Alexia Setup Question

[socfan12]

For the past 2 weeks, I've been spending quite a bit of time optimizing my speaker/listening positions, trying to ameliorate a mid-high bass hump issue. I think I've mostly succeeded, but it's certainly not perfect.

My room is 17x23 with about an 8' ceiling (7.5 some sections, 8.5 in others). After playing a number of bass laden tracks, my speaker/listening position is as follows:

Speaker inside corner to front wall: 4.5'
Speaker outside corner to side wall: 2.5'
Tweeter-to-tweeter: ~10'
Listening Position to tweeters: ~15'
​

I don't think this is a typical Wilson setup per se, but this gives the best balance of bass response/imaging/soundstaging. Like I said, not perfect, but treatments should address that. I got the idea to try this after visiting Audio Arts who had similar dimensions speaker/listener dimensions.

Was curious what other Alexia owners (or others) have. If anyone has used the Jim Smith setup service for their Alexias, curious what dimensions were found.


thx in advance.

 

[madfloyd]

You're right that it's not a typical Wilson setup - as they usually have the speakers closer to the front wall. That said, I have mine further out than you. I had Jim Smith setup my Sashas and my Alexias are in a very similar position.

Jim felt strongly that you shouldn't be more than 12 feet back from the speakers. I don't know if you have flexibility in where you sit, but if you can get closer not only will you hear less of the room and more of the speaker but you'll get better stereo/soundstage if your listening distance is 1.1 - 1.2 x the distance between the tweeters.

 

[MRJAZZ]

You're right that it's not a typical Wilson setup - as they usually have the speakers closer to the front wall. That said, I have mine further out than you. I had Jim Smith setup my Sashas and my Alexias are in a very similar position.

Jim felt strongly that you shouldn't be more than 12 feet back from the speakers. I don't know if you have flexibility in where you sit, but if you can get closer not only will you hear less of the room and more of the speaker but you'll get better stereo/soundstage if your listening distance is 1.1 - 1.2 x the distance between the tweeters.[/QUOTE

I would agree with this. At 15 ft back based on a 10 ft tweeter to tweeter speaker spacing you are hearing more of the room than would be optimal for the best balance of staging ,image focus,etc. If you can move your position closer , give it a try , and see what happens. Your mild mid bass emphasis might also be improved.

Cheers......T

 

[socfan12]

Thx Ian, Mr Jazz. In theory, I agree with you, but my ears tell me the 15' listening position sounds better than than the 12' position. I understand not conventional, hence my question to see if any others' are running similar setups.

Here's a graph at the 15' and 12' positions:




15' listening position

12' listening position

In theory, I think you guys are right. Looking at the graphs, I see challenges in either position. At the 12' position, I get a very annoying mid-high bass hump, but at the 15' position the upper frequencies seem to be dancing all over the place. I'm thinking the 15' position would be easier to remediate with treatments than the 12' position given the bass response there?


BTW, I've tried the more typical Wilson setup, close to the front call, and within 1.3x listening positioning. It's smooth, but I feel I lose a lot of soundstage and air when I do that, hence looking for a different speaker position. The 12' position does have a better looking waterfall, though...:bonkers:


Thoughts?

 

[MRJAZZ]

Thx Ian, Mr Jazz. In theory, I agree with you, but my ears tell me the 15' listening position sounds better than than the 12' position. I understand not conventional, hence my question to see if any others' are running similar setups.

Here's a graph at the 15' and 12' positions:

View attachment 5626View attachment 5627


15' listening position

12' listening position

In theory, I think you guys are right. Looking at the graphs, I see challenges in either position. At the 12' position, I get a very annoying mid-high bass hump, but at the 15' position the upper frequencies seem to be dancing all over the place. I'm thinking the 15' position would be easier to remediate with treatments than the 12' position given the bass response there?


BTW, I've tried the more typical Wilson setup, close to the front call, and within 1.3x listening positioning. It's smooth, but I feel I lose a lot of soundstage and air when I do that, hence looking for a different speaker position. The 12' position does have a better looking waterfall, though...:bonkers:


Thoughts?

You might want to go to an equilateral triangle set up........10 ft speaker to speaker and 10 feet back. Than from there keeping going back an inch at a time. If you find a sweet spot, mark it off, and listen that way for a few days. Than make appropriate fine tuning adjustments from there.

Cheers..............T

 

[RedSectorA]

Thx Ian, Mr Jazz. In theory, I agree with you, but my ears tell me the 15' listening position sounds better than than the 12' position. I understand not conventional, hence my question to see if any others' are running similar setups.

Here's a graph at the 15' and 12' positions:

View attachment 5626View attachment 5627


15' listening position

12' listening position

In theory, I think you guys are right. Looking at the graphs, I see challenges in either position. At the 12' position, I get a very annoying mid-high bass hump, but at the 15' position the upper frequencies seem to be dancing all over the place. I'm thinking the 15' position would be easier to remediate with treatments than the 12' position given the bass response there?


BTW, I've tried the more typical Wilson setup, close to the front call, and within 1.3x listening positioning. It's smooth, but I feel I lose a lot of soundstage and air when I do that, hence looking for a different speaker position. The 12' position does have a better looking waterfall, though...:bonkers:


Thoughts?

Allen, when in doubt why not trust your ears... At the of the day they, with your brain, are the one enjoying the music.

 

[Paul]

Oh....boy. It's too technical for me. Can't help lol

 

[Mike]

Remove all room treatments and THEN follow the WASP. The treatments are skewing the goal by not allowing you to truly "hear" the room - warts and all. Mark your ZON with blue tape, then bring the treatments back in and fine tune WITHIN the ZON.

The propagation delay technology of the Alexia's is powerful and quite incredible for adapting the speaker to the room.

 

[the professor]

Remove all room treatments and THEN follow the WASP. The treatments are skewing the goal by not allowing you to truly "hear" the room - warts and all. Mark your ZON with blue tape, then bring the treatments back in and fine tune WITHIN the ZON.

The propagation delay technology of the Alexia's is powerful and quite incredible for adapting the speaker to the room.

Off topic a little - but how does the propagation delay change w the room. Aren't those settings calculated from the speaker and the favored listing position? Which means if you listen anywhere else in the room it's not a factor?

 

[Mike]

Off topic a little - but how does the propagation delay change w the room. Aren't those settings calculated from the speaker and the favored listing position? Which means if you listen anywhere else in the room it's not a factor?

Actually Jock, a lively room can be tamed by moving the tweeter position back one-two "indents". You can also change the midrange and tweeter height based on ear to floor measurements. Someone with a rather low ceiling for example, could play with the midrange and tweeter pin height options where they select either pin 1, 2, 3 or 4.

There is a guide in the Alexia manual for various settings based on speaker position measurements, but all are adjustable to compensate for room issues as well. Someone with an over dampened room, could move the tweeter module ahead one or two notches on the speaker.

Further, different resistors are available from Wilson to adjust, through boosting of reducing the tweeter. If you need a specific example, read Atkinson's review of the Alexia where, due to his more dampened room, he requested from Wilson a resistor to boost the tweeter.

"As I mentioned, I felt that the Alexia lacked a little top-octave air in my room, so Wilson sent me substitute 3.5 ohm resistors to increase the output of the tweeters." - http://www.stereophile.com/content/wilson-audio-specialties-alexia-loudspeaker-measurements

Why Atkinson didn't move the tweeter module ahead one is beyond me. My dealer spoke with Wilson and then told me instead of switching out any resistors, start with moving the tweeter module. Maybe he did, but it still wasn't enough for his over damped room. Who knows? But the ability to adapt this speaker to the room and truly dial it in, is very impressive.

 

[the professor]

Oh wow

I didn't know all of this. I knew the resistors would fine tune the speakers, but having the added settings is fantastic.

Thanks for the info.

Very very cool.

Actually Jock, a lively room can be tamed by moving the tweeter position back one-two "indents". You can also change the midrange and tweeter height based on ear to floor measurements. Someone with a rather low ceiling for example, could play with the midrange and tweeter pin height options where they select either pin 1, 2, 3 or 4.

There is a guide in the Alexia manual for various settings based on speaker position measurements, but all are adjustable to compensate for room issues as well. Someone with an over dampened room, could move the tweeter module ahead one or two notches on the speaker.

Further, different resistors are available from Wilson to adjust, through boosting of reducing the tweeter. If you need a specific example, read Atkinson's review of the Alexia where, due to his more dampened room, he requested from Wilson a resistor to boost the tweeter.

"As I mentioned, I felt that the Alexia lacked a little top-octave air in my room, so Wilson sent me substitute 3.5 ohm resistors to increase the output of the tweeters." - Wilson Audio Specialties Alexia loudspeaker Measurements | Stereophile.com

Why Atkinson didn't move the tweeter module ahead one is beyond me. My dealer spoke with Wilson and then told me instead of switching out any resistors, start with moving the tweeter module. Maybe he did, but it still wasn't enough for his over damped room. Who knows? But the ability to adapt this speaker to the room and truly dial it in, is very impressive.