Thiel 3.7 Placement

Unsound, I had my Thiels positioned well away from the sidewalls (5 feet) with 1/4" toe-in for years. Recently, I took measurements of bass response that showed, in my room, the bass curve was flatter with the speakers closer to the side walls (still 3 feet away as your recommend but far less than the 5 feet that the manual recommends for large room placement). Perhaps this is because of the large distance from the front wall necessary for best soundstaging.

As you say, I had to toe them in, but I was surprised at the small difference this made in the 'brightness' of the sound. Just as surprising, the soundstaging actually improved with them farther apart even with the toe-in, with no holes in the middle whatsoever. It was the right trade-off in my situation. BTW - my room is almost the perfect Golden Ratio so it is not the room.

Thiel has always had the same placement recommendations in their manuals all the way back to the 1990's when I bought my first Thiel CS5i's. I don't know why - every dealer I have visited with the larger Thiels has them way out from the front wall and so do the manufacturers using Thiels at shows.

Your advice about a generous return policy is excellent. I would think that a dealer would provide in-home setup for the price of these speakers and allow Stvrvn to return them after a reasonable time if not satisfied.

I've had Thiels for over 10 years and agree with most everyone above, the optimum placement for me in my room is 9 feet apart, 5 feet from the front wall and 4+ feet from the side walls with no toe in. I sit 12 feet from the speakers. The distance between the speakers and the distance to your seat are the most important measurements. The soundstage really opens up when Thiels get room to breathe and you need the distance to your seat for the drivers to properly meld for ultimate clarity and transparency.

Not everyone has the room dimensions for that type of placement so my advice is to get as much distance between the speakers as possible and sit at least 10 ft away.

As Thiel suggests, each room will be different and a little experimentation might be necessary. Pops brings up an excellent point. The distance from listener to speaker might be the most important dimension. Thiel recommends a minimum of 8' and a maximum of 12'. Less than 8' and driver intergation will be compromised. Jim Thiel has stated he measures his speakers at a distance of 3 meters (9'9"), of course that's in an anechoic enviornment.

Right on Pops. Good post!

Thanks Dlcockrum, you'll find I'm usually right about everything! :-)