Speaker Width?

Another + for Jim Smith's book Get Better Sound.
My setup sounds best with my speakers 7 feet apart (tweeter to tweeter) and my head 11.5 feet from plane of tweeters.

Hey, here’s an idea. Why doesn’t someone compare Jim Smith’s speaker set-up method with the speaker set track on the XLO Test CD? 

What is the big deal about XLO Test CD?

Is it any similar to a combination of...

https://www.discogs.com/No-Artist-The-Ultimate-Test-CD/release/1096544


and one like this (with a different cover, but essentially the same, it does have polarity check, etc.)...

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/293869-REG/TDK_CDC_LBHTG_CD_DVD_LensCLEAR_Laser_Lens.html

n80,

"I think I just threw up in my mouth a little bit. ;-)"

Now, imagine how I felt. I have not recovered yet.

Don't know if it's been mentioned in the thread but R. Vandersteen has a speaker placement method that works in my room.  Divide the width and length of the room by odd numbers and the intersection points are potential spots for placement.  

Then careful trial and error determines the best placement - and he mentions when you find it you will know and he is correct in my case.

In the first room I had my system in the sweet spot was incredibly small. A difference of inches and I'm typically not a fussy audiophile about this sort of thing but in that room it was as you say, you knew the right spot immediately and all others were noticeably worse. Even turning my head to one side made a difference in the soundstage.

In my current room the sweet spot is not so small and there are several of them. I don't know why. My room has a few hard flat surfaces but it has 10' ceilings, carpeted floor and soft furnishings everywhere else. Maybe that helps?

Sorry to chime in with some basic truths here. What I see is a really bad listening environment especially for those speakers. Way too small a space. Look at listener position, against the wall. Talk about reflective heaven. Jeez. I recommend storing those speakers for the future house, get some decent bookshelves speakers and then make them sing as best as possible in that space for as long as stuck there. Wow, I sound like Geoff. Sorry!

Just looked at your pictures. Nice apartment, nice furniture, gorgeous view! Unfortunately, none of that helps you with how your system should sound. If you really want to get the best from your investment, you will need to:
1. Use a dedicated listening room
2. Use Jim Smith's book Get Better Sound
3. Use room treatment
4. Set up your speakers and listening seat for best sound
I know most others won't/can't do those steps, but the truth is you will never get the best sound with compromises. The room/setup will give you at least 50% of what you will hear.

Tom

Move them out from the wall.  Closer listening position is better when environment is a problem.  Equilateral triangle is good start, but closer than width isn’t necessarily bad.  

Just saying, I've been lurking on this site for a long time, and this is the best, most helpful, and the funniest, thread ever. Greatly appreciated, thanks to you all.

commercestuff,

You do not like wordsmithing contest thread?

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/arguments-devolve-on-threads-to-wordsmithing-contests

I knew better than to even open that one.

The responders are being nice to you. For good sound, you want to start with your speakers 1/3 from the back wall of the length of the room and 1/3 from each of the sidewalls to start. Check out speaker positioning from Cardas, Vandersteen and guy smith. Ultimately you don’t want anything that’s big between the speakers and if you have too, the cabinet should be way behind the speakers and sitting low. Why compromise good equipment

@bclark,
Just how attached are you to this girlfriend? ;^)

Seriously, are you asking about speaker placement because you are unsatisfied with the sound, or just curious how much it can improve?
All the "rules" about speaker placement are to help you predict how speakers MAY sound best; they are not guarantees by any means. My speaker manufacturer recommends the back of their models be no MORE than 20" from the wall behind them. ( I think they sound better at 32") There are CDs that can help You test locations, such as the one by IsoTek. (No affiliation)

https://www.isoteksystems.com/product/essentials/ultimate-system-set-up-disc/

But the best bet I can see from the picture is to get the speaker to your Right further away from the side wall. This would probably improve symmetry a lot.
Best of luck.

Too wide should be at least 6-8ft apart 
and 8ft. where you sit.
when your speakers are too far apart you are decoupling the speakers from each other-mid bass,when you don’t have midbass you don’t have rhythm.
speakers should be slightly toed in 
unless you are using your speakers as headphones.

+1 for erik_squires

Speakers are too wide apart, 6-8ft
from midrange/woofer and 4-6 ft. backwall
8 ft.listening position 
slightly toed in.
keep it simple 

I don't think anyone is reading any of the previous posts.

It’s hard to generalize because different speakers produce different radiation patterns, the same speakers generate different acoustic patterns in different rooms, the listener position is variable and rooms without quite so many acoustic anomalies have a better chance of finding ideal locations. Rooms with no acoustic treatment have almost no chance, forget about it. But for those in a hurry try 5 feet apart. That should get you pretty darn close. No toe-in. 

OK.... so I have read all the posts so far..... It's a small LIVING room for gosh sakes!!  This guy is NOT going to pull the speakers 2 feet into the room.  Any he's NOT going to ditch his hot and/or rich girlfriend... what are you nuts?  And you see that spectacular view?  I'm an audio nut, but there is more to life (please, please let there be more.....)  And yes, maybe it's a bit TOO much speaker for the room, but nothing is permanent.  The #1 thing I thinks you can do now is get some nice looking absorption panels to go directly behind the speakers.  I have built my own, and I've also had some made with custom fabric that looks cool.  Being the bay area, there must be a local company that makes sound panels.  I used LA Sound Panels here in LA, and have some with a foliage patten fabric.  They can be made any size, look great, and will dramatically improve your imaging!   

On the other hand his speakers are 12 feet apart. So, his living room cannot be too small. Besides, as I’ve oft commented, 12 feet is waaay too far apart. Perhaps if the room was 50 by 50...

I would move the speakers in as close to the sides of that cabinet as possible, but more importantly, I would toe them in to the point where I could see the outside edge of the speakers when sitting back in the main listening position.  In other words have the tweeters facing a point about 12" to 15" in front of your head when reclining back in the sweet spot.  From my experience, the image snaps into focus more precisely and the area between the speakers is filled more completely, especially when the speakers are sitting on the long wall of a room.  Try it.