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Thiel speaker placement - am I crazy?

So, long story short, I am relatively new in my pursuit of higher quality audio playback. My first purchase was a set of thiel cs2.4s. Thanks to audiogon, I then acquired Ayre 5 series preamplifier and amp. My room is not a good room, but it's all I've got. Now that I've been listening for a couple years, I sense my ears are really opening up. I am able to discern details and appreciate subtleties that were previously imperceptible to me. Yet I have found myself trolling for something that is missing. Playback lacked a bit of low end authority and I felt an overall lack of soul when listening. Sorry for the long wind up, two days ago, I moved my speakers closer together, from 7.5 feet apart to 6 feet apart. They are about 3 feet from the back wall. And I sit about 8.5 feet from the speakers Ever since, something wonderful has happened to my system. The low end balances the high end, imaging is more precise and stable, the soundstage is taller than it has ever been, and I feel like a child on Christmas morning. My wife, like my cats, yawn and say "that's nice honey" but I feel like I've discovered something amazing. Now this is closer together than Thiel recommends, but I am sticking with it for now.
miles_trane
stanwal's avatar
stanwal
3,147 posts
 
I am reporting you to the placement police, they will be there any moment. Seriously, put them where you like them. Some like to sit at the back of the concert hall, some up front, the music sounds quite different by moving just a few seats; a recent Stereophile drew attention to this. As they use to say back in my younger days" If it feels good, do it".
nsgarch's avatar
nsgarch
2,524 posts
 
No one can argue with Stan's advice, but there are some general principles(?) things(?) I've noticed over the years with all kinds of speakers in all kinds/sizes of rooms (BTW, you should provide your room dimensions to make the discussion more productive ;--)

What I found most important, over and over again (the tail that MUST wag the dog) is the WIDTH of the room.

WITH THIS ONE EXCEPTION: If the smallest dimension of the room is LARGER than 15~16 feet, then you will be able to place the speakers on the longer wall, with 2 or 3 feet behind them, and still be able to sit back far enough from them to enjoy the superior soundstage that 'long wall' placement provides.

But if you have a room that's only 15 feet wide or less, than you have to place your speaker in front of the short wall in order to sit back far enough to enjoy them, and that is when the distance of each speaker from its respective sidewall becomes critical. You must keep the (outer) edge of almost any speaker at least 20 to 24 inches from the sidewalls, or they will not provide an optimal image -- sometimes NO image.

In this situation, I therefore always start with my 2 X 2 rule: 2 feet from the back wall and the sidewalls; then if there is a poor (or no) soundstage or no tangible image of a (preferably mono) solo vocalist, then I start pulling the speakers together a couple inches at a time until a strong image appears (remembering to keep my listening distance approximately as far away as the speakers are apart (center to center).

When a strong(est) image appears, then you can play with all the other lower priority variables:
Toe-in
Listening distance.
Distance from rear wall.
Vertical tilt.
Etc.

I guess what I'm saying is that the only "rule" if you can call it that, is to be careful (in short wall placement) to give the speakers a minimum clearance of 2 feet to the sidewalls.
davt
500 posts
 
I am glad your system is sounding better, one must adjust it to their ears and space.

But, back to your original question.

Yes, you are crazy. Enjoy the insanity.
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