How far apart are your speakers? Tweeter to tweeter?

[voxshall]

I have my speakers 7 feet apart tweeter to tweeter, mainly because those that reviewed my speakers (O96's) had them this far apart and I have not had time to refine my setup. I am going to play around with positioning and just thought I'd ask others how far apart there speakers are, it will be interesting to see the variance.

 

[Jim Smith]

I have my speakers 7 feet apart tweeter to tweeter, mainly because those that reviewed my speakers (O96's) had them this far apart and I have not had time to refine my setup. I am going to play around with positioning and just thought I'd ask others how far apart there speakers are, it will be interesting to see the variance.

For the info to be meaningful, you also need to know the distance from the listener's ears to the tweeter.

7' apart with the listener's ears 7' from the tweeter is a vastly different separation than 7' apart and the listener's ears at 14'.

If 'X' is separation tweeter-to-tweeter and 'Y' is distance from the listener's ears-to-the-tweeter, a better way to look at it would be to look at the ratio of 'X' to 'Y', or 'Y' to 'X'.

IMO, of course.

 

[the professor]

In your experience. Do you find a certain range for the ratio to be? I'm sure each room is different and certainly some are exceptions, but ????

For the info to be meaningful, you also need to know the distance from the listener's ears to the tweeter.

7' apart with the listener's ears 7' from the tweeter is a vastly different separation than 7' apart and the listener's ears at 14'.

If 'X' is separation tweeter-to-tweeter and 'Y' is distance from the listener's ears-to-the-tweeter, a better way to look at it would be to look at the ratio of 'X' to 'Y', or 'Y' to 'X'.

IMO, of course.

 

[Jim Smith]

In your experience. Do you find a certain range for the ratio to be? I'm sure each room is different and certainly some are exceptions, but ????

A starting point might be X at 80% of Y, with a possible range of 2-3% each way.

For me, this final decision is based on overall best Presence & Tone.

Which is a vital step towards the ultimate goal - increased musical engagement.

But it is all always based (no exceptions) on first locating the best listening position in the room for smoothest bass - the Anchor Position.

Then work can begin on Presence & Tone from that point.

 

[the professor]

Thanks

 

[voxshall]

My speakers are 10 feet from my ear to my tweeter for smooth bass. I own your better sound book Jim and love your quarter notes stuff. I think my speakers are a little wide compared to your percentage ratio's, if I didn't live in New Zealand I'd pay Jim to voice my system for sure.

 

[Jim Smith]

I think my speakers are a little wide compared to your percentage ratio's

Actually at 70%, they are a bit too close together. If you can't separate them more, for serious listening I would bring them forward about 16" or so, and in a straight line parallel to the side walls, so that they are still 7' from tweeter-to-tweeter.

This would also reduce the distortion of the initial acoustic wavelaunch into the room due to the location of your rack, thereby increasing Presence.

 

[mauidan]

From WA Owner's Manuals:

"Speaker Placement Versus Listening Position: The location of your listening position is as important as the careful setupof your Wilson Audio loudspeakers. The listening position should ideally be nomore than 1.1 to 1.25 times the distance between the tweeters on each speaker.Therefore, in a long, rectangular room of 12’ x 18’, if the speaker tweeters aregoing to be 9’ apart, you should be sitting 9’11’’ to 11’3’’ from the speaker. Thiswould be more than halfway down the long axis of the room."

 

[Jim Smith]

From WA Owner's Manuals:

"Speaker Placement Versus Listening Position: The location of your listening position is as important as the careful setup of your Wilson Audio loudspeakers. The listening position should ideally be no more than 1.1 to 1.25 times the distance between the tweeters on each speaker.

Interestingly, I've been asked to voice more Wilsons (that were set up with the WASP technique, usually by the dealer) than any other speakers.

I agree with their general guidelines, as long as selecting the listening position comes first. That's the area that some dealers and owners miss, and their installations are thus compromised badly.

With Peter McGrath - and now Bill Peugh - onboard (both old friends from the '70s), that is a hugely qualified staff!

But back to the OP...

voxshall - those DeVores are eminently involving from a musical viewpoint. Congrats!

 

[voxshall]

Thanks Jim. This is my room its 26 feet long and has very limited width for the speakers to become more spread apart (left speaker is 26.5 inches from tweeter to the side wall). I'll try your suggestions.

 

[mauidan]

Interestingly, I've been asked to voice more Wilsons (that were set up with the WASP technique, usually by the dealer) than any other speakers.

I agree with their general guidelines, as long as selecting the listening position comes first. That's the area that some dealers and owners miss, and their installations are thus compromised badly.

With Peter McGrath - and now Bill Peugh - onboard (both old friends from the '70s), that is a hugely qualified staff!

But back to the OP...

voxshall - those DeVores are eminently involving from a musical viewpoint. Congrats!

Mr.Smith, with all due respect, I seriously doubt you could improve on the WASP my WA dealer (he was the top WA dealer in the US two years in a row) did in my listening room

I owned TACT equipment for a number of years and had determined/verified the best listening position via hundreds of measurements and my own live recordings.

I had the speakers for a few months before the dealer was able to come over to Maui and do the WASP (I'm sure you're aware that you don't get WA's extended warranty unless the dealer does the WASP), so I positioned where I thought they sounded best.

The changes he made (using his own live recordings) was moving the speakers closer together, increasing toe-in and laser leveling the speakers after spiking them.

PS- I'd still love to see before and after pictures/room position measurements on MDP's room.

 

[voxshall]

I also have question about my room. I have a fireplace sticking out on the right side and an open entry on the left side then the behind the listening chair the room opens up into a kitchen on the left side. I am wondering if the different widths along my room mess with the imaging? and if so do I need to bring one speaker closer than the other and what is the procedure to correct this?

 

[Jim Smith]

Mr.Smith, with all due respect, I seriously doubt you could improve on the WASP my WA dealer (he was the top WA dealer in the US two years in a row) did in my listening room

Dan,

I have a great deal of info I could supply re your comments, on nearly every aspect.

However, I have rarely seen differing viewpoints go anywhere positive on message boards.

Therefore I will only say that your all due respect is respectfully received...

 

[Jim Smith]

I also have question about my room. I have a fireplace sticking out on the right side and an open entry on the left side then the behind the listening chair the room opens up into a kitchen on the left side. I am wondering if the different widths along my room mess with the imaging? and if so do I need to bring one speaker closer than the other and what is the procedure to correct this?

The only way to know for sure is to listen. You could try some center-recorded solo cuts (vocal, guitar, sax, drums, etc.) and see if they start shifting slightly to one side as you come forward. Usually, there is no problem with assymetrical listening and speaker positioning. Sometimes assymetrical can be better!

Also, sometimes a bit of first-reflection room treatment - even if it is portable and can only be used for serious listening - is the answer.

 

[voxshall]

Thanks Jim. :congrats:Very helpful info.

 

[Dr Tone]

About 9.5' between tweeters. 10.5' tweeter to ears.

 

[voxshall]

Thanks for sharing Dr Tone

 

[CPP]

Lets see one room, 6ft, the other room 10ft

 

[mauidan]

Dan,

I have a great deal of info I could supply re your comments, on nearly every aspect.

However, I have rarely seen differing viewpoints go anywhere positive on message boards.

Therefore I will only say that your all due respect is respectfully received...

Mr. Smith,

Mahalo for your reply.

I won't be losing any sleep worrying about my listening position or WASP.

 

[the professor]

I'm closer to the speakers with my Radio D5 system but further back on my Volti system. But then again - two totally different types of systems/speakers etc but both extremely musically engaging.

But I will say that before these 2 systems, I've always been in the 80% range.