Help on soundstaging


Hello, I have acquired a a pair of Epos ELS-3 and have them on 24 inch stands filled with sand. I have them about a foot from the wall and they are six feet apart. I'm trying to lock them in and create a stage. The room is small(apartment) so placement is probably critical. I know these spkrs can sound better than they do at the moment. Any help is appreciated. Enjoy the music. (BTW I have them firing straight out.)
south43
Try toeing them in, first right at listening position, then a bit in front, then a bit behind. Just a general principle, never heard the Epos.
Down and dirty advise. Bring them out into the room about 4 feet and set up the listening position equal distance from the speakers as they are from each other. Start with toe in so the axis of the speakers crosses several feet behind your head. The move your speakers backward and forward a few inches at a time, and/or your listening position, and see what happens. Also vary the degree of toe in from having the speakers pointed straight ahead to where the axis crosses in front of the listening position.

With a lot of careful listening and patience you aught to find a pretty good sound stage.

If you want more specific advise provide some details about room size and present position of listening position and speakers in your room. Describe any room openings and windows as well as floor and wall furnishings, etc. Also describe the tonal sonics as they now exist.
Move them a more healthy distance from the front wall. The greater of 4' and half the distance between listener and speakers is a good place to start. More than that is better. You also want to maintain the same minimum distance between the listener and back wall. The laws of physics can be in conflict with a feminine sense of aesthetics.

You cannot have large objects between the speakers. A direct view television is right out. Switching to front projection was the best thing I did to my soundstage.

Toe-in will help especially if the room is narrow. Aiming them directly at the listener is a good starting point. Farther toe-in may help in narrower rooms or if they're overly bright in your room.

You need to sit the minimum distance you can without loosing driver integration so that the direct sound isn't getting lost below the room's reverberant field. This is probably under 8'.

Having the speakers form an equilateral triangle with the listener is a nice place to start (60 degree subtended angle between speakers; this would put you 7' from a line drawn through speakers 8' apart).

Treating the first points of reflection should help.