cardas speaker positioning

"...once I finish building this Pass F5 Tubro V1."

Nice project there, kosst_amojan. Your Focals will sing. Your previous married experiences suggest staying single and finishing the Pass F5 project.

The Cardas calculator has my speakers 5' 8" out...waayyy out and sounding spectacular.

(((Without a dedicated space, how the heck do you guys explain having speakers (3-4ft+) out in the room to the S.O.?)))

 Easy, technology and designer for-site.
Vandersteen Quatro's, many and most installations only 4 inches from the wall superb performance.
 Five's and Seven's all time correct to the recording with adjustable bass/ Room compensation
   Tun-able excellence while keeping You, the S.O. and fashion police all Satisfied.
Best,
JohnnyR
Vandersteen Dealer NJ

audioconnection- I see the 5's used at the upper end of my budget. If I decide on something in this range, those Vandy's just never appealed to me aethetically.

Great sounding speakers, never heard a show setup that wasn't pleasant.

Sonics are paramount, but I like looking at nice sounding funrniture.

It only looks ridiculous to non audiophiles. Those cabinets are on the job.

As soon as I plop most guests into the sweet spot and play something familiar no explanation is necessary. For those who still don't get it I might go as far as to refer them to my audiologist.

There's a very simple cure for that eye rolling thing and its not the Moe Fine two finger eye poke. 

Only you can decide in your mind
if you want to participate in the satisfaction of music with performance and true functionality or be a slave to fashion repeating
Wee nee wow speakers with the expectation of different results not me pal life's too short 
Best
JohnnyR

"As soon as I plop most guests into the sweet spot and play something familiar no explanation is necessary."
m-db: same thing happens here. Then, a response such as-"it sounds better than something at Best Buy" 

Nothing like affirmation, especially when Best Buy is in the same sentence!

audioconnection-indeed, like is too damn short. Im leaving my speakers in their new position, and deciding if I REALLY do want fund an extravagant purchase.

Even passive listening with my old Mac MR71 tuner, has been elevated.

I've been using the Cardas formula for a few years
ever since I started using their cables,
The equilateral triangle is the key,
wall space depends on the speaker porting,
my previous speakers had a rear port so being further away
from the front wall was important, distance was about 7 feet
apart and to the sweet spot.
my current speakers have a front port so I can be closer to the front wall,
now at at just over 8 feet apart and to the sweet spot
Toe-in can be a difference of a 1/4 inch between good and great.
Moving the speakers is free and in most cases easy.
Room treatment can make a suprising improvement.
Have fun.

Five feet out in the room
Where is the bass at 
Are you 10.5 feet sitting  from your speakers. I don't go
Past 48 inches from back wall. I start to miss bass

vair68robert-I've been aware of and  read the Cardas method years ago. Finally decided to give it a try. Glad I did. I have a better appreciation for my speakers.
The speakers are sealed cabinets, so I don't know what that adds to the equation.
There probably is a little more to be squeezed out, with minor adjustment, but I'm satisfied for now. I haven't gone the last mile with subtle tweaking yet.


twoch- pleasantly surprised there's no shortage of low end with the speakers based on the calculator. Speakers are 6' apart(ctr-ctr) and i'm just outside "the triangle"  Low end is amazingly strong without turning the subs on. With the subs on, its like "icing in the cake."
http://www.cardas.com/room_setup_calculators.php

I obtained a pair of Martin/Logan L-3 speakers about a year ago.  Living in a small one bedroom I was forced to place the spekers ell into the living room for best results.  Next I replaced the stock power cords with a pair of Adioquest MRG-10 power cords.  The simple change in power cords made s big change right off.  Well next I obtained a Adioquest Niagara power strip along with an Audioquest NRG-100 power cord to it.  The base audio reproduction was relly great by this time.  Well, where does this lee me-wit two large Martin/Logan speakers well into the room plus an Audioquest Niagsra right between them with three Audioquetst power cords -it's like a minor obsticle course just to navigate around the living room.  Such is the life of s true sudiophile.  And clositspace?  I have five huge boxes in my bedroom closit with a lot of mid sized boxes in the upper shelf.  My bedroom closit has been taken over mostly for sudio stuff.  And the wires all around me.  It looks much like a 1960's movie set with all the wires and cables all over.  But who cares?  I don't.

Thanks to all for recommending the Cardas advice on speaker positioning. I listen in near field with my speakers on the long wall of a rectangular room. Moving the speakers forward 9cm to align exactly with the golden ratio in each corner had a major effect in removing an annoying room bass boom that I had been living with. While quite euphonic it was clearly muddying the bass and masking other frequencies. So I would strongly advise taking the time to apply these good recommendations. 

@tablejockey to get the final bit out of your speakers invest in a good quality laser and make sure that each speaker is both level and pointing at exactly the same angle. As walls are not necessarily perpendicular and long distances can be hard to measure accurately there's no substitute for fixing one speaker, using the laser to get a bead on where that is pointed relative to the center line listening seat and then adjusting the other speaker to match. A fraction of a degree of error can make a world of difference