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If you don't have a wide sweet spot, are you really an audiophile?

Hi, it’s me, professional audio troll. I’ve been thinking about something as my new home listening room comes together:

The glory of having a wide sweet spot.

We focus far too much on the dentist chair type of listener experience. A sound which is truly superb only in one location. Then we try to optimize everything exactly in that virtual shoebox we keep our heads in. How many of us look for and optimize our listening experience to have a wide sweet spot instead?

I am reminded of listening to the Magico S1 Mk II speakers. While not flawless one thing they do exceptionally well is, in a good room, provide a very good, stable stereo image across almost any reasonable listening location. Revel’s also do this. There’s no sudden feeling of the image clicking when you are exactly equidistant from the two speakers. The image is good and very stable. Even directly in front of one speaker you can still get a sense of what is in the center and opposite sides. You don’t really notice a loss of focus when off axis like you can in so many setups.

Compare and contrast this with the opposite extreme, Sanders' ESL’s, which are OK off axis but when you are sitting in the right spot you suddenly feel like you are wearing headphones. The situation is very binary. You are either in the sweet spot or you are not.

From now on I’m declaring that I’m going all-in on wide-sweet spot listening. Being able to relax on one side of the couch or another, or meander around the house while enjoying great sounding music is a luxury we should all attempt to recreate.
erik_squires
erik_squires OP
16,851 posts
 
I'd like to push back a little bit against the idea of a speaker with a wide sweet spot not being great in the middle.

Let's take 3 common models, the Magico S1 Mk II, Revels and modern Wilsons.

They all have great imaging in the center spot, but the Wilson's dont do as well off axis.
I think this blows out the idea that you can only get a great sweet spot with a narrow one.
arcticdeth's avatar
arcticdeth
1,572 posts
 
Hahahhhaha
what ?

 Tweeters give the floating music thing. 
    No, wait what was thos thread about. N!

nvrmind. 

 Wait, what.  ??
tomic601's avatar
tomic601
13,182 posts
 
pretty much all my field recordings are simple two microphone gigs, piano the exception. Multi track in the studio, well those are not references, just flavors we like. i am not going to play your argument game, too many neat acoustic musical events to enjoy in reverberant space.....
erik_squires OP
16,851 posts
 
Acoustic controls could often be, or generally, more powerful impact than the upgrade of any piece of gear


Yep, and a good sounding room will often gets people off the merry go round of gear buying and trading.  "What kind of cables will fix the boomy bass?  My speakers are too bright so what kind of power conditioner do I need" all sorts of issues audiophiles go chasing vanish.
mahgister's avatar
mahgister
13,753 posts
 
Yep, and a good sounding room will often gets people off the merry go round of gear buying and trading.
It is what happened to me....Any upgrade, even some good one i dream about, seems to me now a bit ridiculous like useless spending of money for some improvement, yes, but no more comparable to what  my acoustics controls and treatment were, huge S.Q. increase, then....

Most well chosen good gear, the right speakers for the right room for sure, will create miracles only with acoustical embeddings treatment and controls.... Not so much without any in most room..... I am with you about that 100%....

My best wishes to you.....
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