Speaker Placement

**bluegrassphile** · July 21, 2021, 03:19 PM

Is the general rule of thumb to turn your speakers in so they point directly at you? Or, is it better to have them slightly turned in or out? My listening room is relatively small...about 27' x 14'. The room is so taken up by furniture and other items that they can't be moved very much. So, the speakers, for all practical purposes, only have one position to sit in.

The speakers are about 8' apart and about 8' from my listening position (an equilateral triangle). They can be turned inward or outward (axially). But I don't have room to move them left to right very far, or forward and back. I could move them a few inches closer to each other. But I'm not sure I'd want to do that in this case. Any suggestions or recommendations? I love the sound of my system. So I'm not dissatisfied in any way. I just want to know if the sound can be improved upon.

**Mike** · July 21, 2021, 03:28 PM

Originally Posted by bluegrassphile

Is the general rule of thumb to turn your speakers in so they point directly at you? Or, is it better to have them slightly turned in or out? My listening room is relatively small...about 27' x 14'. The room is so taken up by furniture and other items that they can't be moved very much. So, the speakers, for all practical purposes, only have one position to sit in.

The speakers are about 8' apart and about 8' from my listening position (an equilateral triangle). They can be turned inward or outward (axially). But I don't have room to move them left to right very far, or forward and back. I could move them a few inches closer to each other. But I'm not sure I'd want to do that in this case. Any suggestions or recommendations? I love the sound of my system. So I'm not dissatisfied in any way. I just want to know if the sound can be improved upon.

It all depends on the speaker design. For yours with that super tweeter, aim the tweeter at your shoulders. A laser can really help.

A wide dispersion tweeter like the B&W, Kharma, etc do best with more toe out.

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**bluegrassphile** · July 21, 2021, 03:54 PM

Thanks, Mike, I'll give that a try.

**Mikado463** · July 21, 2021, 04:38 PM

As Mike said speaker design for sure comes into play. For me I like the tweeter intersection to occur behind my head 3-4 ft (Revel Studio 2's)

**bluegrassphile** · July 21, 2021, 05:52 PM

Holy smokes, Mike!! What a difference that minute movement made??! I aimed the speakers (super tweeters) directly at my left and right shoulders. I had them pointed directly at my ears. Definitely better slightly toed out. Thank you!

My system just keeps sounding better and better. It's breaking in and opening up beautifully. These Harbeth Super HL 5+ Anniversaries are just incredible speakers. NOTHING gets by them. Those speakers are so true. The super tweeters are much smoother than you might expect. Not strident at all. They're really brimming with the "magic juice," LOL!! They're also perfect for the strings and horns and acoustic music (bluegrass and jazz) I listen to. The Harbeths are so alive. Just the right amount of open-ness and top end. And the bass and mids.....OK, I'll shut up.

**Mike** · July 21, 2021, 05:56 PM

Great to hear Tom! Happy to help.

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**bluegrassphile** · July 21, 2021, 08:22 PM

Originally Posted by Mikado463

As Mike said speaker design for sure comes into play. For me I like the tweeter intersection to occur behind my head 3-4 ft (Revel Studio 2's)

Dave, I can really hear what you're talking about with the tweeter intersection 3-4 ft behind your head. Toeing my Harbeths out slightly made quite a difference. Very noticeable.

**Vinyl Valet** · August 11, 2021, 09:48 AM

You or many others will find Jim Smith's Get Better Sound book to contain the best speaker/listening position set up methodology along with all kinds of other useful system set up information.

Get Better Sound | Get Better Sound

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