AudioCircle
Audio/Video Gear and Systems => Owner's Circles => Von Schweikert Audio Owners => Topic started by: penthouse-D on 27 Oct 2009, 09:06 pm
-
Hello everyone. I'm new to VS and the forum. Thanks in advance for your help and your extremely informative posts. I just took delivery of my new VR4-SR mkIII's. Wow, was I excited to hook them up to my MC402,C46. UGHH. what a disappointment. Albert has been extremely helpful,but will they really sound that much better? Can anyone give me a little insight..how long? Suggestions?
-
Before I got my VR5 Anniversaries I owned the VR4 SR MKIIs. My electronics are all McIntosh like yours and I must say they were good from day one but glorious after break in. You need to give them at least 200 hours but will also notice another level of sonics at the 400 hour mile marker. My Annies required the same amount of break in time. Just take comfort in the fact that you now own the best speaker out there in that price range, period.
-
Hello Penthouse-D,
Welcome to the AC.
We have the VR 4 SR mk III also.
Any new speaker need time to break-in.
How long depends of a few parameters like type of wire, power condition, components and even room acoustics.
You ask us if they will sound realy that much better? Better than what?
Please tell us a bit more.
Regards,
Cor
-
Penthouse-D
Break-in of speakers and other components is real enough but it should not be a case of new speakers starting out sounding so awful you are totally disappointed. As Cor mentioned, some further details are needed but I'd also recommend double-checking the connections on everything to make sure it's all hooked up as it should be (it happens, check the archives) or that everything is ok further up the chain. If everything is as it should be and the new speakers still sound awful, I'd start looking closer at the speakers to make sure nothing was damaged in shipping etc. But give us more insight here, what in particular is so disappointing to your ears?
Best
-
Delacroix hit a lot of the nails on their heads; its important to state what about the speakers you are so disappointed with...
I can relate, although not with VSA speakers. I took delivery earlier in the year on some GR Research LSs after reading a lot of professional and personal reports on how great they were....
From day one I had been disappointed; come to find it, my disappointment was related to a lot of things outside of the speaker. I have since upgraded my preamp and sources; and need to upgrade my amplification; but I get closer to happiness every time I make a change in the right area.
Room treatments made a huge difference as well.
I don't know what your issue is with the VSA; but if I had to make a suggestion, perhaps look at the Mcintosh preamp. The MC 402 is generally considered a great amplifier; but perhaps the combination of the Mcintosh amp and the Mcintosh preamp is giving you too much of one thing and the VSA is highlighting this.
-
perhaps look at the Mcintosh preamp. The MC 402 is generally considered a great amplifier; but perhaps the combination of the Mcintosh amp and the Mcintosh preamp is giving you too much of one thing and the VSA is highlighting this.
I run the C46 and 501s and am mystified by your suggestion. What is "too much of one thing"?
-
Penthouse..
One of our European brothers here on the circle discovered that customs had removed his bass drivers to check for contraband. Are you here in the states or did customs have their hands on your speakers? :o
-
Penthouse:
What brand speakers did you have before?
Cheers
Charlie
-
Wow. Thanks for the many responses. Believe it or not, I started upgrading my system with the Mac stuff. I had Infinity Ren 90's from the 80's. You may find this hard to believe, but before I sold them, I had them hooked up to the new stuff and they sounded really good. I live in a NYC apt. and I can't have them 3 feet from the wall. about 1 foot seems to be max.. They are 7 feet apart and about 1 inch toed in. They just aren't full. Very little "soundstage", and no punch. I spoke with Albert before shipment. He was extremely helpful. He said it was OK to have them up against the wall because they were front baffled. My room is 20X21. I sit about 12 feet from the front of the speakers. I have to work with what I have. I am using the supplied little rubber feet under the disks. I have hardwood floors but the area rug runs almost to the front of the speakers. I'm considering removing them. I have a PS Audio powere conditioner with PNF Audio biwire speaker cables. (Read the reviews). I really thought they'd have a lot more "punch". ALbert has asked me to be patient. I will,but I'm fairly disapponted and need some suggestions.
-
Hey Penthouse,
Placement that close to the front wall should give you good bass and your MAC electronics should have excellent synergy with any VSA speaker. I can't understand why your VR4s aren't throwing a huge soundstage. My VR4s had a ton of low end, excellent resolution of detail and a big soundstage especially after reasonable break in. I'm sure you have checked all your connections but just to be sure, check all your speaker cable terminations and ICs too for that matter. It's possible that you have them connected out of phase. Get your hands on a stereo test cd or a good mono recording and confirm phasing by seeing if your mono image is dead center and not spread out across the soundstage. If your bass drivers are out of phase that will result in a thin bass. Be patient my friend and trust me and others here on the circle when we say that you own one hell of a speaker there...much, much better than you old Infinitys.
-
Penthouse:
Do you think the Infinity's were more efficient than the VSA's? If they were at the same preamp volume level the Infinity's would sound louder than the VSA's. Louder is not always better. Comprende? Just a thought. We VSA owners are more or less a bunch of happy campers. Once in a blue moon an unhappy owner comes along. You'll get things right. Don't think it's your electronics. Mac gear is top notch. I've got the 220 pre and a 352 amp. Drives the living crap out of my VR4-GEN III HSE speakers.
Cheers
Charlie
-
Steve:
I'm using the 8 ohm taps.
Cheers
Charlie
-
One way to adjust the soundstage is to use the rear ambience level controls. You may want to break in the speakers with them all the way up. After break in, start with a low level and then turn up the volume until the soundstage is seamless between the speakers (no hole) and dimensional.
-
You guys are great. Thanks for the help and concern. My Infinity's were 4 Ohms,and fairly efficient. I'm not looking for volume, I'm looking for "richness" regardless of volume. Charlie, you're running @8 ohms? Albert suggested 4, but I'll give it a try. As I said, I'll be patient. I realize that they need to be broken in a bit. I also realize my listening room setup isn't optimal. Keep the suggestions comming. I'll keep you posted. Thanks!
-
8 ohm taps here. :dance:
-
Penthouse:
My speakers are rated at 6 ohms. I never had an amp that had a 6 ohm tap. Been using 8 ohm tap from day one.
What happens like say a speaker is 6 ohm and it's hooked up to a 4 ohm tap. Louder? Softer? Or is that a no no. I haven't a clue so that's why I'm asking
Cheers
Charlie
-
Hi Charlie. In response to your question. I'm clueless. lol
-
Charlie,
Why don't you just try it and report back?
You are not going to hurt anything.
The impedance rating of a speaker varies with frequency. The rating of 6 or 8 or 4 is a "nominal" impedance. That means that over most of the frequencies it is around that number. It will be higher at some frequencies and lower at others. You should not feel that you have to use a certain tap from your amp. Try all of them and listen. The tap that sounds best with your combination of speakers, wire and amp is the one to use.
Do make sure you turn the amp off when changing speaker connections.
-
Yo Wayne!
Gotcha. Will do and report back.
Cheers
Charlie
-
I switched back and forth between the 4 ohm and 8 ohm taps and quite frankly could not hear a nickel's worth of difference. Of course I'm old and have tin ears. :cry:
-
penthouse....
Hi
Here is some advice:
Remove the PS conditioner and run the MC402 directly to a live AC outlet.
You have autoformer and the speakers are rated at 4 Ohm so it schould be connected into the 4 Ohm tap.
As other has mentioned, break in them properly and it takes time to do so. If you can play loud, then you schould do so, I mean really loud. Don't worry about clipping the speakers the amplifer will protect it. Let the powergaurd flash once in a while. Break in the speakers for a week(loud) and have the system on at all time as well. Play a good Hard Rock music with lots of bass and gitarr, I did that to my system and it works great.
Your room has not any good room ratio and it can degrade the speakers performance, it's allmost cubical.
Congrats and good luck.
Thanks
-
I switched back and forth between the 4 ohm and 8 ohm taps and quite frankly could not hear a nickel's worth of difference. Of course I'm old and have tin ears. :cry:
Yo Steve!
You beat me to it. Now I don't have to bother.
Betcha your not as old as I am. I'm 78. So there son Gotcha!!
Cheers
Charlie
-
Wow. Thanks for the many responses. Believe it or not, I started upgrading my system with the Mac stuff. I had Infinity Ren 90's from the 80's. You may find this hard to believe, but before I sold them, I had them hooked up to the new stuff and they sounded really good. I live in a NYC apt. and I can't have them 3 feet from the wall. about 1 foot seems to be max.. They are 7 feet apart and about 1 inch toed in. They just aren't full. Very little "soundstage", and no punch. I spoke with Albert before shipment. He was extremely helpful. He said it was OK to have them up against the wall because they were front baffled. My room is 20X21. I sit about 12 feet from the front of the speakers. I have to work with what I have. I am using the supplied little rubber feet under the disks. I have hardwood floors but the area rug runs almost to the front of the speakers. I'm considering removing them. I have a PS Audio powere conditioner with PNF Audio biwire speaker cables. (Read the reviews). I really thought they'd have a lot more "punch". ALbert has asked me to be patient. I will,but I'm fairly disapponted and need some suggestions.
Plain and simple; THEY ARE TOO CLOSE TO THE WALL BEHIND THEM!
-
there's already plenty of good suggestions in here, but i'm gonna try and give you my take.
you said your speakers are 7 feet apart and you sit 12 feet away. personally, "i" find that "i" like the sound from my speakers best when the listening position in the same as the speakers distance from each other. ie...my speakers are about 8.5 feet apart and my listening position is about 8.5 feet from the front of the speakers.
just for an experiment, move your speakers into the room so that they are 7 feet away from your listening position to see how that effects the sound. this will also give you much more distance from the rear wall. then move your speakers back to their original position and move your listening postion so that it's 7 feet away from the front of your speakers.
if you like this equilateral method of placement, just experiment with speaker placement and position until you find a happy medium. good luck and have fun!
kevin t
ps...i'm not sure what "front baffled" means. is that the same as front ported?
-
I switched back and forth between the 4 ohm and 8 ohm taps and quite frankly could not hear a nickel's worth of difference. Of course I'm old and have tin ears. :cry:
Yo Steve!
You beat me to it. Now I don't have to bother.
Betcha your not as old as I am. I'm 78. So there son Gotcha!!
Cheers
Charlie
Gavin....Steve....I've been called worse :lol:
-
there's already plenty of good suggestions in here, but i'm gonna try and give you my take.
you said your speakers are 7 feet apart and you sit 12 feet away. personally, "i" find that "i" like the sound from my speakers best when the listening position in the same as the speakers distance from each other. ie...my speakers are about 8.5 feet apart and my listening position is about 8.5 feet from the front of the speakers.
just for an experiment, move your speakers into the room so that they are 7 feet away from your listening position to see how that effects the sound. this will also give you much more distance from the rear wall. then move your speakers back to their original position and move your listening postion so that it's 7 feet away from the front of your speakers.
if you like this equilateral method of placement, just experiment with speaker placement and position until you find a happy medium. good luck and have fun!
kevin t
ps...i'm not sure what "front baffled" means. is that the same as front ported?
My educated guess is the further he gets them out into the room, the better they'll sound.
-
I agree with the triangle suggestion of kgturner and ditching the PS audio piece as suggested by McTwins. My guess is that you are sitting too far away from the speakers to get the proper imaging with them being so close together - see what happens if you spread them out or sit closer. I would also obviously check polarity of the speaker wires. Another suggestion would be to turn off the rear ambient speakers (if your model has them) and see if that makes a difference - it did on my VR-7's which are also close to the rear walls/corners.
The guys above have given you great suggestions. Unless the speakers are bad (Albert can guide you to test them), somewhere in this thread lies your solution(s).
-
Great suggestions all! :thumb:
May I add that coming from the OP's speakers the SRs may indeed be less full at least in comparison. The Infinity speakers from the 90s used an fiber impregnated injection molded polyprop woofer. This particular model had 10" woofers per side. By today's standards these woofers are not as stiff as the SEAS Aluminum units and also not as fast. In other words by today's engineering standards they have poorer YM rations and thus longer settling times that's why Infinity always recommended that the owner supply as much juice as humanly possible :green: . This all can give a fuller sound at the expense of bass definition and pitch.
Nothing wrong there. I believe that every listener has the God given right to tune his system according to his own biases. What I'm getting at is to approximate this sound, there is something else one might want to try. This "full" quality is also a quality associated with speakers that are underdamped either on the amplifier end or on the speaker end. As such using the 8 ohm taps should theoretically have less damping into a 4 ohm load and should sound weightier and fuller but slower and less tuneful. McIntosh however, does their trannies differently from everybody else so this might not necessarily follow that existing rule of thumb. On the speaker end, there's something in the manual that most never try. Remove some of the dacron thus lessening the acoustic damping. If this works keep the stuffing removed and keep it somewhere as someday you might need it later.
I do recommend however that the Dacron part be done after at the very least 300 hours of heavy play because taking the stuff out is much easier than stuffing them back in unless you have a skinny armed, small handed person at your service.
As for punch. Punch's formant transients live mostly in the midrange at or above 100Hz. The aerogel units are stiff as heck so stuff like vocals should be A-ok from the start but will take some time for percussive events. Patience is required because in the start the stiff surrounds will translate these attacks to harshness way up in the audio band. After being run in and the midrange unit can move as freely as designed, the harshness will go and the punch will appear.
Signed sincerely,
JackD201, South East Asian Run-On Sentence Champion 2006-Present :duh:
-
Great suggestions all! :thumb:
May I add that coming from the OP's speakers the SRs may indeed be less full at least in comparison. The Infinity speakers from the 90s used an fiber impregnated injection molded polyprop woofer. This particular model had 10" woofers per side. By today's standards these woofers are not as stiff as the SEAS Aluminum units and also not as fast. In other words by today's engineering standards they have poorer YM rations and thus longer settling times that's why Infinity always recommended that the owner supply as much juice as humanly possible :green: . This all can give a fuller sound at the expense of bass definition and pitch.
Nothing wrong there. I believe that every listener has the God given right to tune his system according to his own biases. What I'm getting at is to approximate this sound, there is something else one might want to try. This "full" quality is also a quality associated with speakers that are underdamped either on the amplifier end or on the speaker end. As such using the 8 ohm taps should theoretically have less damping into a 4 ohm load and should sound weightier and fuller but slower and less tuneful. McIntosh however, does their trannies differently from everybody else so this might not necessarily follow that existing rule of thumb. On the speaker end, there's something in the manual that most never try. Remove some of the dacron thus lessening the acoustic damping. If this works keep the stuffing removed and keep it somewhere as someday you might need it later.
I do recommend however that the Dacron part be done after at the very least 300 hours of heavy play because taking the stuff out is much easier than stuffing them back in unless you have a skinny armed, small handed person at your service.
As for punch. Punch's formant transients live mostly in the midrange at or above 100Hz. The aerogel units are stiff as heck so stuff like vocals should be A-ok from the start but will take some time for percussive events. Patience is required because in the start the stiff surrounds will translate these attacks to harshness way up in the audio band. After being run in and the midrange unit can move as freely as designed, the harshness will go and the punch will appear.
Signed sincerely,
JackD201, South East Asian Run-On Sentence Champion 2006-Present :duh:
Jack, was that a formal award with your name engraved on something or just an informal thing hung on you by Keith or another of your buddies or have you had that handle since HS where you talked too much in endless sentences like you did in the above or............ad infinitum........ :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
-
only when I ran out of dacron to smoke or had too much coffee and snickers bars but mostly when listening to Billy Idol's White Wedding on the way from school where I always had good grades but for some reason was always on the sh#t list of every teacher although I wonder why but it seems however that three years ago Keith gave me that award!
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
By the way. THAT just Broke in my keyboard.
-
perhaps look at the Mcintosh preamp. The MC 402 is generally considered a great amplifier; but perhaps the combination of the Mcintosh amp and the Mcintosh preamp is giving you too much of one thing and the VSA is highlighting this.
I run the C46 and 501s and am mystified by your suggestion. What is "too much of one thing"?
Perhaps I was wording it wrong, but what I meant to imply was perhaps the Mcintosh gear being combined was giving to much of the Mcintosh "house sound," and through the VSA speakers, the OP was unpleased with the sound.
I was not implying anything other then perhaps their might be a synergy of equipment that was causing a sound the OP was not enjoying; not that any of the equipment alone was the issue.
In my opinion, outside of speakers and room acoustics, the preamp can make a great difference good or bad.
-
perhaps look at the Mcintosh preamp. The MC 402 is generally considered a great amplifier; but perhaps the combination of the Mcintosh amp and the Mcintosh preamp is giving you too much of one thing and the VSA is highlighting this.
I run the C46 and 501s and am mystified by your suggestion. What is "too much of one thing"?
Perhaps I was wording it wrong, but what I meant to imply was perhaps the Mcintosh gear being combined was giving to much of the Mcintosh "house sound," and through the VSA speakers, the OP was unpleased with the sound.
I was not implying anything other then perhaps their might be a synergy of equipment that was causing a sound the OP was not enjoying; not that any of the equipment alone was the issue.
In my opinion, outside of speakers and room acoustics, the preamp can make a great difference good or bad.
This is strictly a placement issue!
-
Hi
Drop the C46 issue, it has nothing to do with that. I had C46 running bi-amp horisontally with my MC252 and had no problem driving both of my VR speakers. C46 is a great preamp and mach well with the MC402. You have plenty of power driving the speakers with no problems at all.
Kingdezzie... what do you mean by McIntosh House Sound? :scratch:
It's all about room acoustics such as bad reverberation time and flutter echos, peaks and deeps in room modal responce.
You have to give us more detail information regarding your setup, connection and so on.
About ohms taps: if it is 6 ohms average you should connect to the nearest lower ohmtap when it comes to McIntosh amplifier. In this case 4 ohm.
I am running monobloc per modul and connection here is 4 ohm to bass and 8 ohm to M/T, this gives 6 ohm average.
When I am running in bi-amp horisontally with MC252 one chanel is 4 ohm and the other is 8 ohm of the same amplifier. It can't be harder than this.
Thanks
-
Penthouse...
I forgot to mention.
Check that you have the bal or unbal switch(RCA or XLR) it the correct postion and also for the stereo or mono switch.
Thanks
-
srb...
Little bit confusing here. :scratch: According to the specification it is 4 ohm nominal.
-
Hi
On the VSA website there is two option here, one that is saying 4 ohm averege and on is 4 ohm nominal, maybe it is some missprinting. But nevertheless, with Mcintosh amps you can run whatever tap you like.
It is McIntosh manual that is saying like I have mention it, not me. :D
Thanks
-
Drop the C46 issue, it has nothing to do with that.
Agreed.
About ohms taps: if it is 6 ohms average you should connect to the nearest lower ohmtap when it comes to McIntosh amplifier. In this case 4 ohm.
Actually the VR-4SR MKIII spec is 4 ohm average. So, in this case it should connect to the 2 ohm tap.
-------------------------------------
So far we have:
1. Re-check for proper connections so they are in phase
2. Try the other amplifier taps and see if one sounds better (2, 4 or 8 ohm)
3. Check that Balanced/Unbalanced (RCA or XLR) and Stereo/Mono switches are in correct postions
4. Try moving speakers away from wall
5. Try for closer to equilateral triangle listening spot
6. Excercise woofer cones for break-in
(Edited - #3 added to reflect McTwins suggestion in the following post)
Now if the OP wasn't MIA, we might get some feedback!
Steve
And the correct answer is, number 4, ding ding ding ding ding!
-
And the correct answer is, number 4, ding ding ding ding ding!
Yes, we know. You've posted that three times so far!
Now all we can do is wait.....
Steve
I know!
-
Ok Guys, I'm listening to them As I type this. UGGH. Does anyone here live in/close to NYC? I'll gladly buy you a great lunch to come have a listen and give a few suggestions. And to prove to everyone I'm NOT out of my mind! lol
-
Hows about lunch and plane fare from IN? :lol:
-
Ok Guys, I'm listening to them As I type this. UGGH. Does anyone here live in/close to NYC? I'll gladly buy you a great lunch to come have a listen and give a few suggestions. And to prove to everyone I'm NOT out of my mind! lol
Check with the guys in the NYAR circle...in fact at our last rave, 10/24, the host had the VR4...not sure which version. I am sure a few of the guys could give them a listen and offer suggestions.
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=23226)
-
Getting a little better after wrestling them around a bit. Thanks for all your help. Much appreciated.
-
Hey Penthouse..
Have you tried disconnecting the M/T cables and just driving the bass units? If so, do you get a reasonable level of output? It sure seems like you are having a room placement issue. Hang in there buddy, as I said before, you now own one of the best speakers out there, certainly in its price range.
Gavin
-
there's already plenty of good suggestions in here, but i'm gonna try and give you my take.
you said your speakers are 7 feet apart and you sit 12 feet away. personally, "i" find that "i" like the sound from my speakers best when the listening position in the same as the speakers distance from each other. ie...my speakers are about 8.5 feet apart and my listening position is about 8.5 feet from the front of the speakers.
just for an experiment, move your speakers into the room so that they are 7 feet away from your listening position to see how that effects the sound. this will also give you much more distance from the rear wall. then move your speakers back to their original position and move your listening postion so that it's 7 feet away from the front of your speakers.
if you like this equilateral method of placement, just experiment with speaker placement and position until you find a happy medium. good luck and have fun!
kevin t
ps...i'm not sure what "front baffled" means. is that the same as front ported?
My educated guess is the further he gets them out into the room, the better they'll sound.
If you don't have flexibility of moving your speakers out or apart more, can you move your listening seat nearer your speaks to approximate an equilateral triangle? Where you sit presently, it may be that your room is creating a null and void kinda thing. Might wanna toe them in some more if you can try this. Maybe you could use a chair that's like easy to move. An illustration of your arrangement (with furnishings) would be very helpful to the guys, I'm sure.
-
Hey folks, thanks for all your suggestions. They seem to be getting a little better. I'm hoping I'll get the "punch" I'm looking for. Actually feeling the music. Is this a part of the break in process also?
-
Yes, as a matter of fact, I've tried almost all of them. I'm here looking for a little guidance, not a wiseguy. Maybe you should "politely" excuse yourself from the thread...
-
Yes, as a matter of fact, I've tried almost all of them. I'm here looking for a little guidance, not a wiseguy. Maybe you should "politely" excuse yourself from the thread...
Well, DID YOU?
-
I tried everything suggested. If you take a look at many of your responses, they were very sarcastic. The first few were helpful, the last few were not. The one mentioning the person who prefered the sound of his television certainly wasn't constructive. I asked politely.
-
Hi
Take it easy guys.
PenthouseD......
First of all, YOU have to breake them in.
After that try this, put the speakers diagonal from an 90 degree corner wheather you can't do this or not in your room but you have to try it to see if there is a different. You have a cubical room, thats a problem allready there. Read the manual and it's cleerly stated there.
Left speaker on left side and the right speaker on the right side, you are looking at the corner. I hope you understand what I am saying.
Start with this.
Thanks
-
Hi
I forgot to mention, I had alot of brainstorming for four years when tuning my room and I know that the biggest problem lies in the room acoustics, wheather ones like it or not. The biggest problem is to overcome ones patience. :D
-
Thanks McTwins, I'll give that a whirl over the weekend. As you've read from my previous posts, this is a big step for me financially. I'm hoping the extra money buys me that much better performance. We'll see.
-
Pentouse..
I owned the VR4 SR MKIIs and I'll say it again...the MKIIIs are that much better my friend. When you get your particular problem sorted out you will become another died-in-the-wool VSA "ditto head"...trust me. :thankyou:
-
Firstly. Thanks for your help everyone. I have tried every suggestion my space allows. I'm starting to get a decent soundstage. The speakers are about 7.5 feet apart and about 10 degrees toed in about 12 inches away from the wall. Please remember, I live in NYC and we aren't afforded the luxury of large space. I am still concerned about the lack of fullness and bass. I'm hoping when the drivers free up a bit, this will correct itself. Oddly enough, when I lower my head to the level of the bass cabinet the bass is much fuller.
-
I hadn't considered that you might be too tall :lol: Seriously, give the rubber surrounds on those aluminum cones a chance to loosen a bit and you will be plumbing the depths down to Davy Jones' locker and beyond.
-
Firstly. Thanks for your help everyone. I have tried every suggestion my space allows. I'm starting to get a decent soundstage. The speakers are about 7.5 feet apart and about 10 degrees toed in about 12 inches away from the wall. Please remember, I live in NYC and we aren't afforded the luxury of large space. I am still concerned about the lack of fullness and bass. I'm hoping when the drivers free up a bit, this will correct itself. Oddly enough, when I lower my head to the level of the bass cabinet the bass is much fuller.
Still too close to the wall behind them, they need room to breathe.
-
Thanks, I can't bring them out from the wall any more. I just don't have the space. I always thought the closer to the wall, the more bass.
-
Thanks, I can't bring them out from the wall any more. I just don't have the space. I always thought the closer to the wall, the more bass.
Try a temporary re-arrange of your room just to confirm what I and other posters have been telling you. Experience with VSA speakers tells me a minimum of 3 feet is required, with Pearson's rule of thirds the ideal.
Yes, the closer to the wall, the more, (boomy) bass.
-
I would suggest raising your speakers 3-4" on some kind of platform, which would tilt the balance towards the bass(warmer). And try a deeper toe in which should give you a more solid center image and a wider soundstage. To get a deeper soundstage without pulling the speakers further into the room, you will need to have some manner of acoustic treatment(absorption) on the wall between the speakers.
-
Looks like we're not going to see the results.
-
Everyone loves a "happy ending"! So,here's where I'm at. Albert was nice enough to send his friend John over to my apartment to give my system a listen. John is a very nice guy with A LOT more experience with high-end equiptment than me. The second I turned on the system, I could tell by John's face,I wasn't out of my mind. The first thing we did was remove the dacron from the cabinets. The next step was to install rubber feet on the spikes. The system sounds fuller without being boomy. John also noted that my room is a bit "harsh". I just moved in,and haven't hung all the pictures etc.up. He pointed out that between that and the enormous windows, the mids and highs are exaggerated and this may be helped by warming up the room a bit with some plants etc. I think with a bit more break in time and warming up the room a bit I'll be in much better shape. THANKS for all your help!
-
..and they lived happily ever after. :thankyou: Could you elaborate on installing rubber feet on the spikes...which spikes?...the ones on the M/T cabinet or the bass cabinet?
-
Albert sent me a package of metal and rubber disks to replace the simply metal disks for the spikes on the bass cabinet.
-
Interesting. Glad it made things better.