Moving gear to front of the room? Pro's? Con's?

rbbert said:
So how does one decide what parts of Jim Smith's advice to take? Only one way, of course; try it yourself. So I think that ends up being the "answer" to Mike's OP in this thread.
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Hi Rob as you noted "Only one way, of course; try it yourself". I really don't think out of all the forum members and "paid reviewers" our rooms are the same nor do we all have identical equipment or music taste or budgets to make them so.

We moved to beach a few years ago to downsize after we both retired and I have this small cube of an office that is impossible to get right. Coming from a dedicated listening room that resembles Mikes' main room to a 11x11x11 cube with a 5 foot opening in one end of an office has been extremely difficult. We still have a "family room area for HT and other music but when I want to get out of the way, it usually means I put on a pair of headphones in my office :D.
 
Being an old thread, and struggling with this decision myself, I am curious of those that have chimed in have made additional tests or come to any further conclusions. I have a dedicated room (12x20x9), and have tried both side wall and in front between (and behind) the speakers. Either it truly doesn’t make a difference in my room or I don’t have the ear for it, but for the life of me, I cant seem to really perceive a difference. Probably need to work on speaker/seating location. Anywho, would love to hear from others.
 
I've tried it both ways in my dedicated room and I couldn't tell the difference either so in the middle it stayed though the rack is several feet behind the rear of the speakers.
 
I also have racks in between the speakers. Reading Jim Smith's book it really sounded like the speakers should be out in front a bit. I feel I have gotten more air and a much better sound stage having the speakers move out in front of the racks!
 
The front of my speakers are about 6 feet from the front wall, so my rack is about 2-3 feet behind the speakers. Probably why the racks behind them don’t interfere too much? Since my rack is modular, I think I am going to try for shorter and wider in front and have the ability to look at them while playing (mike’s notion of enjoyment from watching a record spin).
 
I would just test it. Sit in the sweet spot and listen, then you can observe where the image manifests itself. If the sound comes from where your gear is placed, you might want to adjust. In my system it forms above the gear (my rack is not very tall).


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zagfan said:
Mike, There is a an excellent article in the Jan-March 2015 issue of HiFi Critic about the exact issue you are looking at. You can go on line at HIFIcritic.com and buy the issue if interested. The article is titled Relocation, Relocation, Relocation. In a nutshell the reviewer found, as was recommended by Jim Smith in his Get Better Sound book, that by FAR the best place for your equipment rack is at the mid point of the side wall. Just one persons opinion I guess.
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Yes, I haven't pursued that strategy. I have a low rack between and slightly behind the speakers, and me and all my visitors love the deep and layered soundstage with great location within it. The speakers completely disappear in the soundstage. Especially listening in the dark the illusion of being transported to another venue can be strong.

Properly taking care of the room acoustics is more important. It has taken me years to get where I am on that.
 
Al M. said:
Yes, I haven't pursued that strategy. I have a low rack between and slightly behind the speakers, and me and all my visitors love the deep and layered soundstage with great location within it. The speakers completely disappear in the soundstage. Especially listening in the dark the illusion of being transported to another venue can be strong.

Properly taking care of the room acoustics is more important. It has taken me years to get where I am on that.
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If my g/f allows it I'd like to build some diffusers for mid/high and place them at the first reflection points at the long wall.

https://dngmns.home.xs4all.nl/fwd.html
 
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