In my experience, less is more...
Is toeing speakers a bad idea?
I was toeing in my speakers and that seemed like a good thing to do. But then I decided to de-toe the speakers. I was hoping that the speakers dispersed things well enough and maybe they don't need to be focused so much to create a so-called sweet spot.
I found the imaging in the room was a lot better and sound improved. The room is a rectangular room and the speakers are placed at one end of the room about 3 feet from the wall. Room sizes 17 x 23 with a 7 ceiling. Maybe someone can share some rationale for this. I feel the sound waves may spread out better and not be so disturbed when they collide in a so called sweet spot near my skull.
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- 50 posts total
I have a pair of very tall ESLs. As many planar speakers do, they "beam" meaning that the sound stage is not very dispersed. However, you CAN play with it by using varying amounts of toe-in. Counter intuitively, less toe-in creates a very focused image, and a very small 'sweet spot' to go with. More toe-in creates a wider, more defuse soundstage. I go through phases where I'll listen to one configuration for several months then one day I'll switch to the other. It's fun to hear the differences and keeps things fresh! 😉 Happy listening. |
Thanks for the question and thanks @hilde45 for posting the PS video. I always thought my Harbeth 40.3's should be toed-in somewhat, and I thought they were pretty dialed in at roughly 10 degrees (actually 3 inch diff. in distance from the rear corners of the speakers to the wall). I re-started with 0 degrees as Paul suggested and was surprised how much better the image was (centered vocals, wider sound stage) and landed at maybe 5 degrees (now 1 inch diff. from the wall). Perfect timing for Jazz Sunday! |
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