CD players, DAC, phono preamplifiers, amplifiers, Hi-Fi speakers... The placement of these Hi-Fi devices is important to have a quality sound restitution and then enjoy your music moment. maPlatine.com gives you some advice to correctly place your Hi-Fi equipment together and in a listening room.

1. How do I place my Hi-Fi equipment between them?

In a High-Fidelity installation, some points have to be respected if you want the best listening possible. And this happens as soon as the Hi-Fi products are installed, and then during the connections between the different devices. A bad connection can impact your listening experience and even damage your Hi-Fi system.

1.1. HI-FI SYSTEM INSTALLATION

Once you receive all your Hi-Fi products, you have to install and place them. For that, you need a specific cabinet.

You can place your Hi-Fi devices on “standard” furniture, such as a dresser, TV cabinet etc. The important thing is that all your Hi-Fi devices are close to each other, so that you can make the connections without having too long audio cables.

Pro-Ject Hi-Fi system

To improve their acoustic properties, you can add cones, feet and decoupling under your different Hi-Fi products, to limit their vibrations on your furniture (Milty Foculpods damping pads or SSC Matchpoint 300 for example). Pro-Ject and SSC manufacturers also offer tablets to place under a turntable or electronics.

SSC Matchpoint 300 supports

However, there are specific Hi-Fi furniture dedicated to the installation of Hi-Fi systems. These have several stages. It allows you to place Hi-Fi devices one underneath the other. So, you do not need to have audio cables several meters long.

Another strong point of this Hi-Fi furniture: their design. This type of furniture is manufactured with materials having acoustic properties, enabling a good listening while avoiding vibrations, for example. The Norstone brand is part of the specialist in Hi-Fi furniture design, with the BERGEN 2 Hi-Fi furniture for example, or even the ESSE Hi-Fi VINYL model that allows you to store vinyl records.

Norstone ESSE Hi-Fi VINYL furniture

1.2. THE CONNECTIONS TO BE MADE IN A HI-FI SYSTEM

In High-Fidelity, there are several cable types having precise goals: phono cables, interconnect cables, digital cables... So you need to have to proper audio cable, to correctly connect your different Hi-Fi elements to each other.

- If you own a turntable as audio source

If you have a vinyl turntable as audio source, there are various connections possible. It depends on the available inputs on your amplifier (notably the phono input), but also those available on your turntable.

Here is a summary diagram of the different connections, and so the necessary cables, to connect your vinyl turntable to your amp.

Diagram How to connect a turntable

You want to connect your turntable to your home-cinema, a mini Hi-Fi system or a multiroom system? Do not hesitate to read our shopping guides about the subject.

How to connect a turntable to a home-cinema?

How to connect a turntable to a mini Hi-Fi system?

How to connect a turntable to a multiroom system?

- If your audio source is another Hi-Fi source

If your Hi-Fi system has a digital source, as a CD player, DAC or network player, you have to know the input types on this Hi-Fi device. Indeed, this determines what kind of audio cable will be necessary to make connections: USB cable, optical cable, coaxial cable...

Atlas Element Integra Digital coaxial cable

2. How do I place my Hi-Fi equipment in my listening room?

To get an optimal sound restitution, note that the placement of your Hi-Fi installation plays a major role. Different configurations are possible.

2.1. HI-FI SPEAKERS PLACEMENT

Hi-Fi speakers are the last equipment in your Hi-Fi system. So they will play the music. It is essential to place them properly in order to have a quality sound.

In a first time, ensure that they are placed in front of the listener. For even more optimal listening, we even recommend placing the speaker drivers at the same height as your ears, when you are in the listening position.

Hi-Fi system

In the Hi-Fi speakers placement, all is a question of distance. In High-Fidelity, we often talk about “isosceles triangle”, i.e. that speakers have to be placed equidistantly from the listener. The distance between each Hi-Fi speaker must be large enough for the stereo respect. It is also essential to leave a few centimeters of distance between the wall and the back of the Hi-Fi speaker. Depending on the size, it can be several tens of centimetres!

Diagram speakers distance

The good placement of your Hi-Fi speakers can seem trivial, but this will have a great influence over the final sound restitution. By following these advices, you will get for example a wider sound scene as well as a more natural and balanced restitution.

2.2. THE PLACEMENT OF HI-FI EQUIPMENT

To know how to place your Hi-Fi devices, two parameters can be taken into account: the convenience and the visual distraction. This allows you to be in the best conditions possible to fully enjoy your music!

- Hi-Fi devices placed between speakers, in front of the listener

Indeed, you can place your Hi-Fi furniture between your speakers. Your Hi-Fi elements are centered and so are in front of the listener.

The main strong point of this configuration is related to the Hi-Fi cables and notably to speaker cables. Indeed, such an installation avoids you to add too long cables. It has its importance, because the longer an audio cable is, the greater the risk of audio signal loss is. And the longer the cable is, higher the price will be! If investing in Hi-Fi cables is not your priority, or if you simply do not want your cables to be "dragged", this central placement can be a nice solution!

Auditorium

However, some will say that this placement offers a strong visual distraction because the listener is in front of the backlit front panels of the Hi-Fi devices, and especially the electronics. And this can impact the concentration and thus the listening pleasure!

- Hi-Fi devices placed next to the listener

If you do not have a remote control to control your electronics, the simplest solution is to place the Hi-Fi system on the side of your listening room, even next to the listener! This allows you to have an easier control over your Hi-Fi elements, but also avoid all visual distraction.

Auditorium

This type of installation will require the addition of more or less long speaker cables, depending on the gap between your Hi-Fi devices and your Hi-Fi speakers that are placed in front of the listener.

Whatever your placement choice is, the important is to enjoy your listening experience!

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We hope that this shopping guide will help you to place your Hi-Fi equipment properly between them and in a listening room. If you would like more information about this subject, do not hesitate to contact our technicians. They remain at your disposal by phone (0 810 810 121) or via our contact form.