Elevate Floorstanders to Ear Level?

"I've read that optimum results occur when the tweeter is level with the ear"

This is hardly true with every speaker, depends on the design and the xover. The last two speakers I have owned had the tweeter positioned several inches above ear level. There is no hard and fast rule on this one.

Shakey

Thanks for the additional comments. This is very helpful.

It depends on the speaker of course, but I found some butcher blocks that fit under my Silverline Preludes perfectly (2 blocks per side) and painted 'em flat black. Raised them to exactly my ear level (added maybe 4 inches) and since the Preludes have smooth treble they sound amazing. I am anti-coupling (I admit it freely) and use vibrapods directly under each speaker and little rubber feet under and between the blocks so they stay put (on a wood floor with a rug in front of the speakers).

The main idea with that is to get the tweeter a bit *above* ear height. What that does is smooth out a response wrinkle in the *upper mids*, not in the HF range...it's just that the usually quoted "tweeter above ear height" refers to the fact that the mid driver is virtually always located right underneath it. One thing you might want to look at though is the bass response. If you have floor standers then raising them may take a little off the bottom-end response, *unless* you can provide some type of front baffle that goes from the floor to the bottom of the speaker cabinet...that recouples the bass to the floor. Even stand-mounted monitors can benefit from that idea, preserving low-end response that would otherwise be wasted. The material be anything that's relatively rigid, even cardboard, so you can use any sort of wood or tile or whatever that has suitable appearance - as long as there is no air gap along the front of the whole of the speaker cabinet from the woofers down to the floor. With my floorstanders i wound up making a pair of stands (with flat fronts) about 7" high and that smoothed the upper mids out for without decoupling the bass. Regards. John

maybe you could try an adjustable office chair. I never liked the idea of tilting my speakers because I think it might affect the soundstage in funky ways and I've heard first hand that lowering or raising a speaker effects bass response. That mapleshades site made me laugh.

I had a pair of KEF Q90 speakers that were a bit too short to me. I put them up on 10" stands so that the UNI-Q tweeter would be at ear level with me. It was ok for a bit but then I found the music was off no matter if I toed them in or had them firing fwd. Thinking back this may be the tonal balance change that Rrog mentions above. When I took them off the stands and kept them below ear level but elevated them with wood blocks that I got from Home Goods everything was a lot better.

To me give the height adjustment a try but if the speaker maker decided the floorstander to be the height it is then I would not veer to far away from that.

You can raise the speaker one foot or you can tilt it back with similar results. However, raising the speaker will change the tonal balance due to distancing the speaker from a critical room boundry, the floor. This is the reason for Mapleshade's phylosophy of keeping the speaker close to the floor while tilting it back to aim the drivers at your ear level. I am not sure of the benefits with a desk sitting between you and your speakers. Try it and see if you like it.

Speaker elevation of floor standers(especially shorter 2 ways) seems like a variable that doesn't get talked about all that much. I agree with recommendations to try different heights for yourself. With Totem Forests in my room (I'm listening from about 7-8 feet away with them elevated ~3-4"); I also went for some time with about double that elevation). Higher (obviously) results in brighter, perhaps more detail. Lower elevation = more bass. At least that is my experience. Go to TJ Maxx or other discounter and find some hardwood cutting boards to use as inexpensive platforms.

Actually, the speakers elevated to ear level sound much better when compared to the floor. Could be my unique room acoustics which may influence the result. I like it!

C'mon Steve, trust Mapleshade and try sitting on the floor!!

Thanks for the comments. I have a pair of speaker stands in the closet which I can immediately put to use. Also have some granite tiles that I can use as a buffer surface between the stands and speakers. I'll give it a try and see what happens. If I don't like the initial results, I'll put them back on the floor and tilt the front side up just as you suggested.

Raise them up or tilt them up....... Two possible audible improvements that won't cost you a dime. Try 'em both and listen for any improvements. Enjoy !

Another option would be to try a slight tilt. If you have adjustable spikes it would be a freebie test.

Why not try it and hear for yourself? That's the only way you'll know for sure. The only answers you'll get here are what others hear.