O.C.D. Speaker placement

I think we all need to "listen and enjoy the music more and worry less about the equipment

Enjoying the music is what the gear is for.

Great gear, set up poorly never gave me musical enjoyment.

Poor gear,set up poorly is even worse.

I've been listening and enjoying the music(and playing it)for over 40 years.

What I found out very early on, was that the level of musical enjoyment was determined by the effort I put in.

As such,the more I paricipated in the hobby, the more enjoyment, the closer I got to what it sounds like when I play live.

I disagreed with HP years ago, no system I've owned or listened to every came close to the absolute sound.
But some gear was better than others at the illusion of a live performance.

Also, those same components could get you even closer to the ideal when you tweaked them with better cables, fuses, power, racks and room tuning.

The "we all need to listen and enjoy the music more and worry less about the equipment"types I feel, don't listen or enjoy the music as much as those of us who do sweat the details.Not to say they aren't content, just saying I wouldn't be with a compromised set up of stock gear, with no power conditioning or room treatment.

All the access to all the music in the world is only as good as the gear it's played thru and how that gear is set up.

I can be pleased listening to music in my car,but I know that's not as good as it gets.

I've been spoiled.I've had friends who've enjoyed great systems and the sound of the music thru their systems was much better than mine was in those early years.

So my journey started about 40 years ago,and TAS influenced me. Had it not been for that and other mags I would be richer in the bank account but would never have had the enjoyment of listening to the music thru system that let all the music thru not just some of it.

Owning thousands of cd's, lp's,and downloaded music mean nothing if you are only hearing a fraction of what's been recorded because of compromised gear and set up.

As much as I admire the car collection of Jay Leno, he can only drive one at a time.
So best to make that drive the best one that you can.

Best to listen and enjoy that one selection of music as best it can be reproduced.

I think the trend today towards mediocrity and not perfection,is a major reason why things have gone downhill in more ways than just music.

For me,it's more about the pusuit than the end of the hunt that gives me pleasure, not pain in this hobby.No worries here,just anticipation and excitement about what's over the next audio hill and into the promised land.
If I have any worry, it's that I may not live long enough to enjoy the treasures yet to be discovered.

Everytime I've ended at where I felt it was as good as it can get, I'm over and done, and it's time to just listen to the music, I got bored shortly thereafter.

It's why the merrygoround never goes out of fashion, and dogs have so much fun chasing after their own tails.

If there was no fun in it, then both would have vanished long ago.

When the fun of this hobby is over for me,then it will be time to join the "for listeners only" club.

1/4" makes much difference with my speakers. My speakers have laser sharp images and very defined sound stage. True touchable 3D sound! My speaker's front baffle is 1" thick. Usually, I put tweeters (mount from back of baffle) 3/4" from front of baffle to make time-coherent sound. For experiment I put the tweeter from 1/4" from front of baffle last week. The sound was aggressive, forwarded, not natural, and not musical. So, I put the tweeter at the back of baffle (1" from the front of baffle). And the sound is too much laid back and not natural. I didn't like it! Finally, I had to mount tweeters 3/4" for the best musical sound. 1/4" matters! If your speakers don't matter for 1", yours system doesn't have good sound images or defined stage.

I hear many recordings have different center points. For different songs I move my head 3"~7" (sometimes) to left or right to find a sweet spot. I think it's because recording studio use inferior speakers. And the condition of editing engineer is different every times. Also, not all engineers have same hearing abilities. Recording studios should equip precision image speakers to make every songs reference quality.

Many speakers are placed on uneven floors that speakers don't stand straight up. I use a bubble level for speaker placement with a tape measure. Tweeters may be same distance from the listening position. However, if one of speakers is looking up or down, it will make poor sound. You should check the level of your speakers.

Earlier in this thread someone suggested twice that you purchase "Get Better Sound", by Jim Smith. He is very well thought of in the industry.
Not only does he give good guidelines, he describes how to evaluate the results as well as any meticulous listener would want.
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Bravo Lacee!! No disrespect, but are you female or male.

You hit the nail straight on the head.

It's funny that this thread hasn't died off yet and, being the o.p., my view on this question has changed quite a bit since I posted this question.

I believe that great sound from our equipment isvery very important but that 1/4" here or a 1/4" there isn't what makes the difference between good snd great sound. I don't buy into that anymore even though Ido believe placement IS important but I believe that the quality and synergy within every single piece of the chain is actually more important than laser precise placement.

My current set-up sounds better than ever simply beacause of power cords, interconnects, power conditioners, and room treatments than I could have ever obtained through just speaker placement WITHOUT the aforementioned.