30 percent toe-in, speakers tweeters 7.5 feet apart. Crosses over 1 foot in front of ears. Recommended by Tannoy.
- I feel like that yummy dark chocolate rum gelato at Chocolat Cremerie in San Diego's Gaslamp Quarter - Gotta make that mortgage payment - What should I have for lunch? You're welcome
Which Tannoy are those? They look like they mean business! But they are so large, it's odd they didn't make them a tower. Or are they really studio models?
Well to be more serious than my previous post, proximity to reflective surfaces on the side-walls, windows, fireplaces can be a reason to have toe-in and maybe extreme amounts of it. In one setup I had the speaker "beams" crossing well in front of me.
What this article is telling me is that my room would have to be a lot bigger, and I'd have to get my speakers a lot farther from the side and back walls than they're able to be, for toe-in to make any difference in terms of room reflections. This is not to say that toe-in can't sound better to some ears than straight ahead. Just that the reason is unlikely to be reduction of room reflections.
Not sure whether your response means: A) You think I've misinterpreted the article, B) You think I've interpreted the article correctly but that the article is dead wrong, or C) Your response isn't even intended for my post.
Whilst agree with the 'do what sounds best to you' law, I do have a couple of general practices: If there is no one fixed listening point, I 'generally' have found the most consistent results with the speakers either firing straight out into the room or else very slightly toed-in (if they are close to the side walls of the room). If there is a single fixed (or preferred) listening position I 'generally' employ a neat trick I learned from ProAc: toe-in the speakers until, when sat in your listening spot, you can't see the side walls of either speaker. That seems to give 'generally' the right angle of toe-in - because it 'lines up' the speaker driver units with the eyes and, therefore (near as damn it) with the ears. I have my Rega RS3's toed-in like this and that's how I prefer them. 'Generally'..!
I have my open baffles toed in a decent amount. I’ve adjusted them until I just start to have a strong center image, but if I go any further I start to lose the incredibly wide stage I am able to achieve with these speakers in my room.
Today; No. I have my Sierra Towers about 10" off the back wall, pointed straight ahead. So; I've actually moved them back now where they are actually just behind the line of my audio rack, and entertainment rack that my 60" Sony rests on. Great imaging, too! And; the more I listen, the less I'm convinced that I need a subwoofer in my 2 channel setup. These speakers are amazing!
My ADS 1530's are parallel to the wall so not toe in on my part. But the mids and tweeters on the cabs are angled out about 30 degrees. I've tried them facing outwards hoping for a bigger soundstage but I prefer them facing in which gives a more precise center image.
I don't always toe in my speakers, but when I do... (Four pages in and no one made this joke yet? C'mon, folks.) But seriously, yes. Yes I do. With both pairs I have in use (Klipsch KG 5.2 and Snell Type E [first gen]), it improves imaging in the rooms they're in. However, I've heard systems/settings where it doesn't, so as noted by a number of folks, YMMV.
I never really experimented much with toe-in, but was inspired thanks to this thread. I had my Focal Sopra 2s toed in quite a bit, to the point where the cones were kind of pointing just outside of where my ears are in the sweet spot. For giggles, I just turned the speakers almost perfectly straight in my listening room and *holy sheet*, it's like I got new speakers. I'm getting a colossal soundstage now and no weakening of the center image whatsoever. Great thread!
I have tried Steve’s suggested method of speaker positioning using the Kinks Stereo version of Waterloo Sunset and it worked out pretty well. The soundstage seemed like it was surrounding you. It worked well for the rest of what I listen to as well.
This amount of toe works for me. Straight ahead sounds good too but for more complex Big Band the toe in gives more coherency, at least in my head. I wonder how the asymmetry affects it though but eh... always do a little toe so far
I almost always have, it helps the music float away from the speakers instead of just sounding like if it comes from the speakers.