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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.
tboooe
kotta's avatar
kotta
638 posts
 
Could not agree more. A little adjustment can make a hugh difference to a well-trained ear. I've come to the conculsion as well, at least in my system, that less sounds better. Bare-wire spk. connections. Less buttons, switches that a signal goes though the better the sound as well. (I guess that's what really makes my simply Brio 3 sound so good.)
wwshull
157 posts
 
if you also take care of your first reflections you will be even more amazed
bostonbean
241 posts
 
agreed
tboooe's avatar
tboooe OP
1,009 posts
 
wwshull, I wonder if in my case, bringing the speakers closer together helped with the first reflection point? I am in a situation where I cant really put up room treatments so what I can do is limited. My speakers are now more than 3ft away from the nearest sidewall.
tvad
9,467 posts
 
You and I sit in similar positions. I'm about 8.5 feet from the speakers, and the speakers are about 8 feet apart.

In my experience, moving the speakers closer together also resulted in a deeper image, but more contained between the speakers. Having them wider apart created a wider image that extends out beyond the speakers. Finding just the right distance is tricky!

Moving them closer also had the effect of moving the first reflection points a bit farther down the side walls, so this likely helped as well. Toe-in will also affect the location of the first reflection points. You know how to use a mirror (and a friend) to find the first reflection points, yes?
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