Stereophile Forums
November 28, 2007 - 7:14pm
I use a third speaker, in the rear, in my 2 channel set-up.
I learned about it from one of Brian Eno's early albums.
It's wired across the two "hot" terminals of the left and right amp outputs, so it extracts the "difference" signal from the stereo channels. Just one passive speaker; no extra amplification needed. It adds a little more depth and dimensionality to the overall sound. You can put a potentiometer in there to adjust level, but in my setup I don't, I just "set" the relative level by the distance and orientation of the speaker from the front speakers.
In my listening position, the effect is very slight, and I don't hear a rear speaker as such - just a little more "space". It's cool, and simple, and cheap (just the cost of one small speaker; I use a B&W 601 for it). Anyone else do that, or thought about it?
Does it hurt the amp? Nope. Been doing it for 10 years or so and everything is fine.
https://www.stereophile.com/content/third-speaker-your-stereo-1