Sean, The problem which I was addressing was that a poster Jsawhitlock, in his first post, made a recommendation that the listening position be at about 7 ft with the speakers placed 6 ft apart. I have no argument with that recommendation except that its contra to Thiels recommendations and my personal experience. Thiel recommends a greater listening distance than 7 ft. As you say, 9 ft would be fine, except that when listening to the speakers 6ft apart from 9 ft away you lose (compress) your soundstage substantially - ergo, my (and your) original recommendations that the speakers be placed closer to the walls and toed in substantially to avoid 1st reflections from the wall. The problem with toe in on Thiels is that on axis they are IMHO unbearably bright, thats why when I recommended toe in with the axis well in front of the listener I was trying to set them up to minimize early reflections and on axis brightness. In a good set up for Thiels with a listening distance of 9ft the speakers would be about 8 1/2 to 9 ft apart, pointed straight ahead, and be several feet (3-4 would be best) from any wall, and even then the wall should be treated. Obviously they should be 3 to 5 feet from the back wall as well. Interestingly, while I believe he will have to compromise his listening experience substantially with the Thiels in this room, this room could work quite well with panel speakers firing down the length of the room as these can be placed quite close to the wall without creating large 1st reflection problems. By the way, are you aware if this fellow ever solved his apparent phasing problem?
