Having recently moved to Definition 1.5 from the Druid, I thought I'd post my findings.
First, because of all the discussion re placing these further back than Druids, I placed them at about 12 feet from listening position, about 9.5 feet apart. By contrast, the Druids were 10 ft away, 8.75 ft apart (and they were at home there).
In this initial position, I found them (Defs) detailed with excellent soundstaging. But they sounded a bit thin, and bass was difficult to get right. Cranking up the pots in back resulted in bloat, turning them down resulted in rolloff.
After a couple of days, I was less than completely thrilled. If I were forced to accept them with that sound, I would do so, but would not consider the price diff from the Druids to be worth it. The Druids, as positioned above, were warm, inviting, and intimate, as others have posted. If I may use clichéd words, 'seductive' would be about right.
Keeping in mind the widespread advice (no pun intended) to keep them farther away, I wondered what I could do. Farther yet? Tried it, nope. By now they were 12" from the wall in a 17W x 21L room, on the 17' wall.
Due to lack of options, I started moving them forward. (You know where this is going by now, don't you?)
At the identical point the Druids used, they were sounding MUCH better. But the cigar was a Swisher, not a Cuban. Forward, transducing soldiers!
I finally got them dialed in at about 9.25 ft away, and 8.25 ft apart! Toe-in is noticeable, but less so than with the Druids, maybe 20 degrees. Moving them forward, back, narrower, wider, from this breaks up the magic for me. Note those last two words - for me.
The above, to me anyway, just goes to show that following others' advice can be a good starting point, but you have to have to have to find out for yourself in the end. As I believe this was one of the main thrusts of OP's question, I thought I'd emphasize it. I have absolutely no doubt that those who advocate further placement are correct - for their rooms and their gear, and most significantly, their ears. It just didn't work that way for me.
Oh BTW - the Definitions are FANTASTIC. I had an audiobuddy over this past weekend and he took maybe 30 minutes to get into the sound, after which he was entranced. I pressed him to pick the sound apart - offer me some negatives. He couldn't do so. (And we are good enough friends that he would be honest. For example, he did not care for a different pair he heard at my home a couple of years ago, and those were similarly priced to the Defs.) Ok, I don't necessarily believe that that alone makes them perfect, but I feel much the same way - anything that I could pick on would have to be nits and I couldn't be sure about them anyway.
All the positive buzz about Druids is also true. For their price point, they are a stunning speaker. Notwithstanding the negatives from people who have never heard them or heard them improperly set up, they will deliver so much that one feels like a heel for faulting the things they do not deliver or deliver in paucity - which are, exteme imaging, extended treble, and nth resolution. (Leaving bass mostly out of this, but they WILL deliver bass to at least 40 hz). But if they did all the above, there would be no Definition, and believe it that spending the extra gets you all those things. The Defs are far more neutral (does this make the Druid colored? I suppose it does) while retaining the baseline qualities that makes the Druid so alluring. Is it worth it? That is, as always, in the ear of the 'behearer', to coin a clumsy word.
Now I only need to decide one thing - whether I should sell the Druids or create a second listening room for them. Not ready to make that decision yet.
First, because of all the discussion re placing these further back than Druids, I placed them at about 12 feet from listening position, about 9.5 feet apart. By contrast, the Druids were 10 ft away, 8.75 ft apart (and they were at home there).
In this initial position, I found them (Defs) detailed with excellent soundstaging. But they sounded a bit thin, and bass was difficult to get right. Cranking up the pots in back resulted in bloat, turning them down resulted in rolloff.
After a couple of days, I was less than completely thrilled. If I were forced to accept them with that sound, I would do so, but would not consider the price diff from the Druids to be worth it. The Druids, as positioned above, were warm, inviting, and intimate, as others have posted. If I may use clichéd words, 'seductive' would be about right.
Keeping in mind the widespread advice (no pun intended) to keep them farther away, I wondered what I could do. Farther yet? Tried it, nope. By now they were 12" from the wall in a 17W x 21L room, on the 17' wall.
Due to lack of options, I started moving them forward. (You know where this is going by now, don't you?)
At the identical point the Druids used, they were sounding MUCH better. But the cigar was a Swisher, not a Cuban. Forward, transducing soldiers!
I finally got them dialed in at about 9.25 ft away, and 8.25 ft apart! Toe-in is noticeable, but less so than with the Druids, maybe 20 degrees. Moving them forward, back, narrower, wider, from this breaks up the magic for me. Note those last two words - for me.
The above, to me anyway, just goes to show that following others' advice can be a good starting point, but you have to have to have to find out for yourself in the end. As I believe this was one of the main thrusts of OP's question, I thought I'd emphasize it. I have absolutely no doubt that those who advocate further placement are correct - for their rooms and their gear, and most significantly, their ears. It just didn't work that way for me.
Oh BTW - the Definitions are FANTASTIC. I had an audiobuddy over this past weekend and he took maybe 30 minutes to get into the sound, after which he was entranced. I pressed him to pick the sound apart - offer me some negatives. He couldn't do so. (And we are good enough friends that he would be honest. For example, he did not care for a different pair he heard at my home a couple of years ago, and those were similarly priced to the Defs.) Ok, I don't necessarily believe that that alone makes them perfect, but I feel much the same way - anything that I could pick on would have to be nits and I couldn't be sure about them anyway.
All the positive buzz about Druids is also true. For their price point, they are a stunning speaker. Notwithstanding the negatives from people who have never heard them or heard them improperly set up, they will deliver so much that one feels like a heel for faulting the things they do not deliver or deliver in paucity - which are, exteme imaging, extended treble, and nth resolution. (Leaving bass mostly out of this, but they WILL deliver bass to at least 40 hz). But if they did all the above, there would be no Definition, and believe it that spending the extra gets you all those things. The Defs are far more neutral (does this make the Druid colored? I suppose it does) while retaining the baseline qualities that makes the Druid so alluring. Is it worth it? That is, as always, in the ear of the 'behearer', to coin a clumsy word.
Now I only need to decide one thing - whether I should sell the Druids or create a second listening room for them. Not ready to make that decision yet.