All Merlin family members.

Dave,

As a newbie, I have much to learn. It does appear to me that speaker placement is system and room dependant. When I get my tsm based system together, it will be fun to experiment.

How far from the front wall have you placed the speakers?

btw....I`d also like to apologize to Tab for taking his thread off topic, but as merlin family members, perhaps we can discuss all things merlin and make Tab`s thread the official merlin forum.

Dick

Possibly a tad more energy & better focus at 7.5'.

Dick,

I have a 16'x16'x 8.25'H room, with a fireplace/chimney protruding at front wall center. The speakers are about 3' out from the front of the fireplace, and there are cavities to the sides of the chimney which effectively extend the distance directly behind the speakers to 5'. I listen on a couch against the rear wall. So the distance behind the speakers is pretty good, but the listening position against the rear wall is suboptimal but necessary in order to position the VSMs the desired 9.5' from the listener.

I experimented with acoustic treatment between the speakers, and found that 80% results can be obtained by hanging a 1.5'H x 5'L band of sound absorbent material on the front wall at ear level between W & T. I used a Navajo rug covering some Cornertunes (IMO never much good when placed in the corners for which they are designed). Hanging a blanket floor-to-shoulder height added just a bit more clarity, or "contrast" as Bobby said.

Finally, on a spectrum analyzer in this room I have measured flat bass response on the VSM-MX +/-3db down to around 30hz., with audible bass all the way to 27hz. But the bass is so clean that sometimes you don't realize it's there, relative to the warm, distorted bass of some other designs.

I also have a TSM-MX used in another system as a CC speaker. It is a damned nice CC!

My apologies as well for moving off topic.

Dave

Thanks Dave,

My room is 14`x17`, however, one end of the room (along the long wall) opens to the dining room about half way up. I`ll have some experimenting to do.

I think I`ll try one of those sponge mattress toppers on the front wall to begin with. If I don`t like the effect, I`ll throw it on the bed.

Dick

Talking about speaker placement in general.Many people just have their speakers too far apart.Artificial hi fi terminology are then introduced... images better,the depth of the soundstage improved,layers better etc.Unfortuanately, the music loses body,naturalness and rightness of sound ....

Merlins ...rather too close together,better than too far apart.Also beware too much toe in.

I have a plasma , a hi fi rack and components between my Merlins.Its also close to the wall behind them.I also use silver cables and a ss amp ... and despite all of this they sound simply magnificent ... !!