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O.C.D. Speaker placement

How o.c.d. are you in speaker placement, and how important is it? I am o.c.d. in many aspects of my life including speaker placement. I've always enjoyed what is known as a formal balance (symmetrical design). So this is my dilemma: I have the distance of my speakers equal, within an 1/8", from the side and back walls, and they are also level side to side and front to back but the distance from the center of my listening position to the tweeters is different by somewhere between 1/2"-3/4". Does this even really matter?
I'm sure I'll get all kinds of jokes towards this question, but whatever. I figure there has to be some other o.c.d. people here considering all of the products aimed towards audiophiles, from footers to cable risers to c.d. and i.c. polishing kits.
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ddd1
261 posts
 
Get your hearing tested professionally and get a copy of the test results. Incorporate the results into your placement strategy. Or at least consider why exact measurements might not be the best bet, due to differences between each ear.
csontos
1,311 posts
 
I would respectfully say you are wrong. Your premise is a second use for a balance control on your pre or separate attenuators on your amp.
lacee
811 posts
 
Another thing I've tried is extreme toe in angles, in and out.

Also, I've experimented with placing the speakers in the corners and also placing the speakers on the diagonal,in a corner so that the centre of the two speakers is the junction of the two walls.

Which is correct?

They all sound good,but different.

In fact speaker positions can almost fool you into thinking that you're listening to a diffrernt pair of speakers.

In the end, after all the experimentation,the way the system looks plays an important role and can trump the sound improvements(diferences)of radical toe in, etc.

I think most of us settle for how the speakers sound when set up in the more conventional ways which please our eyes.

Which as I've stated ,isn't always the best.

Then we resort to whatever devices we have to tune the speakers to our liking and to make up for whatever deficiencies we may feel they have, or to fill in the gaps that our ears feel we need.

If that's wires, or EQ's or room tuning devices,you have a lot of choices to experiment with.

On second thought, maybe an anechoic room may not be so bad afterall.
csontos
1,311 posts
 
Have you listened for a good while in each position before finally settling? You need a good shock effect from one to the other for a good perspective imo.
lacee
811 posts
 
I've found pros and cons in all of the placements.
That's the puzzle, they all sound a bit different in certain areas,not one position for me was the best, so I settled for the Cardas placement for planar speakers and moved my listening seat further away from the speakers so that the 3 angled panels lock in better,so the triangle is far from equal.The speakers fire straight no toe in.

They are 73" from centre of speaker to side walls,58.09" from centre of speaker to wall behind them,95" apart(side of speaker not centre)and 160" to the listening chair.

This also is the most pleasing from a visual perspective.
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