2. amps-preamps
  3. 1286164638

best position of components in relation to spkers?

According to Jim Smith's book, "Get Better Sound," one of mantras he repeats over and over is the negative sonic effects of having your electronics positioned in between your speakers. At present my Fisher 500c and CDP are on a rack positioned between and somewhat behind (perhaps a foot or two) my actual speakers (Vandersteen 2ce's). I tweaked my system ad nauseum and the position of the speakers in relation to the room, etc. has resulted in what I consider quite satisfying sound. However, according to Jim, even with much cheaper speaker cable at longer runs, if I were to place my component rack on a side wall my overall system sound would improve significantly. Anyone tried this? Thanks for any insights!
lincnabby

Showing 2 responses by sebrof

sebrof's avatar
sebrof
837 posts
 
This surprises me because there's less sound behind the speakers - Assuming no Bipoles or Dipoles, and assuming the speakers are in front of the rack and away from it by a couple of feet.
Putting the rack where the music is directed just seems backwards to me.
I'm gonna try it tonight.
sebrof's avatar
sebrof
837 posts
 
OK, I did it (I said I would a couple of days ago).
Actually, it's bad timing for me to do this since I just got new speakers a couple of weeks ago, and I got GIK products yesterday. But I did listen for 3 or 4 hours yesterday with the same setup to get a baseline, then moved the rack today.
My rack is an open rack, and also pretty low (3').
I moved the rack to a side wall towards the back of the room.
I believe it helped. It seems that there is a more cohesive soundstage, music sounds a little smoother. It wasn't earth shattering, but I'm glad I did it. It's hard to move things back and listen and compare (I'm not going to do that), so take my experience for what it's worth. I will say that if you have a rack with sides and/or your rack is high, then you should move it.
More to discover