Setup & Calibrations Part 1 Speaker placement

I was surprised not to see any treads on this subject since it is the single most important aspect of any hi-ed audio system. I would like to start by pointing out the importance of speaker placement, which is both a science and a art form. Oh sure we can talk about room dimensions, Acoustics, room treatment its endless. I would like to give you some of my advice on this subject for what its worth. I have been Selling, and designing systems for over thirty years and have what I think mastered the Art of speaker placement. It does take time and patience, (at minumum hours,sometimes days)but I truly believe its the single most important part of a fine system. Do not try placing speakers with room acoustical treatment in the room! Just leave what furniture you have to use in the room and thats all. Your objective is to get the bass & soundstage perspective correct at the listeners position. When that is done then you can one by one add your acoustical treatment to help define the soundstage and tonal balance the way you want it. My self I prefer setting up my speakers on the LONG Wall, Yes you heard that correct lol. One I find that Bass is more tunefull in most cases and there is no doubt that it throws a wider more holographic sound stage. I truly think its better in everyway. Granted if you have a very narrow room than that may not be practical. Try it both ways though. I usually start with the 1/3 rule for starters. I have to say its pretty consistant and gets you in the ball park. So 1/3 out from front wall. If you cant do thirds try 5ths, etc. The closer to the back wall will give you more bass of course but you want the bass to be very linear and tunefull. Play some stand up bass, piano, and you want to hear all notes evenly, its wrong if evey note sounds like one note !Distance from the side walls will add more upper bass or lower midrange so you will have to play with both the back wall and side wall distances to get just the right balance. I use tape on the floor to give me points of reference I can always go back to if I get lost. I usually start with my speakers about 8 feet apart and move them farther or closer depending on the sitting distance and the side walls. I listen for three thing. (1) Were I hear all bass notes clearly and tunefully (2)Good mono content, voices and instruments have good presence but open sounding. There is a fine line where if you get the speakers to far apart voices and instruments will sound larger than life. (3) You are trying to find the best position for Bass, & Soundstage. when you've achieved that you'll also notice that the room will have the least effect on the sound. Then at that point you can add your acoustical treatment to fine tune the end result. I myself try to use the least amount of acoustical treatment as possible. I am always surprised how people have this idea that you want to make the room dead. lol Im sorry but reflections are good, the key is to delay them. Defusion is a much better choice with as little absorbtion as possible. Problem with absorbtion materials is they are not linear at all frequency's. So you have to be real careful what materials you try. I will try to post a article on the coefficientcy's of different materials to show you that its critical to choose material carefully. I use as little absorbtion as possible to keep the sound live, dynamic and open sounding. Defusion is the better answer ! I will post more on this subject and talk about speaker toe in, bass issues, and treatment in my next post. Look forward to your posts & feel free to ask any questions Kevin