Speaker positioning: why do audiophiles neglect this so much?


Went to a recent seminar featuring Jim Smith, well known author of the book  "Get Better Sound"  and hi fi set up guru.

The basic gist of the discussion was that the most important elements of a high end stereo installation are listening position and speaker positioning, in that order.  The actual hardware (speakers, amplifiers, source, cables etc) are of less importance relatively speaking.

Yet it is clear from this web site and it's contents, that set up is discussed much less than the actual hardware.

When I look at the Virtual Systems page on site, I'm estimating that, maybe, 10% of the systems posted are close to well set up.  Thus, hardly any of the featured hardware is performing close to it's maximum potential.

Shame, and why is it so?  Not sexy enough to talk about system set up in depth?  Lack of knowledge?  Or is it simply too hard to do and too complex a subject?

Just my 2 cents ...

bobbydd

There will be little if any sibilance behind female voices and imaging will be pinpoint and holographic

Unless there’s reverb or echo either in the recording or mix, then it’s not so defined.
So often I hear instruments well defined spatially, and the singer not so much.
Very much recording dependent, I would guess if the singer has a beautiful voice it’s not masked up so much with "tuning it".

Grrrrrr

Sorry but if you spoke about me...

I did not promote any piece of costly gear at all EVER....

I did not promote any costly "tweaks" at all EVER ... On the contrary i dont buy anything save low cost devices in some case...I promote a method of control about mechanical,electricial and especially ACOUSTICAL control and not only treatment OVER UPGRADE obsession ... All my propsed tweaks are homemade or peanuts costs...

 

 

For the rest i speak with arguments like Millercarbon did in his own way  but perhaps with less rudeness sometimes in my case... I wrote less well because English is not my native tongue... 😁😊

I speak about what i know and which is the most underestimated factor in audiophile life : acoustic and psycho-acoustic basic for speakers/room...

Then spare me your one line allusion  with no ARGUMENT....

So we have an official replacement for millercarbon. Another blowhard.

My experience is probably illustrative.  I never paid much attention to placement with my Gallo 3.1's, which seemed to have a really wide dispersion and were not sensitive to much moving around.  When I changed them for Yamaha NS-5000's I found myself having to read the books on placement and investing in a laser measuring tool.  It paid off, but I did have to push them into the living room, which messed up the furniture layout and now dominate the room.  Luckily, there's no WAF (or unluckily).  I also found I needed much longer speaker cables, and finding high end used ones were difficult, since a pair of 15' cables (my rack is not centered) really  costs the moon. The other thing is that the Yamaha's are marginally more difficult to move, but nothing like the behemoths tested in the magazines.  However, while they have the advantage of 12" woofers, therein lies the reason a lot of speakers have smaller and multiple woofers and smaller footprints.  So with most of us having speakers in living rooms, that's a pretty good argument for sealed box acoustic suspension, tall and small footprint speakers.  If you got 'em, somke 'em, which means if a dealer sells this type of speaker, I would think they would sell that benefit.  If not, then its up to individuals and the publications to educate on this aspect, the latter which I don't see doing anymore.