I went through a similar experience with my Maggies. Even a quarter inch change in the toe-in had a noticable effect on the soundstage. My floor was not entirely level either, and leveling the speakers helped as well.
Speaker set up tweak, maybe old, but worth repeat.
This may not be news to many of you, but I was recently reminded of the benefits of precise speaker placement.
I had to move my speakers, and when I replaced them, I took the time to make certain they were both at precisely the same angle:
1) On the vertical plane (I found that with Martin-Logans in my room, with my listening chair, I must extend the rear spikes to make the panel closer to vertical as opposed to the factory set "leaned back" position)
2) On the other vertical plane- or plumb (not tilted left or right, my floor is apparently not perfectly level)
3) Toe in- set using a laser level-- place it against each side of the speaker. Aiming for where your head is in the money seat works best for my room & speakers, but you may find you like less or more toe in- the point is, make sure they're equal and that your speaker is pointing where you think it is (mine were not pointing where I thought they were and the $15 laser level was very enlightening)-- I stuck pieces of masking tape at the target points and tweaked until I liked the sound, imaging the best.
For a while, I was convinced my right ear was going bad- but since I've done this, my soundstage is no longer shifted slightly left, and getting the panels matched up in the vertical plane has improved midrange clarity. The amount they were "off" before was very small, to be sure, but panels are pretty "beamy" on the vertical plane-- if you stand up while listening there is a pretty big change.
Anyhow, just a reminder on this important thing. I didn't find a thread just like this anywhere else so hopefully this isn't a total re-hash of something-- I think we all know it's important, but I personally hadn't spent enough time lately on this aspect of tweaking.
I had to move my speakers, and when I replaced them, I took the time to make certain they were both at precisely the same angle:
1) On the vertical plane (I found that with Martin-Logans in my room, with my listening chair, I must extend the rear spikes to make the panel closer to vertical as opposed to the factory set "leaned back" position)
2) On the other vertical plane- or plumb (not tilted left or right, my floor is apparently not perfectly level)
3) Toe in- set using a laser level-- place it against each side of the speaker. Aiming for where your head is in the money seat works best for my room & speakers, but you may find you like less or more toe in- the point is, make sure they're equal and that your speaker is pointing where you think it is (mine were not pointing where I thought they were and the $15 laser level was very enlightening)-- I stuck pieces of masking tape at the target points and tweaked until I liked the sound, imaging the best.
For a while, I was convinced my right ear was going bad- but since I've done this, my soundstage is no longer shifted slightly left, and getting the panels matched up in the vertical plane has improved midrange clarity. The amount they were "off" before was very small, to be sure, but panels are pretty "beamy" on the vertical plane-- if you stand up while listening there is a pretty big change.
Anyhow, just a reminder on this important thing. I didn't find a thread just like this anywhere else so hopefully this isn't a total re-hash of something-- I think we all know it's important, but I personally hadn't spent enough time lately on this aspect of tweaking.
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- 4 posts total
- 4 posts total