Room acoustics how ? My image is not centered

Try hanging a thick comforter from the areas on the side wall where first order reflection is, that is the worst reflection it will be 45 deg off the speaker cone. If that helps you either need defuses or absorbers there. Wall hangings like rugs, and stuff help or just search for sound panels there are easy to make.

Also check the position of the speakers in the room if look on Vandersteens site in one of the owner’s manuals he gives you a way to measure where the speaker should be in the room that is step one. if they are to close to a wall that can cause all types of trouble.

There is a always a balance between acoustics and function / ascetics in a room.

couple thoughts. I have a somewhat similar goofy room and found after much experimentation that I was able to "position" my soundstage by having different levels of toe-in. I tried for symmetry but always was skewed. GOt my distances right and played with toe in on one side and than the other. Found I could get what I wanted with roughly 3 or 4 degree difference. YMMV. On another note I would be really surprised if edge diffraction is at play here when so may reflections can have a field day. If I recall correctly the equations indicated to me that sound diffraction in something like this should be about nothing. Have to think but off hand I doubt it.

From experience, those wall reflections are most likely the cause of your 'hard' sound, not your gear or cables.

With your speakers being rather far from both sidewalls and roughly equidistant from them, I do not think the acoustic-reflection differences between the two types of walls are enough to explain why your image is pulling to the left.

You are instead hearing the reflection off the top of your large coffee table, which is located left of center.

Best of luck!

Roy Johnson
Designer
Green Mountain Audio

You have a wonderful system, but based upon the photos, your speakers are ill suited to your room. Specifically, the wide dispersion tweeter of the Merlin are a problem. As pointed out by others above, it's bouncing sound off of every hard surface in your room (the glass doors, concrete walls, tile floor and coffee table). Due to the different reflective qualities of each surface the combined direct and reflected sounds won't cohere. This will be especially problematic with a high resolution design like the Merlins.

You could try various acoustic room treatments to try to eliminate, or at least lessen, the reflected sound and that could work very well if you're willing to convert your living space into an audio room with audio room aesthetics. The other possibility is to get a speaker that works with the room as opposed to fighting the room. My recommendation is that you consider something in the Audio Note line. Because they require corner placement they will load the room differently and I believe in your case more evenly. You'll still require acoustic treatments, but they can be larger limited to the corners containing the speakers. I'd also recommend getting a rug. The Audio Note line will also work well with your existing electronics. Please note that by design they are not studio monitors like the Merlins. They are more relaxed sounding.

Many good responses here. The cause has very likely been touched on somewhere in the responses. But let me just add one other possibility. Have you had your hearing checked? This may sound like a joke, but it's very common for the sensitivity of one ear to vary from the other. One more reason the elimination of the balance control on audiophile equipment is just plain stupid.

-Bob