Spire placement question

[daveneumann]

My Spires should be here next weekend and I wanted to get some input on how to best set them up in my room. My room is a dedicated listening room measuring 25 X 12 X 8. I plan to put them on the short wall firing down the length of the room. In reading the PDF owners manual online and applying the formulas to my room dimensions, it would put the optimal placement (measured by the center of the panel):

- 61" out from the back wall
- 41" inches from each side wall
- 66" apart
- slight toe in to inner third of panel

While it does not give specific guidance on listening seat, my plan is to position the seat about 9 feet fromt the front of each speaker but to adjust forward and backward for best sound.

Has anyone tried the ML formula for optimum placement? While 61" out from the front wall does not seem unreasonable, this formula would put them MUCH closer together than I have ever had any speaker in my room. Is this a normal placement set up for ML speakers? Do they need to be relatively close together?

By comparison, my Quad 2805's were about 50" from the front wall and 90" apart, as measured by the centers of the speakers. This set up sounded great in my room and resulted in an immersive soundstage while retaining great imaging. Before I found the ML formula, my plan was to try the Spires where my Quads sounded the best and make small adjustments from there.

I know, I should just wait until I get them and experiment...

Thanks,

Dave

 

[Bernard]

The experts (JonFo & Co) will no doubt want to know what room treatment you have, so I thought I should ask the question....

 

[C.A.P]

Try this link , It is a great starting point for reference points !

http://www.martinloganowners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7618

 

[Beakman]

I have a somewhat large L-shaped room (Bad) and a Behringer DEQ-2496 processor (good) in my system. Current positioning is: Speakers about 7 feet from front wall and 13 feet apart center to center. This places the right speaker 2-1/2 feet from the right wall and the left speaker 11 feet from the other wall. Listening position is 10 to twelve feet from the speakers in the 17 foot wide by 14 deep area as measured from face of speakers.
Wacked out setup, right?
The front to rear positioning is great but the left right staging is way too wide apart, as expected.
I use the DEQ2496 to compensate for this. It has a module that widens or narrows the stereo signals and has mS time delays for each channel. I narrow the stereo width to bring the whole image more toward the center and am experimenting with the time delays to compensate for the left wall.
So far it's working like a charm, with the best soundstage setup I've had to date.
Once again, for those with less than ideal rooms, an under $400 invetment in a DEQ2496 will save a lot of grief.
For your room, without the behringer (or eqiv), move your speakers farther and farther apart until the center image starts to weaken noticably then tweek back in little by little. Compromise on the outboard soundstage, and use room treatments on the side walls for what I call "splash control".

 

[daveneumann]

Thanks C.A.P., I will give those instructions a shot. They seem to yield a very different outcome that what is in the ML Spire PDF, but the result will be closer to where I had my Quads.

I'll post my experiences in a week or so. Thanks all!

Dave

 

[tonepub]

I'd start where you got good results with your quads first....

We always mark the floor when we get a new pair in here for review
and after about 70 pairs of speakers, the spot for good sound is usually
within about 8-12 inches of where all the other ones sounded good.

Good luck!

 

[daveneumann]

Thanks Jeff, I will try them where the Quads sounded best. Interestingly, the stand mount speakers I am using temporarily also sound best about where my Quads were located.

You have confirmed what I have noticed in other professional speaker reviews over the years -- it seems that most rooms do have a "best spot" that reviewers typically end up placing the speakers regardless of the type or make of speaker.

Dave