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If you don't have a wide sweet spot, are you really an audiophile?

Hi, it’s me, professional audio troll. I’ve been thinking about something as my new home listening room comes together:

The glory of having a wide sweet spot.

We focus far too much on the dentist chair type of listener experience. A sound which is truly superb only in one location. Then we try to optimize everything exactly in that virtual shoebox we keep our heads in. How many of us look for and optimize our listening experience to have a wide sweet spot instead?

I am reminded of listening to the Magico S1 Mk II speakers. While not flawless one thing they do exceptionally well is, in a good room, provide a very good, stable stereo image across almost any reasonable listening location. Revel’s also do this. There’s no sudden feeling of the image clicking when you are exactly equidistant from the two speakers. The image is good and very stable. Even directly in front of one speaker you can still get a sense of what is in the center and opposite sides. You don’t really notice a loss of focus when off axis like you can in so many setups.

Compare and contrast this with the opposite extreme, Sanders' ESL’s, which are OK off axis but when you are sitting in the right spot you suddenly feel like you are wearing headphones. The situation is very binary. You are either in the sweet spot or you are not.

From now on I’m declaring that I’m going all-in on wide-sweet spot listening. Being able to relax on one side of the couch or another, or meander around the house while enjoying great sounding music is a luxury we should all attempt to recreate.
erik_squires

Showing 3 responses by asvjerry

asvjerry's avatar
asvjerry
4,355 posts
 
" I drink alone, yeah
With nobody else
Yeah, you know when I drink alone
I prefer to be by myself...."

...and that's the sweet spot issue...;) Thanks, George.....*G*

I'd characterize the Walsh as having a 'sweet line', midway between the drivers at a right angle.  Somewhat similar as that of dipoles...
Main perceived response seems to be 'arrival times' and room reflections, which one can vary to taste with placement, furnishings, and treatments..and where one stands along that line...

Like the revered or reviled 901's, there is a point where sheer volume level can drown any sweet anything into a moot point, unless the room is very large...which I suspect few of us have to play in....but that's an atypical extreme example.

My personal issue with Ohm speakers is the CLS driver which, at the end of the day is just a dome tweeter.  Ohm suggests 'toe-in' of their L~R units, something that nudges them out of being a 'full omni' like a MBL...or a plasma driver...*S*  One has an astounding entry price with 'needs' to match, the second with its' own unique issues...

I like my dipoles for sheer 'accuracy', but the Walsh have 'stage' they really can't match.  But they are a little 'fussy', in their own ways.

Anyway...my 2 centsless....;)
J


asvjerry's avatar
asvjerry
4,355 posts
 
*G* My 'sweet spot' is currently out of town, but that's an another story unto herself... ;) *S*

@erik_squires ...you know how Anything posted is subject to 'topic drift'...*mea culpa*beats on chest*....(mine, not yours)

Mho, that's always been my 'issue' with the 'conventional' loudspeaker, the 'roll-off' one experiences when moving off-axis.  Which triggers the 'sweet spot fixation'; great for critical listening ses, not so much for the 'pause for the cause' day2day listening whilst occupied with the 'd2d'...

(Critical listening is when the TT is cued to one's fav disc, or the like....*S*  Everything is lit, and the fav imbibe in hand (or the equivalent), and all one wants is escape into the selection...)

For self, maps, and those of that distraction, Walsh, Ohms, and the other omnis do allow for both.  Yes, omnis are not 'Perfect' in the sense of razor blade reproduction.  To accomplish that, the room must be treated as an essential element of the equation...everything 'just so', to the point of surgical....

Nice if one can do so....most can't, as the sig 'other' will pitch a fit.  Some have noted, ah, 'excising' that source of complaint....

For whatever rationale, most don't want to 'go there'.  It IS pretty extreme, and tends to expensive....;(

The LS-50s' seem to be getting raves....Me, I'd 4chan and sub them, just because I'm 'bent' like that.  Since it's out of my expendable $'s, I'll stand by and keep playing with my diy's...

Cheers 'n jeers, J


asvjerry's avatar
asvjerry
4,355 posts
 
This is, and has been, one of the most intelligent and rancor free forums I've had the pleasure to follow.
I want to express my appreciation of this instance. *VBS*
Great premise, Erik. 👍

Mahgister, earlier you apologized for seeming 'rude'.
I'm not sure you're capable of that. *L*5's*  Distaste, perhaps...;)
But you're entitled to that, for sure....and a great 'read'.

All speakers have their own 'voice', much like us.  Subject to the driving equipment, the space provided, and the music presented, they can only attempt to duplicate the latter.  That is subject to all the forgone means and methods to transcribe such.

Then it hits our ears; mine now hobbled by the aids in mine, which adds yet another layer, another device with its' own limitations.

Finally reaching the tympani and wetware between them, subject to my tastes, preferences, and interpretation of what it all is.
We hear the same; more or less.  We can only sit or stand so close together.
Our experience: similar, never the same. I suspect even conjoined twins can argue about the details.

To each, it will always be to their own.

Cheers, Gentlemen.
Have a pleasant weekend.
J
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