Speaker positioning: why do audiophiles neglect this so much?

Ah, now getting somewhere.

Yes, if you want optimum speaker positioning it is going to be in a room where music is primary and you sit and listen to the music. For background listening, nothing is very important.

The methods of using microphone and instruments sound intriguing, as I suspected all along that this could be done somehow. Perhaps some more writing to detail the procedure/process could be helpful.

FWIW, my room is 13 x 14 x 10. The room is a bit irregular with a bay window on one side and a fireplace in the middle of the back wall sticking out in to the room. I sit to the right of the fireplace, pretty much in line with the right speaker. My perspective is like I am sitting in symphony hall in a seat on the right side aisle. I set my speakers as described in my post following the instructions exactly. The area of sweet listening is pretty large, even in this small room.

You guys sure make things needlessly complicated.

I spent a good amount of time positioning the speakers in my dedicated room. I ran strips of masking tape on the floor at 1/3, 1/4, and 1/5 room width. Then perpendicular strips every six inches from the front wall. I tried 19 different positions, making note of the impact on sound at each position. Once I found a spot that sounded best, I adjusted toe to taste. I then dialed the position in with a laser measure. I now have the speakers positioned equally within an 1/8" in all directions. Oh, and the listening chair is precisely placed as well.

Small adjustments can result in a big difference.

Sonic79,

Well 19 positions and 19 different sounds. How did you decide what you liked best? Did you have some kind of reference sound for this.

And the precisely placed listening chair????? I assume it is on some kind of centered axis between the speakers and you sit precisely on that axis as best you can.

You are working on a perfect symmetry model, and it has to be perfect with left-right symmetry to be close, both in dimension and room furnishing. This is usually hard to achieve, though not impossible. The Dave Wilson video mentions very early that it does not take much to throw off methods using ratios, as you are doing.

Secret Guy,

It is not all that complicated, but it is necessary for the best sound. As I mentioned, for background listening or just sound in the room, nothing matters.

I'm another of the stuff between the speakers culprits. I have a dedicated listening room but it's small. One wall has a door in it two walls are pretty much entirely covered with record and CD storage. So there is nowhere else for the hi fi to go except between the speakers. The wall between the speakers has the window in it, so the record/cd storage can't be moved to there.

I also have big speakers in this small room - and they do work well following careful attention to setup and room acoustics. (I do have some pictures on the wall with the door and could probably make a small improvement by eliminating them and putting in some treatment. But I enjoy looking at the pictures. Would I do it differently in a lager room - naturally. But I'm not going to move house for the sake of the hi fi - or eliminate my music collection to make space in the room to move the hi fi from between the speakers.