Lack of depth problem

Vett93, FWIW, in my set up the location of the listening chair is every bit as critical as the location of the speakers. I note you are moving your speakers about but you haven't mentioned moving your chair. Don't miss the opportunity to try this if you can do so. You might also get a little reduction in the 100hz hump as well. Might.

Hi Vett93
Last reponse was dd May 08, I was a bit to late to join in.

I made hewewith 2 portions of comments, may be biased with my own opinion, but I would like to share them with you :-

(1) I am addicted with audiophile for over 25 years. I had been using focal JM Lab Mezzo Utopia 2003-2004 with
tube pre- and power-amps. (A) I 've found "Utopia"'s are
typically not suitable for tube-amp's (may be there are exceptions )
I found them requiring More powerful and " fast" sold-state
amp to control. (B) the Mid's are too strong Vs the high
and low, sounding average more "upfront"and more " mingling" if the amp is not controlling tight. I had tried
to cope with these by tube-rolling, inter-connects, power cable changing. But not changing to sold-state amp as I
prefer the WE 300B tubes most. so finally I changed to
Verity Audio Parsifal Encore in 2004 , not to awiat for
breaking-in, the first hour I was relaxed and relieved
with joy. But with this message, I am not convincing you
to change speaker ( because of me ).
(2) The 2nd Part ( some theories now , more than opinion )
If you know something about the Fibonacci Formulae
(the Gold Ratio - which studies proved it applies to
financial, human mentality, physically too many
aspects of this Earth, or Universe ). It is true for the reflection of sound wave. Many Manufacturers' manual expressing the same ratio. may or may not knowing why, perhaps they only tried by repeated experiments.

use the golden ratio of 0.328 /0.500/0.618/1.618
(A) if you net ceiling height is 100 inches, the best distance from rear wall ( from the moving membrance of Mid range/ tweeter ) should be 61 inches , if this is diffcult
try 50-51 inches, 0.328x H for rear is not a good choice
unless it is a must, or it is a smaller 2-way speakers with
less low's carrying. If your ears and gears are "golden"
you may try the difference if H x 0.45 compared to Hx0.618 or 0.50 and you will see the reflection is different.

(B) Many manuals had use more often this formula to suggest
the distance to side wall, some are using
distance of 2 speakers apart (D ), side wall to centre of speaker ( actually sh be centre of tweeter - moving film ) D x 0.328
Some are using the total distance of two side Walls (D2 ), the the speaker is D2 x 0.328 to side wall.

If Alto Utopia is similar to the Mezzo Utopai I used before
Even with the ratio in my head, I still found some problem
at that year, as I cannot try 61 inches in my old house
( which I think may be the better ). If the rear wall distance can not help, try something to improve the "air-feeling", "more silent-background" . sorry Chinese is my only mother languge, I cannot use better words to explain. " more air " will make you feel the vocalist, instruments standing
a bit more part and distinguished from each other, like
"more depth in the sound stage " one could feel.

I had dedicated A/C Powers from the house Main, RGPC to reduce noise, CSE sine-Wave reformer providing better current to my Wadia 861 CD, and the Synergistic Research
Power Cell as the main Power-strip for the other gears.
try to see any of such kinds can help you.

Don't give up, as trying to upgrade ( within what's in
hand ) is more fun than to just to pay.

Thanks all. I did more research, upgrade, and experiments. I like my current setup now. :-)

The following are the changes:

1. I moved speakers forward and they are 9 feet to the rear wall. I also moved them closer to the side walls, about 2 1/2 ft away. The toe-in is in the middle between beaming straight and directly towards ears.

2. I sent my amp back to the designer for more upgrades. He upgrades all the resistors to "naked" Vishay and some caps to Blackgates. It is faster and more punchy than before.

I found my Alto Utopias are not easy speakers to drive. Even though they are 91dB and 8 ohm nominal resistance. They drop to 3.2ohms for lower frequencies. My other amp, a pair of KT88 monoblocks at 50Wpc, did not work well with them.

By moving the speakers forward, they are away from the TV. I can hear more sound behind the speakers. So the depth is improved!

congratulaiton !!Nice to learn that you 've overcome your
speakers problem.

Since you have a spacious room, 15W x 23D
Previously your problem may be the wrong ratio used :-
5 ft Vs 18 ft ( rear / front )
or 5 Vs 23 ( rear / total )

Now 9 Vs 14 = 0.642 ( +/- other room furniture/book shelves
etc , cannot make the exact clcualtion herewith )
The more closer to 0.618 the more it becomes improved.

The H Vs Rear 1.0 is of no bad-effect .

Best reuslt can be implemented by standing Panels ( which
I am using ) if the room cannot cope with such ratio's.

I think you will find that you would see a better result by aligning the speakers along the length rather than the width of the room if you can do that, because 2.5 ft from the side walls sounds awfully close to me. In my experience soundstage is dramatically affected by side wall reflections. I have Virgo 111s set up along the length of my room, about 7 ft out from the sidewalls, with amazing soundstage. Hope that helps.