OK, your armchair is in Wimbledon, but where are your speakers?
Sorry, I couldn’t resist.
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In the case of the Neats, they are now here in Castle Forbes Bay (look it up).
This may affect SQ if assessed from Wimbledon.
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The more time you can spend experimenting with speaker positioning the better.
In my living room my speakers are toed in, in the spare room system the are firing completely straight. So very room dependent.
I would mark the current speaker positions with some masking tape and try plenty of other positions. Also try moving the speakers closer together as this distance is also worth experimenting with. In the past I have moved the speakers closer but got a wider soundstage! Happy experimenting.
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My speakers are about 2m apart and I sit about 1.9m. They’re toed in about 30 degrees.
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My Xplroers in Tassie are 4M apart and 4M from me (though less than 3M from a slightly vaulted ceiling). Toe-in is mandatory. and so is 60cm+ plus from walls.
I wish I could afford a a big enough house in London to try identical placement with the big system and my B&Ws. Sadly, my first name is not ‘Sheikh’.
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For me the biggest issue with toe-in concerns interactions between the speaker and the room and the preferences of the listener.
Toe-in can be used to reduce false images (and other sonic artefacts) created by reflections off side walls. The most obvious artefact created is the false image of a soundstage that is wider than the distance between the speakers. (If you still consider having an apparent sound source outside the line between the speaker to be a real image, look up Blumlein stereo). If you want to emphasise this artefact, then that is a personal preference, but it will also come with other artefacts such as more prominent comb filter effects.
How well toe-in can be used to reduce these artefacts depends on the reflection characteristics of the room and the acoustic dispersion characteristics of the speakers; if you can’t control it with toe-in and you want to remove these artefacts, then either diffusion or absorption will be required at the first reflection points.
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I took the spikes off my 606 some months back when the room was being decorated.
Took the opportunity to try a few different positions before screwing them back in. I went back to having them fire straight ahead as recommended by Kudos, it gives a wider soundstage than before when they were toed in slightly. Exactly 2m apart and 25cm from back wall works best for bass in my room.
Since putting the spikes back on I’ve noticed a tighter sound and finer definition. They make a very noticeable positive difference which I’m really enjoying right now. Like a mini upgrade 
My floor is carpet over concrete.
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My Tab 10 Sigs face straight ahead, primarily for aesthetic reasons. They sound just right.
G
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I know what you mean. Toe-in plays havoc with my OCD
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Squinty…noooo!
G
I toe my B&Ws in such that, from my preferred listening position, each is pointing directly at me. Even small variations from this - when I rejig things and just do a quick reposition, for example - mucks up the stereo image, especially where the centre of the image seems to be.
Mark
That’s pretty much what I’ve done, my and my drivers are aimed and level with my ears.
I am going to experiment later but as we’re in temporary accommodation till we build I’m kind of limited due to room size and layout. My studio where my system will eventually live is much bigger 6.0m x 6.0m.
That suggests it’ll be square. Can it be modified to not be? Square is not good acoustically.
Good point but thankfully I forgot the corridor so it’ll be 6.5m x 4.2m.
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In one system I’ve got my Kefs LS50 metas firing straight ahead, which goes against results and previous experience with other speakers but seems to work.
In complete contrast in other system I have Guru Q10’s and their designer recommends close to wall placement and toed in so that outside of speaker can be seen from listening position.
Always found the Guru’s need to be set up like this to achieve their main attribute of timing / coherence.
I was only thinking the other day that I will reduce the toe in on the Gurus as they are set a little bit nearfield for the setting they are in.
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That’s an interesting guide from Kudos.
Just measured the distances for my T606 speakers.
- Gap between them - 193 cm
- Gap to rear wall- 31 cm
- Gap to listening position - 143 cm
- No toe-in
Two out of three ain’t bad, as they say.
Suggested to Mrs DG that we take down the supporting wall between the lounge and hallway to increase the listening distance.
Unfortunately, I can’t tell you on this Forum what her New Year Resolution was. Apart from it being extremely painful.
DG…
You own Kudos 606’s - and you had not seen that…?? Blimey, that’s quite a miss by Kudos then.
My X3’s are about 2,0m apart and about 2,0m from listening - with no toe in. So just about OK on Kudos’s diagram.
My dealer set them up for me.
Constrained by the size of the lounge.
However, when the dealer came out set up my Linn Klimax streamer last June, they also set up the SO.
DG…
Stands for Sound Optimisation.
Space Optimisation uses sophisticated acoustic modelling to build up a complete picture of how your speakers, their placement, and the unique characteristics of your room interact to affect the sound you hear. It then precisely identifies frequencies that are artificially distorted by your environment, and reduces their energy, to reveal the music that would otherwise be hidden.
Whatever speakers you use, and however you’ve designed your room, you’ll hear a performance that’s optimised uniquely for you.
All Linn network music players have Space Optimisation built in, and it’s a free software upgrade to all existing owners too.
My streamer is the Linn Klimax DS3 / Katalyst.
DG….
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