Speaker Placement Info Needed

On every speaker I've tried, they sound best way out from the wall behind them. At least 4 to 5 feet, but 6 to 7 feet is even better. This gets rid of boominess and provides a lot of soundstage depth. I like my speakers 8 to 10 feet apart and at least 3 feet from the side walls. I sit 11 feet away. This setup produces a fairly convincing soundstage but does require a decent sized room. Big rooms almost always sound better than small rooms. Get F. Alton Everest's "The Master Handbook of Acoustics" if you would like to understand and avoid the problems of room resonance modes.

the CARDAS system is a good starting point for positioning speakers and listening position. look at FAQ's on audio asylum for details. off hand it sounds like your speakers could be further away from your back wall but this would depend a lot on the distance your listening position is from the rear wall and the size of your room. works best if the two distances are the same (for me at least). also experiment with pointing the speakers over a 90 degree angle, from straight ahead to crossed well in front of the listener position and listen to the differences in the sound stage. be patient and have fun.

With your speakers only 20" from the back wall you're probably getting a lot of room reinforcement, which is not necessarily a bad thing depending on your room, equipment, and tastes. I'd first try moving them out about 4' from the wall just to see what happens, but you're likely to find that the sound separates more from the room and the speakers, and the soundstage should open up considerably(as the speakers are closer to you, you might not want as much toe-in as those B&W tweeters can get a little bright close up). One thing to watch with this is if the midrange still blends seamlessly with the treble, as with B&Ws I've found them not to be as coherent as others in a nearfield setup. After trying 4' out from the wall you can scootch them back and forth depending on what sounds better(at some points it will sound more boomy than others as you move in and out of room nodes), but at least this way you'll know what your speakers can sound like without as much influence from the room. Best of luck.

Tim

I tend to start with the 1/3 rule or as close as you can as possible. Bring you speakers out 1/3 of the way out into the room. Keep you listening position the same distance (1/3). The distance behind you also about the same dimensions (1/3) as the other two distances. Keep your speakers spread apart the same distance as your distance between you and your speakers.If your sitting 8ft away from your speakers try speading your speakers 8ft apart etc....this should be a good starting point and adjust from there. Hope that makes sense? It worked for me! Good luck!