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best position of components in relation to spkers?

According to Jim Smith's book, "Get Better Sound," one of mantras he repeats over and over is the negative sonic effects of having your electronics positioned in between your speakers. At present my Fisher 500c and CDP are on a rack positioned between and somewhat behind (perhaps a foot or two) my actual speakers (Vandersteen 2ce's). I tweaked my system ad nauseum and the position of the speakers in relation to the room, etc. has resulted in what I consider quite satisfying sound. However, according to Jim, even with much cheaper speaker cable at longer runs, if I were to place my component rack on a side wall my overall system sound would improve significantly. Anyone tried this? Thanks for any insights!
lincnabby
sebrof's avatar
sebrof
837 posts
 
This surprises me because there's less sound behind the speakers - Assuming no Bipoles or Dipoles, and assuming the speakers are in front of the rack and away from it by a couple of feet.
Putting the rack where the music is directed just seems backwards to me.
I'm gonna try it tonight.
meadowman's avatar
meadowman
143 posts
 
I gave up running AQ Sky XLRs from the Pre to the Power amp just to be able to move the rack and sources our from between the speakers. It took a day to disconnect, move, position, and reconnect the system. Routing the cables and moving the cable lifters was another hour or so. At the end of the switch, all I can say is why the hell didn't I do this YEARS ago? I will go on step further than Jim Smith and say that not only does getting the rack out of the middle of the speakers outweigh the "longer" wire issue, it actually outweighs a substantial downgrade in IC quality. I went from AQ Sky XLRs in the the entire chain to SKY from the sources to the pre and an ancient AQ+ 16 foot run of XLR cable that is not even labeled. It looks a whole lot like mic cable in fact!
More of everything that I like and less of everything I don't was the result in my system.
lincnabby OP
56 posts
 
Well, at this point I'm persuaded to experiment myself and see if a side wall placement of components really does make a difference. To Sebrof, please let me know how it worked out in your case please!

And one other request to you all.... can anyone recommend an affordable biwire cable? My Vandy's require biwiring, and I figure I'll need at least 15 feet of cable (which is longer than my current set). I would like to spend under $200 just in case this experiment is less than a success.
Thanks again for your thoughts!
toetapfactor
77 posts
 
I recently moved my rack to a side wall keeping my power amp in the same location between the speakers.Wasnt sure if the downgrade of the IC to the amp and a 10 foot run would effect it.Everything is much better even with the cheaper and longer run of cable
fjn04
1,561 posts
 
It sounds like the opinions are pretty strong in favor of moving gear out from between your speakers. A potential negative of course, is going to a real long RCA cable to do this. I don't want to sidetrack the thread w/ this, as we have all either had experience or read about the variables.
They say under 3-4 meters is Ok, but it also depends on the preamp's ability to drive the longer cable....

Many people seem to just simply position their gear lower, which is IMO,less practical if you are running a turntable.

There is also the option of longer speaker cables. Again,
there are variables involved here too. I would think 12-15
feet would be necessary to make this work, and still look
good. The SC length needed certainly depends on if you run a stereo amp or monos. This setup would allow all gear, including the amps, to be placed on a different wall.

I have heard that Auditorium 23 speaker cables sound does not degrade in long runs. I am not suggesting that this does not hold true w/ other SC manufacturers.
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