Speaker Height - improved bass response.

I recently replaced integrated amps and ended up disastisfied with the results. Whether this is because I expected more or was just used to the sound I don't know. However, I was prepared to replace equipment again to get the sound I was looking for. I tried a variety of speaker cables, and a few interconnects although I don't have a bunch on hand. I don't really buy into expensive power cords but I did wire a dedictated circuit with Cooper Isolated ground recepticles (I think these rival some "audiophile" expensive outlets, really well made, copper, really exceptional contact with plug, $12 per)

Then, came the economic meltdown creating some pressure on me not to just throw money at the situation but to look at some alternative, lower-cost solutions. I started investigating tweaks and wanted to share one that has really improved my listening experience.

Speaker height - although I have spent time and energy measuring distance from walls and creating an appropriate listening triangle, I did not spend as much energy adjusting the height of my speakers. This is partly because my stands are good quality, metal and made to be about 22 or 24 inches high. Even though I have had good advice from Roy Johnson of Green Mountain about floor reflections impacting bass. I just didn't make the connection. At the current height, my ear level was at about the middle of the speaker between the woofer and tweeter. A number of articles I have researched indicate ear level should be at tweeter height and typically speakers are mounted too high. I looked online at stands and was hard pressed to find stands with height options.

So, in my frustration at not being able to buy new stuff, I went out and got a metal saw blade for my chop saw, took my stands apart and cut six inches off of them. This put my ear right at tweeter level or slightly above. After painting them and putting them back together, I set up my system and was amazed to find that not only was the soundstage improved, more defined and clear but my bass response had improved dramatically. I actually had to turn my subwoofer level down quite a bit and adjust the crossover frequency as the low ranges of bass in the speakers was brought out (50 to 100 hz) where there had been kind of a suck-out before.

So my experience indicates that there is standing wave interaction with speakers depending on height and that adjusting height, not just for ear level but for bass response is a low-cost and useful exercise.

I am wondering if anyone has more technical insight into this or has had similar experiences.

thanks.