Do you always toe in your main speakers?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Smurr1958, Nov 13, 2020.

  1. John76

    John76 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Midwest
    [​IMG] 30 percent toe-in, speakers tweeters 7.5 feet apart. Crosses over 1 foot in front of ears. Recommended by Tannoy.
     
  2. head_unit

    head_unit Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles CA USA
    - 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 ;)
     
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  3. head_unit

    head_unit Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles CA USA
    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?
     
  4. head_unit

    head_unit Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles CA USA
    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.
     
  5. John76

    John76 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Midwest
    System 15 DMT II studio monitors
     
  6. BKphoto

    BKphoto JazzAllDay

    how many outlets do you have behind that wall of sound...?
     
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  7. Sterling1

    Sterling1 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Louisville, KY
    20 power cords into strips with strips into two, two socket outlets.
     
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  8. BKphoto

    BKphoto JazzAllDay

    Wow....you must need a flux capacitor to run all that
     
  9. riddlemay

    riddlemay Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago, IL
    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.
     
  10. bluesky

    bluesky Senior Member

    Location:
    south florida, usa
  11. riddlemay

    riddlemay Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago, IL
    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.
     
  12. moomaloo

    moomaloo All-round good egg

    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'..!
     
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  13. DiggyGun

    DiggyGun One Box Is The Future

    Location:
    UK
    No, I’ve got the Kudos Titan 606 and the User Guide states no toe in.
     
  14. okc_craft

    okc_craft It All Matters

    Location:
    Okc
    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.
    [​IMG]
     
    GyroT, BKphoto and Ingenieur like this.
  15. GKH

    GKH Senior Member

    Location:
    Somerville, TN
    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! :cheers:
     
    Mark Fritcher and hi_watt like this.
  16. motorstereo

    motorstereo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ct.
    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.
     
  17. Angry_Panda

    Angry_Panda Pipe as shown, slippers not pictured

    I don't always toe in my speakers, but when I do...

    [​IMG]

    (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.
     
  18. catchthecarp

    catchthecarp Forum Resident

    Location:
    Missouri
    No toe-in here - pointed dead ahead and the imaging is excellent.
    [​IMG]
     
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  19. Nathan Z

    Nathan Z Forum Resident

    Location:
    Canada
    Toeing in your speakers is done to strengthen the centre image. It actually narrows the sound stage.
     
  20. Barnabas Collins

    Barnabas Collins Senior Member

    Location:
    NH
    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!
     
    Rayvano, Kyhl, Tlay and 6 others like this.
  21. Gary7704

    Gary7704 Chasing that sound….

    Location:
    New Jersey
    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.
     
  22. bluesky

    bluesky Senior Member

    Location:
    south florida, usa
    Usually.
     
  23. radioalien

    radioalien We came in peace for all mankind

    Location:
    Washington
    Most definitely
     
  24. inaudible

    inaudible Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York
    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

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
    Bananas&blow likes this.
  25. Uglyversal

    Uglyversal Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sydney
    I almost always have, it helps the music float away from the speakers instead of just sounding like if it comes from the speakers.
     

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