Speaker positioning games. Where can I go from here?


https://i.imgur.com/z7BZYqy.jpg

Last Thursday night I was messing with my speaker positioning. I’m nwver happy with the bass but I am barely into building my endgame system so I think some of that will worked out.

anyway, I moved my speakers (Focal 907v on stands) from 13” (back of cab to front wall) out to 22”. Bass is lessened but it’s most noticeable in bass attack. But there’s a fullness I didn’t expect.

I then toed them in which really made the vocals pop into that center position and all around imaging is much improved. The left speaker is 40” from a wall of windows and the right has nothing next to it for 13’. For the toe in I left the outside corner of the cabinet at 22” from the wall but rotated so the inside rear corner is now 21.5” from front wall. I think this improved imaging by lessening reflection on the left side.

I sit on a couch with a table between it and the back wall. My ear is ~18” from the back wall (drywall). The drivers are 91” apart and 98” to my ear. I think lessening early reflections and some combing has made things sound better.

My system build is glacially slow. So far I have the power amp I want and that’s it. All other pieces will be swapped out and sold as I replace them. My plan for this calendar year is to replace the Project DC with 2M Blue with a SL1200GR with possibly a Nag MP200. Next year, maybe around March replace the current line stage (Schiit Sys-temporary) with an Odyssey Candela (tubed line stage) and Buchardt S400 speakers in the summer. My feeling is that these first 2 pieces alone will really bolster my bass I response.

But in the meantime. What other positioning tweaks can I try? My room is basically a horizontal rectangle with the living room/listening spot on the left half with the rig on the long wall.

thanks.

gochurchgo
Um, cover your TV, and toe out more.

If your imaging / positioning laterally is poor, it means you need more room treatment to the sides.
@erik_squires it certainly snapped in as my spot now is square in the sweet spot. Music now sounds like its emanating from the tv. The tv is 18” back from the speakers, could it still be reflecting?

the sound is brighter. I have enough speaker cable to take the speakers another 2-3” forward so I’ll try that. I don’t think it will put them close enough to land the listening position in the pressurized area but seems to be taking more and more of the room out of the sound (for better or worse)
When I first got Magnepan 3.6 speakers, I methodically meaured the room. Then calculated the spots 1/3... 1/4... 1/5... 1/6... 1/7... 1/8... 1/9 and made a chart. trying to stay away from even distances, and keep odd distances. Turned out the 1/5 and 1/7 from two different distances (from farthest wall, as a closer wall where a pair of closets cut the entryway and kitchen apart were the same..So I used that distance to start. Sinc it also had a 'from rear wall' distance good for Magnepans. nine years later I still like it as the best sounding distance or my now Magnepan 20.7 speakers.   
Just mentioning how I decided where to start.    
At this point I have exact distances from side wall, right edge and left edge written down. So if I move them, I can get them back to the exact same spot. The most I have changed since getting the toe in right is an inch for each speaker farther from side walls ... LOL
OP:

So long as you are happy. But music should not just sound centered. It should sound as if it effortlessly encompasses the entire range from L to R and sometimes beyond. If you only hear it as coming from the center, you aren’t there yet.

Another kind of "not there yet" situation is you hear a L, C and R image, but nothing in between. That is, there appear to be 3 speakers in front of you, and you can localize the 3. That’s’ not done yet either.
@elizabeth i did try the rule if 5ths and 7ths but I want to ask you, for you is it more about the imaging or the bass?

@erik_squires vocals come from the tv but I do get some left and right. I will pull back on the toe and see what it does.

as for the bass, I think my room is killing it and there really isn’t much I can do about the system placement as the one spot that makes the most sense is floor to ceiling windows and I don’t want to advertise what I have (though it’s not too impressive compared to others here)