Adjusting speaker positioning. What, if anything, to expect?



I am going to adjust my Magico A3’s positioning a little bit to try to optimize their performance and the listening experience. Due to the logistics of the room they’re in, there’s only a limited amount I can move them. I’ll describe the room and what I can do within those limitations. I’m wondering what improvement I might be able to achieve with adjusting positioning.

The room is approximately 14’ x 22’. There is a high vaulted ceiling. about 15’ at it’s peak centered in the room on its horizontal axis. Picture how kindergarten child draws a house. That’s the shape of a cross section of the room and vaulted ceiling.. The speakers are located about 8’ apart centered on the long wall. The front of the A3’s are only out 22" from the wall, the rear of the speakers only 9" from the wall. That can’t be helped. The prime listening position is on a couch about 10’ out from and facing the same wall, also centered. The components are on shelves centered and built into the same long wall the speakers are on. There are some other furnishings, and books above built-in cabinets, line most of the other three walls.

I can move the speakers about a foot farther apart or closer together, and I can change their toe-in. What changes, if any, might I be expecting or hope to achieve moving the speakers within these limited parameters? Could the sound-stage be affected? I’m not sure what the sound-stage should be like anyway. Should it extend to the left or right outside the speakers, or be mainly between the speakers? Right now depending on the recording the vocals and instruments are usually between or no further apart than the actual speakers. Could the treble, midrange, or bass response be augmented or diminished depending on positioning? Are there any other factors that may be affected by positioning alone? Thank you for any guidance and please feel free to ask any questions. Thanks,

Mike
skyscraper

Showing 6 responses by mahgister

My salutation glupson…. 

I think if you and geoffkait says the same thing, perhaps the second return of J.C. is near or perhaps you are right....I will opt for the second possibility... :)
Even the best manufacturers are not capable of making two speakers perform exactly the same. There are always some differences in frequency response. This is were a room control system comes into play. It can make both channels virtually identical which results in the best imaging.  
Thanks very astute observation.... My best mijostyn
geoffkait

Thanks for the XLO test cd...I already look for it one year ago and forgot it....I try it seriously today...

Very interesting test....The 4 phase sections are very useful....


It seems my speakers are quite good and rightly located....


Before this test I guessed my system parts were in phase but it was only my impressions...Now at least I know that they are by testing.... Thanks with a smile from the past... :)
I think Geoffkait is right about using a software for the speakers and for the room, in Foobar 2000 it is a component : Mathaudio room E.Q. 2.7.6. We need to buy a mic...

But I had not used it, I will test it this summer...

Anyway others are right that some results by trials and errors using ears can gives good result...The immersive imaging I had at my 2 listening positions is proof of that...But I think optimal results are impossible without advanced tools... Ears cannot  help much to compensate mechanically for example for the interferences between the resonant speakers and the resonant room...Some corrective device must play this role...
My speakers location is heavily constraint by my desk and the wall configuration... It takes me months of room treatment, and acoustical space controls , to compensate and gained a marvellous immersive imaging...

(Room treatment with absorbant or reflective materials and acoustical space modification with Schumann modified generators and controls with Helmholtz resonators or different resonators and reflectors are not the same thing)

Laws exists that explain why... But I cannot pay an acoustician, and at this times I did not own a room and speakers controls software...


The method I use was a step at a time, always increasing my positive impression using my ears... The results was more than just good at the end...