[Jay_S]

I'm a happy owner of Model 5s, no mods.  The 5As are definitely better but I probably will not be paying the $9,100 charge to upgrade. 

The 5/5A manual suggests pointing the speakers straight ahead or using a slight to moderate degree of toe-in.  The manual suggests more toe-in where the speakers are close to reflective side walls.   My speakers are not close to the side walls but I tend to use moderate toe-in.

The more recent Model 7 manual suggests starting with 20 degrees of toe-in with a greater amount when there are reflective side walls. 

Both manuals state that in rare situations, the speakers may sound better with a slight amount of toe-out.

I'm curious as to how other 5/5A owners position their speakers.

 

[jeffreybehr]

Of course, the squarer to the front wall the speakers are, the more off-axis the listener is.  The models 5, 5A, 5A-C (as I'll hereafter call the 5A Carbon), and 7 have at least 3 and maybe 4 different tweeters.  Surely each tweeter sounds different off axis.  And with the MR driver having significant output into the MID-treble, the 2 or 3 different MR drivers will sound different off axis.  Perhaps these are significant reasons for the much-different toe-in recommendations?

I'm pretty new to my 5As.  When first placed, they were at about the points of an equliateral triangle and toed-in about 15 degrees.  I've since moved them about a foot-each closer together and reduced the toe-in to a few degrees.  They seem to sound about the same, but they sound so great in either spot, I've yet to get serious about trying to find the spot.

Anyone else?

PS.  I didn't realize my 'moderation' includes approving or rejecting starting threads; I'll try to be quick about it, and the only ones I plan to reject are the mean-spirited.

PS2. I'll continue to try to get RV's e-mail address to invite him to participate in this Circle.

[jeffreybehr]

I just last week removed and replaced my 5As.  This time they're as square with the room as I can make them.  The centerlines of the speakers are 9' 8" apart, and I sit 12' away from them, making their spacing somewhat narrower than an equilateral triangle.

They sound better than ever, but maybe that's because the Teflon-film bypass caps now have over 400 hours on them.   

[jimdgoulding]

I don't imagine that sitting within an equilateral or sitting at the apex of an equidistant triangle would have much effect on one's sound in and of itself, but it will on the location instruments and on the re-creation of the soundscape in recordings made on location with discrete mic placement.  How's that working?  Regards the former, it might in the deep bass, I suppose.  Having one's speakers too close to walls can, indeed, however.

[Daverz]

I've had my Quatros toed-in about 5 degrees for ages.  Just going from 5 to 8 degrees was a huge improvement in center image stability and soundstage depth.  I'd try some different angles, but it's a huge pain to adjust on thick carpet since I have to re-level and re-tilt the speakers each time. 

What I need is a remote control hydraulic system to independently adjust roll, pitch and yaw of the speakers from my listening chair.  In fact, given the number of cost-no-object designs out there, I wonder why someone isn't selling something like this.