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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
pops
2,273 posts
 
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.
unsound
7,329 posts
 
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.
dlcockrum's avatar
dlcockrum
2,190 posts
 
Right on Pops. Good post!
pops
2,273 posts
 
Thanks Dlcockrum, you'll find I'm usually right about everything! :-)
stvrvin OP
3 posts
 
hey guys. Just wanted to say thanks for all the great input. My plan is to place them out about 2 feet with about 9 ft between them until I can move my rig into my sons playroom (which is atually our unused living room) in a year or so. That room will allow me to move them out any distance I want and still maintain the requisite 9-10 feet distance out from them. I look forward to purchasing the speakers in the near future. Know anyone that would be interested in my B&W S3, black ash with sound anchors? Thanks again.
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