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Thiel 3.7 Placement

Really considering perhaps purchasing these speakers. Auditioned them at a dealer for about 2 hours and was really, really impressed with the sound. My question is, even though I sat and toed the speakers to how they would be set up in my house, the dealers room was a lot bigger with no side wall infractions and the speakers were out about 7 feet from the back wall, so how sensitive are these speakers to placement? I can only bring them out about 2 ft from the wall and side walls are about 3 ft. Speakers will be about 9 ft apart with my position is about 11 ft in front, toed in centered right at me. That's how I have my B&W 802 S3 set up currently. Finally, how long did it take to break-in your 3.7's? Still happy with them? Thanks
stvrvin
stvrvin OP
3 posts
 
Thanks a lot guys for the advice. Buff, in your opinion, toed in on center to lister, a little behind or how much? Thanks.
tom_hankins
928 posts
 
I always preferred my Thiels (CS7.2) firing strait into the room over toed in. I also like the 3.7s that way.
stevecham
3,340 posts
 
You will have to experiment with what is best for your room. In my main system my CS6s are aimed straight ahead but in my second system the CS2.4s are ever so slightly toed in. In my experience getting Thiels away as far as possible from the front wall is the most important aspect of peoper set up. This is what opens up the soundstage depth.
dlcockrum's avatar
dlcockrum
2,190 posts
 
Stevecham is very right in emphasizing the distance from the front wall with Thiels. My Thiels work best 6 feet out from the front wall. Moving them back to 3 feet reduces the soundstage significantly. Minimum is four feet for them to work well at all.

They are not that sensitive to distance from side walls - in fact, they may work better closer to the side walls and farther apart. The closer you get to the sidewalls, the more you will need to toe them in to avoid first-reflection point issues. Mine work best about 9 feet apart and 10 feet from my listening position, toed in such that the tweeters intersect 18" behind my listening position, so your description of your current position is good except for the depth.

These speakers are far too expensive to compromise them by putting them 2 feet out. Go back to the dealer and have him move them 2 feet out and you will see what I mean. I know this is not what you wanted to hear.
unsound
7,341 posts
 
With all due respect to the above posters, I have to disagree. In my 20+ years with Thiels, I haven't found the distance with the (what I call the back wall (the wall behind the speakers) as important as the distance from the side walls. Sure, postioned further out they will provide a deeper soundstage and cleaner bass, but with as little as 1' (FWIW, I use 3') the Thiels will still work well. I find that having them too close to the side walls, requires toe in. Too much toe in and they can get bright. Too little toe in and things get messy. Like any other similar purchase, I suggest you make sure your dealer provides you with generous return policy.
http://www.thielaudio.com/THIEL_Site05/PDF_files/PDF_owner_info/CS3_7ownerinfo.pdf
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