Listening near field

[Pharos]

An interesting discussion . I have a modest Yamaha AS 500 amp ,with Tannoy dual concentric speakers , and I have ended up with them on a slanted foam matting on a parquay floor .
They sit about 8ft away from the central point of my listening reclining chair , where my head is (I rarely recline it) and as they slant ,they fire the music striaght at my head height . I point the speakers towards my ears ,maybe just past towards the back of my head , but I am forever tweeking them so they are pointing across my nose as well !!
Cant make my mind up wether to set them further away or what really ! But when the right track is on ,it bears no relation to headphones and is sweet as ever !! Maybe it depends on my mood and the volume ?
I have an old Rel Q50 sub in the corner of the room to my left ,and it does put some body into the whold thing , but there are times I prefer just to hear the treble in all its clarity .

Its all low budget ,but still makes sense in the scheme of things !!

Some interesting aspects Anto.

My speakers are 10ft away, 13ft apart, and the business of whether to have them crossing in front or behind the head is a hard one for me, and us all to an extent I suspect. Directly at them of course gives extra top - on axis tweeters.

Personally I do not like phones for listening, but they are very good for analysing, speakers at least give a portrayal in front of the listener which is to me more realistic.

[Barry]

My speakers are 9' apart (centre to centre) and 15' from my listening position. The speakers are located about 1/3 of the length of the room: 33' long by 11' wide. They are angled so the front of the speakers face me and the listening axis cross at my chair at ear level.

I have no idea if this setup constitutes near-, mid-, or far-field listening (the definition of near-, or far-field in speakers appears to be quite different from that used in antenna theory), but I'm quite satisfied with the arrangement. An arrangement I've been using for 40 years.

[Macca]

Near field I think is defined as the distance you would be listening from the bridge monitors if sat at a typical recording console. So I'd say about 5 feet or less is near-field.

[richard51]

I listen nearfield 3 feet 1/2 or at little more than 6 feet also in a little almost square room of 11 feet with the same height...The mission Cyrus 781 speakers are on my desk with the Starting Point Systems dac and the Sansui AU 7700 amplifier between (isolated of one another).

I must say that I enjoyed these 2 listening positions because they are completely different in the result. Nearfield is like listening to headphones but like with the best headphones there is in the world or near like that...At 6 feet or little more, there is less details but more space in between... In the 2 positions I enjoyed holographic imaging very much more detailed nearfield, more spatialized with more detailed bass at 6 feet 1/2... Headphones cannot compete with these 2 positions even the better one...

But my room is treated, not perfectly tough with my ears for measure instrument, and I use 4 low cost Schumann Generators modified, and many Helmholtz bottles I made myself... I also used other tweaks with stones and crystals...All that make an astounding difference and transform mid-fi vintage gear in almost a TOTL one... People often ignores that room treatment, cleaning the electrical grid of the house, and controlling vibrations is the KEY to heaven, not the price paid for a product...