HELP Speakers sound brighter and 3D stage is lost


Audiophile Gurus,

I just have moved from a bigger place to this place where my music room is 12x16 fts.

Since the room is small I have placed the speakers about 6 inches away from the walls and about 8+ft apart. Now they don’t sound nearly as good as they did in my old place where there were about 9+ft apart and 4ft away from either of the walls, I use to get a 3D stage and the overall effect was incredible. Since they are new they sounded a bit harsh in my old place as well.

My setup:
Speakers: B&W 802N (only about 30Hrs on them)
Amp: McIntosh 352Mc
CD player: Levinson 39 (I am not using a separate Pre Amp)
Cables: MIT 750 Shotgun speaker cables.
Medium impedance MIT shotgun interconnects.

Is there any thing I can do:

1. to reduce the brightness besides waiting for them to break-in.
2. What can I do to get the 3D image back?
3. Is preamp a must for this configuration?
4. Will a subwoofer like REL help by pressurizing the room?
5. Any other pointers :)

Thanks
Sukhi
sahotas
The 802's are large speakers and definitely deserve more than 6". Give them at least a couple of feet. This will make a world of difference in imaging and soundstage. I listened to the 802's this weekend and they were fully broken in and I still find them unbearably bright. For some reason those Nautilus Titaniums don't agree with me :)
See the Cardas.com website for more info on speaker break- in tips. Quick sum up: Put the speakers facing each other and reverse polarity of one of the speakers. put something over the gap to absorb some of the noice and crank them when you're not listening.

Good luck:)
You obviously need to play around with speaker placement quite a bit. You'll also have to start reading / learning about room acoustics. Your going to have pretty massive side wall reflection problem with the speakers set up like that. Keep in mind that, even with room treatments, you'll never be able to get the same width or depth of soundstage due to room constraints. Sean
>
You don't mention whether the speakers are on the short or long wall. My room is about 14x15 and I place my N802's about three feet out measured to the frt baffle from the shorter wall and about 7 feet apart center to center. Toe in is critical. If they are pointed directly at you the sound will be way too bright. I use a laser pen to aim so the center position lands about 10 inches to the outside edge of where my ear would be, resulting in a very slight total toe-in. My switch from solid state to vacuum tube amplification was also a major improvement.
The above responses pretty much sum up what I have to add. My room is about the same size as yours, but my speakers are not nearly as big. CDM 1NT's. If it were me, the first thing I would try is to pull the speakers at least one foot away from the wall, and anymore if it is possible. I'm making an assumption that the speakers are placed on the short wall? If they are not, I would try that.
My listening room is a small space too (about 13x14). I have Thiels.

I have repositioned my speakers and furniture many times. To get the big 3D image, you will need to give speakers about four feet of *clear* space behind, and clear as much from between as possible. You'll get a wider, deeper, taller soundstage; also tighter and more realistic bass; *everything* improves in a big way that throwing money at more components and tweaks cannot get. Your speakers will get more living space than you, but I have not found another solution.

On the subwoofer, I do not think that it will be very meaningful if you don't pull those speakers out first. It's like improving a sportscar that you never take out on the highway.