Speaker Set-Up: Use of a Plumb Bob

It's important that both loudspeakers are the same, but whether that's straight up or titled forward/back depends upon the design, your room and your listening chair height. Most loudspeakers give their smoothest response only within a small range of the vertical axis. Look at the graphs in a Stereophile review to see examples. You usually want to tilt your loudspeakers so that you're within that range. The sonic effect can be very noticeable.

Thanks Onhwy61. I tilt my speakers slightly forward to reduce the vertical off-axis angle. However, I'm kinda curious about the speakers vertical configuration. My basement floor is not even. So, when checked with a bubble level, the left speak is pretty close to being 90 degrees true. By contrast, the right speaker required me to shim up one side in order to be true.

I guess the question is whether this is another issue to obsess about.

"I tilt my speakers slightly forward to reduce the vertical off-axis angle."

What are the before and after measurements of the vert off axis angle?

Zd542, I unscrewed the rear spikes to lift the back of the speakers, thus tilting them forward and pointing the tweeters more directly on axis towards my ears when I sit in my listening chair. I can only tilt the speakers forward by so much because their center of gravity is high and close to the speaker fronts. I am concerned that too much forward tilt could increase the risk that the speakers might fall over. This adjustment is not the subject of my question.

Rather, looking straight at the speakers face-on from my listening chair, I can see that the speakers lean sideways because the slab floor isn't level. I tried the best I could to straighten the left/right tilt with shims and by adjusting the spikes. My question is how critical is this adjustment. I think Vandy owners spend a lot of time with this adjustment. I was wondering just how critical it really is.

Thanks