How far away from your speakers are you?

I listen to my neighbor's corner horns. He lives two houses away.

I put them where they would not be in the way, about 20-30cm from the wall and maybe 2 m between their tweeters. If I ever sat down to listen to them, it would be at about 2 m from each speaker. However, I virtually never do it. I do not think I turned them on in weeks.

The speaker I really listen to is a Bluetooth speaker. Wherever it fits at that moment.

I have been positioning my speakers using this CD. It is available on Spotify.  https://store.acousticsounds.com/d/5456/Chesky_Records-Gold_Stereo__Surround_Sound_Set-Up_Disks-CD

My room is 16' x 22' feet with roof on shorter side 8' high and taller side 12' high. Then the kitchen also opens up to the listening area adding an additional 20' in length. It was a challenge setting up my Thiel 3.6 speakers with Mark Levinson 23.5 amp.

Speakers are 3' from the front wall firing straight into the listening area (no toe-in). Right speaker is 3' from the wall on shorter side of the roof and left speaker is 5' from the wall on taller side of the roof. Speakers are 8' apart. My listening chair is 10' from the midway point between the speakers.

Thiel speakers use first-order cross over networks and drivers are vertically aligned so that direct sound waves from the three drivers arrive at listening position at the same time. Thiel 3.6 user manual says chair should be at least 8' from the speakers for this to happen.

This arrangement can work perfectly for only one listening position. However, because the drivers are positioned in a vertical line the error introduced by a listener to the side of the speaker is very small. Also, because the driver spacing is small compared to the wavelength at the crossover frequency, the error introduced by changes in listener height are small within the range of normal seated listening heights provided the listener is 8 feet or more from the speakers."

When I am seated comfortably, my ears are approximately 36" from the floor, same as the height to a point between the mid-range driver and the tweeter. Both the distance and height are critically important when you have time and phase coherent speakers.

Some listeners find Thiel speakers to be harsh and bright. Several factors contribute to this perception/experience. First, you need a muscle amp to drive these babies. Your amp must have enough current to bring life to Thiel speakers. Second, the distance to the listening position. If you have toed-in these speakers and seated less that 8' away, you are basically hurting your ear drums. Whether you toed-in or not, your listening chair must be at least 8' away. You need to play with this.


Third, listening height. If your ears are above the level of the tweeter axis, then these speakers will sound bright. You may have some flexibility with listening height with Thiel speakers using coaxial drivers (ex: Theil 3.7).


We all spend money on audio gear and there is the bug that keep pushing you for upgrades. Bit you can get lot more from your system by playing with speaker placement and folks that cost you nothing.

I sit 8 feet away. Speakers are 7 1/2 feet apart, 2 1/2 feet from sidewalls, 3 feet from front wall. I sit 3 1/2 feet from the back wall. Speakers slightly toed-in.  
I should add that I level my speakers and they are almost identically placed with regards to distance to the side and front walls.  Makes my ocd happy!