Speaker Width?


Hello all,

Currently my speakers are 12' apart and each speaker is about 10' from my listening position. Picture here: https://imgur.com/a/etiV2q8

Would it make sense for me to move them closer together? (switching with my amp and subwoofer on each side). Curious on thoughts and how people typically space their speakers!
bclark8923
You know, IMHO, it's not hte speakers, it's the cabinet.

If you could get a simple single-width rack, all your problems get solved.
That cabinet is killing any chance of good imaging and soundstaging. 
Start by using the Herbies Gliders and move the speakers away from the side wall and closer to the console. Then pull the speaks forward with possible toe-in.

Your TT may need to be moved due to acoustic reverberation from the speaker cabinet. 

This is experimentation, it may not be your final positioning.


You're getting a lot of good help from everyone already. As you just found even seemingly small moves can make a big improvement, especially when starting from such a low level. 

A couple more seemingly small ideas that should help a lot- that plastic tote box sitting on the right on the coffee table? Even small stuff like that is a surface that reflects sound that ruins imaging. Even that green sofa cushion or whatever it is on the left. If you can't move these maybe play with trying to at least get the stuff ruining the sound to be the same on each side.

Speaking of symmetry, maybe its the photo and maybe that's not the sweet spot but it sure looks cockeyed to me. If it really is as bad as it looks then your biggest bang by far will be to tweak the speakers and the listening spot into as close to perfect symmetry as you can possibly manage.

As others have said some work best pointed right at you, some in a little more, others out a little more. But regardless of whatever that is they all work best when pointed exactly the same and at exactly the same distance. Exactly means exactly. Measure carefully and tweak the speakers until they are pointed as close to perfect symmetry as you can get. Within 1/8" is a good goal. It looks like you are at least a foot off center so this should make a huge difference.

In case you're wondering, all this tweaking will pay big dividends when looking for that new home. Its almost impossible to teach someone what to look for. But once you do it you just know.
I hate to break up the party but getting back to cold hard reality for a second, as it turns out, generally speaking, speakers should be a lot closer together rather than a lot farther apart. Yes, I know what you’re thinking, “but the soundstage will be wider when the speakers are far apart.”
Thanks! Yeah a lot of those boxes and what not were just out while I was cleaning and moving everything around.

the picture is cockeyed because I had to use pano mode to get the whole room in the view but things are equally spaced and placed.

theres definitely no getting rid of the TV stand as this is a mixed use living room and my girlfriend likes the stand.

and bookshelves wouldn’t work we normally have a 75” TV up there and bookshelf’s on top of the TV stand would cover up part of the TV. 

Fortunately these are front ported and not rear ported to allow for more flexibility with rear wall placement.

i could put acosutic panels behind the speakers what are thoughts on that as well?