Speakers too wide apart?


Today on a whim I decided to move my speakers closer together. Originally they were 7ft apart. After the move, they are now 5.5ft apart. I sit about 7.5ft away. I was immediately floored by how much better my system sounded. There was a naturalness that I never heard before. Soundstage depth also increased dramatically (which may not be saying much since before I had zero depth). Most impressive was how much more holograpic the music is. This simple adjustment had an incredibly profound affect on my system. As others have pointed out on many occasion here on this forum, it pays to experiment with speaker positioning. In my case, I highly recommend adjusting speaker width.
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Some years ago when I sold Dunlavy speakers. The man himself told me that he was at work on a set of inwall SC4's. He also said they measured better than their boxed brothers. He said the only thing any two rooms have in common are that they have walls, and because of this fact he could better predict the final outcome.
James Louspeakers have many different inwalls enclosed in aircraft aluminum enclosures, some with 2 drivers and some 7ft tall with multiple drivers. These were very impressive at the CEDIA trade shows. Tom
The best type of upgrade - free :) It never ceases to amaze me how simple room placement/treatment can transform a system; I've been there and learned my lesson as well.
I also found that my speakers were too far apart and too close to the side walls. Many thanks to lots of audiogoners!

A good friend suggested that I get a CD with QSound recording technology to test my set up. One of these CDs is Amused to Death by Roger Waters. In the beginning of Track 1, there are dog barking and man-woman conversation. When speakers are set up correctly, the dog barking sound should appear at 90 degrees from the center line to the right, and the conversation should be 90 degrees to the left.

I can adjust the toe-in of the speakers to get these two sounds at different angles too. It was a fun exercise. My room is not fully symmetrical from sound absorbing point of view. So I have set my speakers at different levels of toe-in.
I experienced just the opposite and improved on central imaging by moving my speakers farther apart. Not surprisingly, since an equal triangle has been established, 9' between speakers (center) and 9' to the listening position from each speaker. Previously, I had the speakers to close together at 7.5' for aesthetic reasons. It all has to do with the room and unless you're lucky enough to have a custom designed or "perfect" size room, you end up compromising. While I have plenty of room on the sides, I lack the proper amount of depth between front and rear walls. I can get great imaging and sound staging, but I can't bring the speakers into the room far enough to eliminate unwanted bass loading. Now, due to WAF I must find a source for invisible room treatments.