Best Speaker Placement Rules you've used?

http://www.etfacoustic.com/

wow, sorry guys thought ETF was pretty much common knowledge.

Great easy to use program/measurement system that takes the theory out of speaker placement and lets you know what is going on with your system.

Price has gone up to $475, but that includes calibrated mic/ mic preamp. There are some new modules also to play with and add to the system that some may find useful.

If you have more than $500 in interconnects and not this system the cart is before the horse.

Don't forget the program for setting up specific brands of speakers in various sized rooms on the Rives site. I have found that it is a better starting point than Cardas but both are just starting points.

Its easy to get the initial triangle set up sounding good - its a totally different thing when you really get it perfected. That takes a lot of time and listening. Using the triangle as a basic configuration I like to get the bass down first, using a Radio Shack meter and a test disc. Once I've got the flattest bass I can get I start working on minimizing the effects of 1st reflections and getting diffusive materiels on the front and back walls. Then I start making small changes involving toe in, speaker/listening positions. Its taken as long as 3 months for me to really maximize a room set up. Be patient.

Cinematic Systems, Does this EFT devise measure things like width, height, and depth of image? Does it measure intensity of reflections from the rooms surfaces? Or does it just measure frequency response (not that that is a bad thing to do)?

Well width height and depth of image are a function of reflected energy which it does measure. So it can maximize the image your speaker system is capable of producing.

It will tell you how far your speakers are from the microphone, which can be very important, it will show a spectral decay plot and impulse response of your system and room which will help you find problematic reflections, vibrating objects etc.

It is extremely helpful for so little money.

It will rate your room acoustics versus RT standards and it does do frequency and phase.and many more things that you can read about on the website.

Click the link I provided in my 2nd post.

It will give you a visual tactile report your system's performance and "really" help you understand and solidify your system in a pretty short time.

Still use Cardas and Allison to get a starting point, but that's all they are is a good starting point.

Put them where they sound good.

Seriously.