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Room placement for Vandersteen Treo CT

I  am considering Vandersteen Treo CT's for purchase. In doing some research on them I read they are very sensitive to room placement in order to achieve their best performance.  I've some limitations on where I could place them in my listening room. My listening room is approximately 13'x22' with a cathedral ceiling roughly 16' high from the floor in the center of the room. eight foot high where it meets the front and rear walls.. The speakers will be located on the front long wall equally spaced from the center of that wall. There are a fair amount of furnishings in the room, furniture, built in bookshelves, a library table etc. 

My first questions is, what is the closest I could place the Treo's from the wall, I think "Johnny from AudioConnections" said, you might be able to place them as close as "seven to fourteen inches" from the wall, but I can't find the reference. Somebody else said wall placement was okay as it would reinforce the bass output, which the Treo would benefit from. I thought you were supposed to not put ported speakers near a wall, but these being bottom ported  maybe it doesn't matter.

The second question is, what would you guess to be the minimum distance they need to be from one another?  I have a four foot wide flat screen television centered on the front wall. I would love to be able to place the Treo's on either side of the flat screen, with the outside edges of the Treo's being seven feet apart, but am afraid this might be too close together.  I could place them another two feet or so apart, but the speaker on the right side would then partially block the view of a built-in in 120 gallon aquarium which would not be ideal, but doable.

What do you think?  I would appreciate your experience and guidance here. Thanks

Michael

skyscraper
gdnrbob
4,455 posts
 
You've gotten some good advice, so far.
I will second/third having Johnny's opinion regarding placement.

For me, my Treo's are in a rather unusual spot- at near the middle of two rooms (roughly 18x11, speakers at 9 feet in along the long wall and about 7 feet apart). Though not ideal (Hey, I have to live here), I get great sound reproduction, and they look great, too.
Lastly, I would say Vandersteen speakers aren't hard to position, but a good installer like John Rutan will make it work.
Bob
skyscraper OP
831 posts
 
stringreen, thanks for your advice. I've got to place whatever speaker I decide on close as possible to the wall behind it. Wish I had three feet to play with. 

jackd, thank you for the advice.

gdnrbob, your placement sounds similar to what I need to do along my 22' long wall. The closeness to that wall I need might well rule out the Vandersteens as a possible choice for me. They are fairly deep speakers compared to something like the shallower Magico A3's that I could place ten inches from the wall per Magico. 

Mike
audioconnection
1,271 posts
 
(((The closeness to that wall I need might well rule out the Vandersteens as a possible choice for me. )))
Mike
  We installed hundreds of speakers in many rooms and none have been as easy to place as the Vandersteen Treo CTs and Quatros CTs Yesterday in an elegant home we installed Treo Cts 6 inches out from the wall with great results. These speakers were designed for this.
As for placement as long as you perform the correct tilt back, reading the well-written manual you will get there.
 
(((They are fairly deep speakers compared to something like the shallower Magico A3's )))
M  44 H x 11 D  x 9.25 
V   43 H x 15 D x 10 
  FYI The 10Inch wide spec is at the bottom of the speaker and it' progressively narrows toward the top in order to allow unwanted baffle diffraction allowing the speakers to image and disappear better.
Live music was Vandersteen's reference.
 A Pulse with a microphone diaphragm  + / - a phase and time correct design has all its drivers going the same direction in sync.

Steep order designs have some drivers going forward while others backwards to that same pulse.

As mentioned above its important with a Vandersteen that tilt back alignment be correct this is easily performed by following the chart in the well-written owners manual for your ear height off the ground / distance to the front of the speakers.
Once done correctly it's obvious what takes place and why the love for the speaker continues.
  Best,
 JohnnyR
 
skyscraper OP
831 posts
 
Johnny, thank you for responding.  That is closer than the manual on the Vandersteen Treos recommended, and it's interesting  they could sound good placed that close to the wall in spite of their being ported. I'll make a point of going and hearing them demoed when I head up towards DC to audition the Magico A3's, and a couple others which remain on my short list. 

Mike
tomic601's avatar
tomic601
12,975 posts
 
I have the Treo CT in a 33’ x 15’ x 9 ‘ room. You can see a photo in virtual systems...several thoughts:

this Vandersteen was designed to be place close to back wall = true mine are right at 13” and have staggering image depth.

the port is on the bottom = true = remarkable bass without a sub = very consistant coupling...

setup is important = follow the instructions AND use good tools ( this applies to any speaker ) = buy a Leica Disto !!!! you can get smoking hot accuracy, plus get a very accurate ear height which is essential for dialing in any Vandersteen using the manual !!!!!

not blowing my own carbon fiber tweeter, but Richard V checked out my setup and I got good marks. 

have fun !!!!!!!!
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