Using loudspeakers upside down?

[Martin Walker]

Just had an interesting question from one of my site patrons, and figured it was worth getting a bit of outside input on it: is there any reason not to use your monitor speakers upside down? The thinking here is that it's sometimes a means of putting the tweeter more at ear height.

They might sound slightly different in a largely untreated room when upside down, because they will 'couple' into the room modes slightly differently. Some years back (two houses ago) an acoustician advised me to use my loudspeakers upside down for this reason, as it would result in a smoother response in the lower mid range.

Actually, now I remember, he not only suggested placing my loudspeakers 'upside down', but also with tweeters higher than ear height but angled down towards my ears for this flatter low mid response. I soon got used to them 'firing down from above'.

Martin

[OneWorld]

I think it is to do with human anatomy, the bass is meant to hit you in the belly, so the cavernous part of the body can resonate when you pump up the bass, some bass is so powerful it might see the cranial cavity collapse in on itself so best left to higher less potent frequencies? Have you ever noticed a bass guitarist always hangs low, with his instrument that is, so he/she gets a belly boom.

[Hugh Robjohns]

is there any reason not to use your monitor speakers upside down? The thinking here is that it's sometimes a means of putting the tweeter more at ear height.

In general, inverting a speaker is absolutely fine, and it is a convenient way of getting the tweeter nearer ear level if the stands are too high, etc.

There are no issues with vertical fin heat sinks, and if the heat sink was hot enough to melt cable insulation you've got much bigger problems than tweeter height!

Just as a side point, you could have cooling issues if you turn a speaker to landscape format, since the air couldn't run up the slots between the fins anymore.

The only other possible issue that affects some speakers and might preclude inversion is the main axis of vertical dispersion. Through the crossover region both drivers are working and so their two signals interfere causing stronger radiation at some angles than others. Sometimes the designer manipulates the phase relationship between tweeter and bass/mid to control that dominant listening axis. So, for example If the designer assumed the speakers would be used on low stands they might choose to beam the sound slightly upwards... and if you then inverted the speaker it would beam down... which might be a problem in some circumstances.

However, I've not found this to be relevant to any of the speakers I've inverted over the years!

[Mike Senior]

Thanks everyone for the input -- much appreciated!

[ore_terra]

in order to get the sweet spot - according to the manual - of my old KRK V8's at the right height, the only option I had was to put them upside down. I emailed KRK and they replied it was absolutely fine.

I didn't think in what Hugh said, but mine didnt have to be angled.

[Jorge]

Hi all,
... if you had the tweeters at ear height with the speakers the normal way up, the woofer would be just as 'off-axis' as with the speakers the opposite way up...

Higher frequencies naturally are more directional than lower frequencies to the logic here is that ear being off axis to the woofer affects the frequency response you hear less than the ear being off axis to the tweeter.
Regarding reflections of the tweeter sound off the desk, there would be no difference between the ear-height tweeter having the woofer above or below it, other than having a different height stand. The tweeter would be at the same height either way. The more omnidirectional lower frequencies might actually be more strongly reflected in the upright orientation than the upside-down orientation.