Bowers & Wilkins Speaker Owners - Tweeter Height?

Can I ask why you prefer the tweeter to either be at or below ear height, G B?

 

Ignore what was said on Gearslutz. From: B&W 802D loudspeaker Measurements (JA' comments on his measurements of the 802D)

"In the vertical plane (fig.6), a major upper-crossover suckout develops above the tweeter axis, which is a high 44.5" from the floor. Sitting with one's ears 5–10° below the tweeter axis gives the flattest treble, though then, of course, the mid-treble flare in the lateral radiation pattern might have an effect in a lively room. As always, experimentation with listening position and room acoustics will be necessary to get the flattest possible in-room balance from the B&W 802D."

 

i have my 685 s2's on 24" stands and as such when i'm on my couch they are almost perfectly at ear height.

 

801S3 on 3/4"granite and the stock casters, that and listening chair put the tweeter about 3 inches above my ears.

 

I thought I posted this in this thread, but I see now that I haven't. A B&W sales manager told me awhile back that the sweet spot for my speakers (not sure if this is for all B&W speakers) is to get the space between the tweeter and the midrange, which is about 2" below the center of the tweeter, at ear level. I have pretty much got this by tilting the speaker up a bit, since my 704S2s aren't very tall and my couch is slightly above average height.

 

It's only personal preference. With the tweeter slightly below ear level, I get a soundstage that is not too high, which gives me a sense of 'overseeing' the orchestra (or band) from slightly above, similar to the seating situation in my regular concert hall (high seats).

Tweeters firing above me gives me the sense that I am first row looking up at the orchestra, I don't like that as much.

 

I have the B&W Nautilus 801 and if you would have asked me a year ago I would certainly answered at ear height.
But recently I discovered by accident that if I’m sitting with my ears about 25cm/10” below the tweeters axis this gives an absolutely unbelievable holographic soundstage and a sound that is so delicate and life like.
This made me a bit pussled as almost every audiophile and experts insist sitting with ears close to tweeter axis is the way to go.
So after a little research and thinking. I’ve come to de conclusion that it has to do with the time and phase alignment of my speakers.
According to the Stereophile’s review of the 801N the speakers time alignment they found the tweeter to be ahead of the midrange driver and the bass driver again a bit after the midrange.
So this would mean that to get the sound from all three driver to align your ears have to be closer to the bass driver than the tweeter.
Otherwise the sound from the tweeter will arrive before the sound from the midrange and the bass which will cause time smear.

Now some of you might think 25cm/10” is way to much and that sound clarity and detail will suffer, specially from the tweeter. And that would be true if you are sitting very close to the speakers.
But in my case I’m sitting about 4,25m/14ft from my speakers and they are about 4m/13ft apart.
So this large distance makes the sound from the tweeter to disperse evenly and also the sound from the drivers to blend seamlessly.

My two cents are, try it on you B&W you might be surprised.

 

I’m guessing most of you guys have the higher end models with the tweeter on top?

I hope to get there one day, but similar to another post above, I too currently have 685 S2’s on STAV 24 S2 stands with the integrated tweeter at ear height...works really well for me...

 

805 D3 here. Sweet spot is decent in all directions, but tweeter is a little above ear level when sitting.