Placement and Room Modes with flush mounted speakers

I am interpreting the distance points shown in feet on the attached chart as locations to be avoided when determining speaker placement in my new studio room. Since I am flush mounting my speakers, do these points of undesirability still apply? I can see how the vertical placement would likely still be driven by the mode points, but are the horizontal and longitudinal mode points to be avoided as well for flush mounted speakers? ADVthanksANCE -Jack

It all still applies, yes, but with caveats! Since you are soffit-mounting (which is good!), the front wall of the room is now defined by the combination of the soffit front faces, any side short hat merge those into the side walls, and the piece at the front, between the soffits. So the front wall is no longer a plane: it is "bunch of angled planes". Therefore, the best you can do is to take an average position for all of those together, and call that imaginary plane your "front wall", then measure from that. In reality it is nowhere that simple, but all you want is a very rough approximation, then that averaging will get you there. The same applies to width: Your side walls now also incorporate the soffits, so you have to take that into account too... That's two caveats: the Third is simply that you don't need to go overboard trying to establish your perfect position at the "38% rule". It isn't even a rule, and Wes never suggested it should be: just a guideline, or starting point. You won't get arrest by the Room Mode Police for violating the "38%-Law" if you put your head at 41% or 37% or whatever of room depth... :) - Stuart -

Thanks for the update, Stuart.

Third is simply that you don't need to go overboard trying to establish your perfect position at the "38% rule".

I have already abandoned that "rule" in determining my mix position and have just about finalized my overall layout. I still have lots of details to attend to, but thanks to you and so many others on this forum, this appears to be doable and I'm starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel. I just hope it's not a train coming towards me. >8] -Jack