Merlin room positions

All our rooms are different,Size,furnishings etc.So its not a question we can give you an answer that will work for you.You should probably start moving them around in 3-4" increments and report back your findings and we can go from there.Like 18" from back wall,24" from sides,7' apart.Stuff like that.If your bass shy maybe start 36" from back wall and start going back in to wall to re-inforce......How about taking a picture so we can see whats there?Maybe pray to the audio gods for a little enlightenment?Sometimes it works...I can hear you laughing now....good luck,Bob

At app. 2' from the front wall of the room I started the bass reinforcement/imaging trade-off. My old room was large and the VSMs were SEs so I settled on 2' for max bass with decent imaging. Subsequent rooms were somewhat smaller (current is app 14' X 19') and the speaker/BAM have been upgraded to produce significantly more bass. I'm now at app 4' from the wall - imaging is much improved (about as good as any speaker I've heard) and bass response is full, powerful, and very nicely balanced.

Good Luck,

Marty

Begin by following the Cardas recommendations for speaker placement. Can't remember the details, but you should be able to download these from their website. This should get you close and you can then make the adjustments for best sound.

mw,
if the wall behind them is draped or damped in some way they can go closer to it than if it is not damped. because of the way the speaker is designed with its power response, it is also better to make sure you listen at 9.5 feet or more away and this may end up being more important than the distance to the wall behind them. also the distance apart depends a lot on how narrow the room is. a good starting point is 6" tweeter to tweeter but this works best in rooms of around 14 feet wide. do not beconcerned with the distance apart being 5.5 to 5.9 feet as their axial response is superb making them sound wide even if they are closer together.
if you need more specific help you can call me at the factory.
regards,
bobby

My room is 14x32 with an a-frame type ceiling (i.e., room above the garage). I have the VSM-MXe speakers placed on the quarter-room boundry (i.e., 8 ft from front wall) and 6.5 ft apart. The bass is excellent (the opening bass notes on Pink Floyd "Time" fills the room extremely well.) I tried the Cardas placement, but was not pleased. Too much depth and diffusion, less bass, (might have been better with proper room treatments though). I think the best I've achieved in my room is around 6-7ft from front wall and 6 ft apart. Still experimenting. Please post your findings as you explore...

In my 24x13x8 room, the VSM-MX's are 60" from front wall to tweeter face, 6'6" apart between driver centers. I'm sitting about 10-11' back, 5-6' behind me. I have Realtraps Mondotraps on all corners, Minitraps on both first reflection points, and an RFZ panel between them on the front wall. After much trial and error optimization and a few very productive discussions with Bobby they have stayed right there. YMMV, but a quick call to Bobby with your room dimensions will probably help you out more than anything.

Tom

Okay,

Quick reply as I'm still experimenting with speaker position.

Speakers now 48 inches away from a solid brick back wall - I measured this to the back of the speaker.

Back wall now damped with large rug hung on the wall.

Speakers 6ft apart measured tweeter to tweeter and toed in using the Merlin wooden tool.

Listening sofa moved back so that I am 12 ft away from the speakers and approx 3 ft free space behind the sofa/my head.

Shipped in two pot plants to sit either side of the sofa.

RESULT = much better bass, deeper and more controlled. I think I'm almost there!

Will post more as I experiment.

Thanks for the replies,

MontyW

how close are the speakers to the side walls mw?

Bobby,

The speakers are 3 feet away from the side walls.

Monty

then have a look at my site's picture gallery and look at the nyc show with the wall reflections damped. immediate and primary reflection points will do the trick.
bobby

After treating primary reflection points, the next thing to do if you want to get crazy is to treat the secondary reflection points w/absorption, and then try diffuser on the wall behind your head. A bookshelf with books of random depth works great if you don't want to spend for a diffusion panel. Cheers,
Spencer