Speakers too wide apart?

wwshull, I wonder if in my case, bringing the speakers closer together helped with the first reflection point? I am in a situation where I cant really put up room treatments so what I can do is limited. My speakers are now more than 3ft away from the nearest sidewall.

fihigh, thank you for the kind words. My speaker are about 5ft 9inches apart measured from the center line of each speaker.

tvad, I do know the mirror trick. My problem is that I cant do anything about the first reflection point anyway since my system resides in the living room. I am not allowed to put up room treatments. I hope to my system into a small den which may not be ideal for my large speakers but I figure I can throw a bunch of room treatments at it and have it sound better than my large living room with no treatments.

shadorne, what can I say, I am pretty dense. It takes a few hundred repititions but I eventually get it. :) I have been lazy in the past to move my speakers because they are so heavy.

After listening to my system all morning I thought I would share some of my thoughts on the differences I am hearing:

1. The bass seems to be deeper. I have always had tight, punchy bass, but now it is sounds like my speakers are going lower. It is as if I added a sub (almost).

2. I am hearing more low level detail, like the exhaling of the singer and the shimmer of cymbals. Notes are also lingering much longer. I have always been a bug believer that a system needs to retrieve all the available detail in order to accurately convey the ambiance of the music, thus making it sound as "live" as possible.

3. The music has more weight and solidity to it. There is a fleshiness and dimensionality that I never had before (dare I say warmth?). This creates a more intimate music setting. Since I listen to mostly small ensemble, acoustic vocalists the recreation of an intimate is exactly what I prefer.

All I can say is that I am very happy. I have been playing cds that I am familiar with all morning and enjoying how wonderful the music sounds. I did not realize how detrimental 1st reflection points are.