| Re: On axis measurements in nearfield listening [message #60919 is a reply to message #60876] |
Fri, 18 September 2009 15:36  |
AudioFred
Messages: 377
Registered: May 2009
Location: Houston
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Illuminati (1st Degree) |
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| Marlboro wrote on Tue, 15 September 2009 18:22 |
I was told by someone I respect immensely that my system clearly had bad smearing of the sound stage meaning I couldn't tell what instrument was placed where...
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I've often been told something will sound terrible, yet when I do it anyway I find, as your have, that there's little of no difference. A good example is whether to position a tweeter at the center of the baffle or slightly offset to reduce diffraction. Maybe some people can hear a huge difference, but I can't.
In the case of your speakers, I notice they are positioned almost against the side walls of the room and pointed straight ahead. Their closeness to the side walls means the timing of the reflected sound will not be much different from the direct sound, but with highly reflective walls your ears will perceive the sound of each speaker is eminating from two positions, the speaker's position and the position where the refleced sound off the wall seems to be coming from. This may cause some smearing, but not so much as your first date's lipstick after you kissed her good nite on her dad's front porch.
I've found that corner-placed speakers often soundstage best when they are angled at 45 degrees, with the axis crossing in front of the listener's head. This extreme toe-in seems way too much, and I actually have to use a carpenter's angle thingee to force myself to position them this way, but it does work, at least with speakers whose tweeter is positioned directly above the mid or the woofer. I don't know if a line array with tweeters alongside the mids will do the same thing, but it shouldn't be too hard to try it.
Some people are fascinated with a precise soundstage, where each instrument's position can be exactly located. To me this sounds nothing like live music, and what I look for instead is a more convincing soundstage, where breadth and depth sound real to me based on the live music I hear at least three times a week.
If it's not too hard to move your speakers, try the 45 degree thing and let us know what differences you hear.
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