[rockadanny]

Impossible in my current room (and with current wife  ). I have a big cabinet between my speakers which houses my gear plus TV and CDs.
BUT, I can pull my speakers out into the room, creating space between their backplanes and the cabinet face. But how far would far enough be such that the cabinet would have minimal adverse effect on the sound (other than the obvious generalization, "the further, the better")?

[jimdgoulding]

A couple ideas for you to play with, Danny.  Nice speakers, btw, you lucky sot.  If your cabinet doors were left open, there might be added diffusion cause of multiple and uneven surfaces.  Can't hurt to see if it might yield more tactile imagery and depth of field in recordings that contain such (the latter).  Regardless, I'm gonna recommend 4 to 5' from your speakers front surfaces to the wall behind your cabinet.  That's so your recordings can breathe.  There might be undiscovered three dimensionality and spaciousness in them.  Another consideration is how close your seat is to the wall behind you.  Recommend you try and get off the wall (if there is one) even if you must make your triangle smaller.  Give us some feedback about yer experimentation, ya hear!  Best, jim.

[James Romeyn]

There are too many variables for anyone to predict IMO.  Why not listen, move forward listen, etc, in 6" steps.  Once you find the point where performance improves you could take smaller steps to pin point.

The less is toe in the less is the cabinet a problem.  Yours are mono poles, right?  (Above the bass, of course.)   

At 2014 Newport THE Show, one of the few rooms I really enjoyed besides our own was HR programs (exclusively I believe) > EAR Yoshino tubes > $80k/pr Marten ceramic cone/dome speakers.  Yes, of course the gear is good.  But I suspect one of the reasons the reverberant field performance was so exceptional (for a mono pole) is because he had the speakers about 1/3rd into the room. 

Mono poles need less front wall spacing than the big bad Sound Labs, but the best I ever heard those exceptional speakers (in stereo) was the late Bob Crump's CES display where the stats were about 1/3rd into the room. 

Anything reflecting earlier than about 10ms (11.3 feet) vs. on-axis direct signal is generally not a good thing.  That's why dipoles and bipoles like about 5.5' behind them (source to front wall back speaker = 11' or 10ms).   

[ACHiPo]

Dan,
Another thing I'm experimenting with at the moment is with a Monster Trap centered between the speakers(I've been moving it around the room to figure out my next acoustic treatment locations).  I'm doing it to get a feeling for what it will be like without components between the speakers, you might try a gobo or a panel that you put in place when listening, and move to the side when you're not.

Just a thought.

Evan

P.S. Nice speaks!

[JLM]

Years ago I had a little 2.1 audio/HT system setup in the basement where the kids hung out and was dining with it, listening to a xylophone.  The speakers were wall mounted Ascend Acoustics CBM-170 and the xylophone could be heard to image starting at one speaker and ending at the other.  During one rift, the whole length was played end to end, and the image "dissolved" as the play "touched" the CRT TV (located "prominently" between the speakers) and then reformed as the play moved beyond the TV.  The sound was heard during the image interruption but without an associated image didn't "make sense", it was just sound coming out of each speaker.

[timind]

A recent redo of my room resulted in improved image depth. One change was getting the equipment out from between the speakers. Only a small sub in between the speakers.

BTW, those outriggers look extremely dangerous. A tripping hazard resulting in impalement waiting to happen.

[jimdgoulding]

Looking at the picture above again, that looks like pretty good placement from what I can see anyway.  Can't see the wall behind your seat, however.  You shouldn't want to sit with your back on it if possible as previously mentioned, imo.

[Alex Reynolds]

There's definitely a lot of opinions when it comes to what to use or how to set up the area between your speakers: some say you should, and some say you shouldn't have your equip rack between them. Some say you should use diffusion there, some say absorption..
I think in general the experiences can vary particularly with how far you are from your speakers. Obviously sound will scatter off the equipment rack, not like a diffusor, but still more irregularly than a flat wall. If you're closer to the speakers, you can get interference from this scattering - but if you're farther away, it's probably less of a big deal. But in the same respects, when you've got a good distance from the diffusors, you can get a higher benefit from them.

[rockadanny]

Nice speakers, btw, you lucky sot.

Thanks for all of the suggestions. I will move things around a bit (as per suggested 6" at a time) and see if any improvements.
4' - 5'? Ugh. Don't think I'll be able to get too much more than 3' - 4' from speaker face to cabinet face. I'll try opening different doors on the cabinet as well.

Speakers are monopole, vented in back.

[rockadanny]

BTW, those outriggers look extremely dangerous. A tripping hazard resulting in impalement waiting to happen.

Hmm ... my Audio Mirror amps were designed/built by Vlad "The Impaler" Bazelkov.

[Tyson]

Ditch the giant cabinet - get a flatscreen and mount it on the wall, then use a low/wide cabinet for your electronics.  It will give you the same functionality while opening up the space significantly. 

[rockadanny]

Ditch the giant cabinet - get a flatscreen and mount it on the wall, then use a low/wide cabinet for your electronics.

Great idea Tyson! 
I had already suggested that to my wife, as my/our listening room is the living room. She went all feng shui on my ass, so for now it is a no go. BUT, we will be moving within the next couple of years, and then I'll be able to have a dedicated audio room. Either that, or have to switch to headphones   

[Wayner]

I also suspect that there probably is a point of no return pulling the speakers too far away from the bass supporting front wall. Most of us have equipment/stands/TVs in the middle so it could be an issue for sound especially dipole radiators (which I have, Martin/Logan ESLs). I also suspect that the impact of obstacles in between dynamic drivers is less of a concern, because their contribution to the front wall would be cabinet born radiation or in the case of rear ported speakers, low to low-mid radiation of a higher amplitude. And, if your using a sub-woofer, perhaps the resulting bass loss from main speakers farther away from the front wall really doesn't matter.........I dunno.

[maplegrovemusic]

It is hard to  sense the recreation of music being played in space with a wall of equipment and tv's . Do not like to be reminded that equipment is recreating the experience . imo

[Tyson]

Great idea Tyson! 
I had already suggested that to my wife, as my/our listening room is the living room. She went all feng shui on my ass, so for now it is a no go. BUT, we will be moving within the next couple of years, and then I'll be able to have a dedicated audio room. Either that, or have to switch to headphones   

One thing you might suggest is using some kind art to cover up the TV when not in use.  Many people don't want a giant black rectangle in their room, and I can't blame them.  But you can get a nice art panel to cover the TV, then it's much more viable.  AND if you can get that far, you can probably get the GIK people to make an acoustic art panel to cover the TV AND give you a bit of room treatment on the down low

[a.wayne]

My wife used to complain about the large speakers and me playing at nights (softly was not enough) , with a lot of effort and money, i was able to fix this problematic situation,  adding professionals to the mix did make a difference ...


This is now the best my hi-fi has ever sounded  and no issues when playing late ...... New wife sleeps well 

[mav52]

Well there is always some quality headphones.  Put them on and forget about the space and the wife etc.. until you move.

[rpf]

One thing you might suggest is using some kind art to cover up the TV when not in use.  Many people don't want a giant black rectangle in their room, and I can't blame them.  But you can get a nice art panel to cover the TV, then it's much more viable.  AND if you can get that far, you can probably get the GIK people to make an acoustic art panel to cover the TV AND give you a bit of room treatment on the down low

That's a great idea!    Bryan, Alex, do you hear?  I'll order one of those!

[Hipper]

New wife sleeps well

 

[jonbee]

I have a 55" plasma between my speakers, and my the image focus in the middle is decidedly less than the edges.
I've tried many things over the years to improve things. Speakers out from wall, TV close to the wall works best, but not great.
I've tried a tapestry to cover the TV from here:
http://www.alltapestry.com/
It may have helped a bit but it changed the tonal balance, made it sound a bit rolled off. Depending on your system this may be a + or a -.
Experimenting is key, I think. Changing room acoustics in particular is unpredictable.