Speaker positioning: why do audiophiles neglect this so much?

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.

If you are not able to hear with this album the soundscape OUT of the speakers, especially completely outside of them SIMULTANEOUSLY by the left and by the right, with this recording, you have a problem with the relation between your speakers and your room size and geometry or a treatment problem or a mechanical control problem or the three problem at the same time...

Dont try with an electronical equalizer it will not work ALONE to solve this problem like wrongly claim some here...An E.Q. is a useful tool yes but not the solution by itself alone here...

For example in some piece of the album there is three harpsichords, two outside of the speakers completely by left and right and the third in the perfect center...The voices comes in front or sometimes at left or right in the thirty pieces of the album......

Acoustic and psycho-acoustic are sciences with principles with which we can experience and devise experiments and from which we even may create acoustic devices and tools... I know it because i did it...

The timbre perception , imaging, listener envelopment , dynamic, soundstage are not MAGICAL events created by the gear pieces by themselves alone by the power induced by the BRAND name, 😁but MOSTLY acoustic phenomena which are TRANSLATIONS of the original recorded acoustical cues in your own room, which acoustic information the gear ONLY convey but do not FULLY produce it by itself and did not optimize it by itself either, we need to determine by acoustic treatment and acoustic mechanical control the specific Ears/ Room relation to the speakers/gear for that...

If the sound image and soundstage are confined here BETWEEN the speakers plane your relation speakers/ room is far from being optimal...Sorry...

And the culprit is probably not some brand name piece of gear itself, or the system itself which is not probably the problem , save if your gear is of a bad design for sure, but usually the problem will be the relation between the system and the room lack of or unbalanced treatment and lack of acoustic control ...

The speakers type must be chosen for the room size and geometry but the location of the speakers and their precise postioning will not be enough either in most cases...You will need at least room treatment and probably some degree of room mechanical control with Helmholtz devices to gain an OPTIMAL result...

By the way this is part two of a very beautiful original Columbia album titled "Moondog" which i purchased when i was 24 years old and i am almost 71....

@sharri

Starting with the speakers in a sub-optimal position, it's easy to discern improvements in the sound. As the speakers approach a more optimal position, the sound improves. It was absolutely something I could hear. Detailed note taking supported the optimum position, as three different times I preferred that location. The 1/3, 1/4, 1/5 room width markers were simply guides, just like the perpendicular strips placed every 6 inches. The final speaker position did not fall exactly on those markers.

And no reference sound was targeted. I am trying to get my system to sound the best it can in the room it is in–my ears being the barometer. 19 different positions is what it took to get one step closer to that goal.

My room is symmetrical, thus why I used a laser measure to precisely place the speakers, and yes, the listening chair too.

I found that with detail to set up and positioning (using measurements and tape tape to mark changes) and by positioning with the tweeter section of my Maggies to the outside rather than inside, I was able to get very good and detailed imaging and a stable wide and deep stag - wether setting or standing, in or out of the favored listening position. If I change either or both speakers, even by 1/2", the imaging and stage, especially off axis, will somewhat diminish.

I agree with wolf_garcia, regarding your listening space being part of your home. I have no desire to turn my audio room into an anechoic chamber - it is a comfortable and integral part of my home, furniture and all. Since my floors are carpeted and ceilings soft fiber tile, about the only thing I needed to do was to cover the wall behind speakers with acoustic drapes and use one corner bass trap and it all looks, works and sounds great to me .....Jim

Speaker placement is tricky.  Of course having nothing between the speakers would be preferred but long cable runs or equipment placement may prevent that from happening.

I tried multiple placement configurations based on several "mathematical" models.  There are too many variables with furnishings to make it truly work but can be used as a general guide.  I found the most effective placement technique was to use the Wilson audio set up guide with the room furnished as you plan to use it.  I also found it effective to use the Jim Smith guide relative to the speakers and listening chair.  The distance between the speakers are 83 to 86% of the distance from the speakers to the listening chair.  Just my two cents worth.