Speaker Positioning


I know from speaker position is critical in achieving the best results from a given system. Is there a dynamic way to measure placement of each speaker to make certain they are the exact same distances from back/side wall, cabinets, seating, etc. beyond a measuring tape and listening to the results? Seems to me if minor differences pay large returns, you could be tinkering with this a long time.  Thanks for the indulgence.  
sj00884
Other than following advice on how not to blow something up or catch fire, I take everything put it in a jar and shake well. Dump the mess on the floor and take a little from here, a pinch there, then let your ears decide.


LOL T-Jockey! That is exactly what I am doing, somewhere between 1/8-1/5, tweeter height, etc. etc. etc.  all great free things to try!

I did purchase the cheap Bosch laser rangefinder.  If only I could find a good used mass spectrometer. 8)
^^^What tablejockey said!

I use a variation of the Vandersteen method and Cardas.  Then adjust according to your tastes/preference.
I tried the Cardas formula and it seemed to work fine. I’m always trying any formula I can. The one that worked the best for me, ironically, was a formula on YouTube (can’t remember the source) for quick decent sound for most rectangular rooms with speakers against the short walls. I thought...what the heck and it yielded a better result. It was suggested that it’s only a starting point and to tweak from there.

It’s 1/5 width of room to the tweeter from the side walls.

And 1/5 depth of room to the tweeter from the backwall.

Next, experiment with seated position and speaker toe-in.

Best result I’ve had is nothing between the speakers. I moved my rack to the side wall.
This helped imaging immensely. It is said that a lot of the imaging/soundstage is killed by stuff between the speakers.

It sounded much better than the sound room at Upscale Audio. This room (no longer in that house) crushed most tailored sound rooms I’ve experienced. It also had an acoustic ceiling made from concrete (no asbestos) and wood floors. One wall was heavy stone so I attached high relief wood carvings (and cuckoo clock) all along the opposite wall to mirror the stone wall as much as possible.

I miss that room.

FWIW.

My experience is that no room is symmetrical; the room is challenged such that one speaker has to be closer to its side wall than the other speaker is to the other sidewall.

I used to fight with trying to get the bass to sound" right" versus one speaker sounding louder than the other speaker AND the central image not being where it was supposed to be.

For me, the solution is to get the bass right, and, then, use the measuring tape to ensure the tweeters are equal distance from my ears at the seating position. 

Center image becomes focused.

The problem, then, becomes adjusting the speaker position from the front wall to improve the soundstage without losing bass. It's a trade off.

If the speaker is not too large for the room, you should achieve some amount of the desired disappearing act. 

Again, my experience, FWIW.

Thanks for listening,

Dsper