Merlins VSM placement question


Hi all,
I currently own a pair of VSM-MXe for a year now - Very happy with them after trying different front-end and preamp/amp
Despite swapping gear in/out, I notice that the soundstage is always somewhat narrow, too focus at middle (same plan with speaker).
My room is 23ft long x 16ft wide x 10ft high
Speakers are 7ft apart and 5ft from front wall (16ftwide wall). Listening seat is 7.5ft from speakers plan
The whole set up is 1.5ft off to the right of center axis of the room (due to door access)

I followed exact Bobby's instruction including toe-in angle using included tool

My question is did you're Merlins' owners followed exact set up instruction from Bobby, regardless of your room's dimension ? What's your placement dimension?

I want wider and deeper sound stage, not too forward
I have a feeling if I move apart extra 1ft between speakers, or set up the toe-in 3ft behind the seat, I would change the sound stage as I wanted

I have Jim Smith's Get Better Sound with me, but I'm kinda lazy unless I can see if it's worth the sweat

PS: I have tried Cary all-the-way (SLP05+CAD120S+306/200) with CGRs, and Sony 5400ES + ARS Sonum - with same stage sound
Please advice
Thanks
Thuan
128x128thuan98
Put a piece of tape on the floor to mark the current location of the speakers. Now move them around to your hearts content. When finished go back to original position to compare and see if you have improved the sound to your liking.
Hey Thuan,

Sounds like your on the right track. With your set up I would check two things. First, I would make sure that both speakers are the same distance from the back wall. I know I have set mine up before and then rechecked the distance to the front wall and one would be off. Sometimes I get in a hurry and read my tape measure wrong. The second thing would be to get at least 9 feet back from the front plane of the speakers. I've found this to have quite an effect on soundstage and imaging.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Scott
Thanks for all responses :-)
I know that I have to try it myself
These super sharp spikes are already made several long marks on my wood floor already from the last time I moved them around. Need to go to WMart to find some round felt to help slide these speaker around.
PS: My last speakers (Aerial 10T) were 8 ft apart and they create a good stereo image
Will report back
Thanks all
Thuan