Speaker positioning for best stereo effect

How do you have your two front speakers positioned? Facing straight out or toed-in slightly? How far apart between each other and from the side & back walls? Just a survey, of sorts, to see what's the best position you've found for stereo music listening that gives you the best imaging, soundstaging, etc. I've got a couple of small fronts (Optimus LX-5's) and in spite of the manual's recommendation to face them forward, I've found I like their sound better with them slightly toed in. From time to time, I'll get bored with the same soundstaging characteristics and just try something different, maybe move them closer to the side walls and listen a while and will get blown away by how much difference a little movement makes. Again, I'm just talking stereo here, not surround sound.

 

Toed-in a bit here...but I'm also due to swap my front speakers again. I have two pair of the same manufacturer, same model, but made a few years apart...the earlier pair has a much better midrange IMHO. I'm also scouting eBay for a pair of Polks I've been wanting to try out. I missed a nice cheap pair a month or two ago--a steal.

 

I used this set up with fantastic results. Just click on Room Setup here

 

Dave, thanks for that. Wanna make sure I understand the math correctly:

Distance Percentage
Speaker to side wall: RW x .276

Ex. room width is 9 ft., so is it just a matter of 9 x .276= 2.49 ft for distance from speaker to the side walls?

 

I have Spendor SP2/3s. I have them about 9 feet apart, about 2 feet from the back wall and 3 feet from the side walls. I sit about ten-eleven feet from each speaker.

I've experimented with toe-in quite a bit. Oddly enough, I get the best imaging when the speakers point straight ahead - no toe-in. This was counterintuitive to me, but after trying various degrees of toe-in I just said, to heck with it, NO toe-in. Bingo! Much better. I have no theory about why this worked.

I'm not sure you can make generalizations about this; this is just what worked for me, in my room, with my speakers.

 

Yup, sounds right to me. Just remember that it's from the very center of the woofer.

 

Thanks again. I'll let you know what the results are after I've experimented this weekend.

 

I've tried every speaker placement method I could get my hands on at one time or another, and here's the one that far and away came out on top for me...

http://www.immediasound.com/Speakersetup.html

The best, holographic soundstaging I've ever had. Through proper implementation of the method, I was able to keep the low end, too. If you can pull off this arrangement in your room, give it a shot.

 

If you want specifics, I have a pair of Bose 701 Mk 1 (very soon to be replaced...) that are 14 ft apart, 2 feet off the back wall. The left one is 3 ft from a window alcove, and the right speaker has no wall beside it.

I sit about 11 feet from the speakers, and they are towed in about 20 degrees so that I can just see the inside face of each speaker.

They ended up where they are by trial and error. I followed the recommendation for years to not toe them in, and then just recently I figured I'd give it a try. What a world of difference. However if I toe them in too far, the soundstage collapses, and if I toe them out too far the imaging disappears.

When I get my new speakers I may try some of the mathematical approaches to the problem...

 

It's VERY dpendent on your speaker drivers to know if you need toe-in or not; if you have tiny tweeters handling the frequency extremes (3/4" dome or smaller/ribbon tweeter) you probably won't need much (if any toe in); 1" or larger dome tweeters frequently need a pinch of pigeon toed point to get the sweet spot just right (of course, that also makes it sweet for you only!). Also, some drivers have peaks or dips that can be helped by toe in. The size of your box also comes into play - a wide mounting face where the drivers are mounted is a hint that toe in will probably help the stereo image with getting the highs dispersed as best you can...

 

My studio monitors, vintage (1959) Acoustic Research AR-2's are on standard and bracket shelves about 5 feet high, and about 4 feet apart. When I am sitting, the bottom of the speaker cabinet is just a bit above my ears. I sit 4 feet away from each speaker. When I sit between them, if you used a string, you would form an equilateral triangle between me, and the two speakers, with my head being the vertex, and the two speakers being the base. These speakers are designed to be placed horizontally for best dispersion in the high end.
The AR-2 is a two way bookshelf loudspeaker system which contains one 10 inch long excursion acoustic suspension woofer, and two 3 inch midrange/tweeters, crossover point is 1000cps. System response is flat from 30-20,000cps.

In my fathers system, I have vintage (1963) Acoustic Research AR-3's. They are on stands on the floor, which raise them one foot off the floor. When you stand in front of them, the tweeters are about waist level (a bit higher on me, I am rather short ) I have them about 6 feet apart. This setup seems to give the best response. Most of his listening is done while sitting down, so the tweeters are at ear level, giving excellent high end response. But, since the
AR-3's dome tweeters and midrange have such good, even dispersion, even while standing or walking around, high frequency response remains very precise.
The AR-3 is a three way bookshelf loudspeaker system, which contains one 12 inch, long excursion acoustic suspension woofer, which crosses over to the midrange dome at 1000cps. The mid dome crosses over to the tweeter dome at 7500cps. System response is flat from 20-20,000cps, but has response up to around 25,000cps. My Avatar is an AR-3.

(Below is a pic of the AR-3 woofer, the pic doesn't do justice to the size of the magnet though, this thing is huge!, Sorry, I stole the pic of ebay, I couldent seem to find the photos I shot while restoring my AR-3's )