Joseph Audio Pulsar placement and tips


Dear Pulsar users,

I'm trying to find the optimal position and I would appreciate your feedback.
How big is your listening space, how wide are the speakers apart, and how far from the listening position, also what's the amount of toe-in? I am struggling to find the ideal soundstage width. I have a small room, 10x13 feet, speakers are on the long wall.
And if you don't mind, what amp do you use, what speaker cables and are you bi-wiring?
I'm using a PrimaLuna EVO400i with NOS EL34 tubes and Van Den Hul Hybrid cables, but there are some bass notes which are not very clear, nice, for example in Tiger from Paula Cole.
cheers,
Arthur

arthur1260

Showing 3 responses by arthur1260

Thanks, that's the method I used, but first they were quite close together and everything sounded cramped, now they are wider, but I can clearly hear the different instruments coming from the sides, though also between the speakers. Maybe the truth is somewhere between. I have GIK bass traps panels behind the speakers, diffusion in the middle and behind the seating, and also 3 bass traps on the ceiling.
Thanks @rlb61 I'm now experimenting with different toe-in angles.


@millercarbon, thanks for your thoughts: I started with a measuring tape and a laser, got everything perfectly symmetrical but the imaging was off. I thought I have channel imbalance issues, tried to measure the amp, sources, etc. That's when I stumbled upon the "master set". It made sense to me since no room is equal, nor perfect, and the reflections will not be equal either. On the left, I have big windows covered by heavy curtains, on the right I have a door. There is a desk in a corner and a shelf in another, so it's quite difficult to get symmetry. Now it sounds quite good, but I wanted to get specific input from other Pulsar owners to dial in the last millimeters :)

The reason I'm interested in the experience of Pulsar owners with specific songs is to figure out if the low bass issues are speaker-related or something else, like amp, room, cables. A few songs that have these notes: Bird on a wire, the big drums on the left have a long reverb that lingers and causes constant vibrations that I feel in my chest and feet. In Paula Cole's Tiger, it's quite similar, the bass comes in around 45 seconds in the song and sounds a bit muffled/muddy to me, but I haven't heard it on another system so I can't compare. Another slightly annoying sound is in Paint it Black by the Rolling Stones, comes from the center, really low and really not nice, sounds more like someone hitting a wall. But maybe this is just in the recordings/mastering.
By the way, the Ballad of the runaway horse sounds perfect all the way, even with high volumes.
So if anyone is in the mood to listen to these songs and give their subjective feedback might help me get on the right track :)
Thanks so much for the replies!
I downloaded the MA Recordings samplers, and I also have the HD Audio set-up disc, I try to listen to all, also the Chesky sampler. They mostly sound amazing, I just picked out those songs which have some disturbing frequencies to better understand if it's just how it is, or am I doing something wrong.
It seems that a sub is highly recommend, I will do more testing with my Dali EF-12 from my home cinema system, thai lot for all the tips, I appreciate you folks taking the time! Cheers