StereoTimes Interview with Duke LeJeune/Audiokines

Paul, in my old condo when the speakers were on the carpet I used Adona platform shelves under them. The shelves are a layer of granite combined with a layer of MDF bonded by some type of epoxy. Granite side was face down to the carpet and speakers resting on the MDF. My reason for using these was to give the speakers more stability and I feel the results were very good. In my new condo the speakers are on a very smooth and level tile floor. I found no need to improve stability, so they rest on the rails that Duke attaches to the bottom of the speakers. No issues and they sound great.

In the article Duke discusses the preferred off-axis listening set-up with 45 degree toe-in. In my old condo this was not possible and toe-in was never more than 20 degrees. I'm now using the 45 degree toe-in in my new condo and I have to say I'm liking it very much. I'm getting a whole new perspective on the sound stage and there is definitely a larger sweet spot. I guess the designer knew what he was doing;)

Clio09 wrote: "I'm now using the 45 degree toe-in in my new condo and I have to say I'm liking it very much. I'm getting a whole new perspective on the sound stage and there is definitely a larger sweet spot. I guess the designer knew what he was doing."

Giving credit where credit's due, that's Earl Geddes' concept. I don't think he's the first to criss-cross speaker axes in front of the listening position, but he is (to the best of my knowledge) the first to specify the combination of 90 degree constant-directivity waveguides, pattern-matching in the crossover region, AND 45 degrees of toe-in, or whatever amount of toe-in is practical such that the speaker axes criss-cross in front of the listening area. So the smart thing that ye olde designer here did was to pay attention to Earl!

FYI, back in the mid-70s James Bongiorno gave a talk to our local audio club. Talking specifically about Magnepans, he recommended aiming them to cross 3-4 feet in front of the listener to widen the apparent "sweet spot". That seemed pretty radical at the time.

It's fascinating to hear a manufacturer talk so openly about his design goals and the choices he makes to achieve them. Thanks for sharing.

I should have added that I've never heard one of Duke's speakers and I've never spoken with him asking for any advice. But I hold him in high regard for his straight forward answers on the audio sites, even when it does not involve one of his speakers, or products. If only we had more designers/manufacturers/retailers like him!