[subsonic1050]

Hey everybody, I got my first pair of NX-Treme's done about a week ago. I've got around 40 hours of burn in time on them. So far they sound excellent! They sounded much better even before break-in than the X-statik's did for sure. However, I've noticed something odd that I was wondering about even before I heard them, and now that I have heard them it's an even bigger question for me. That's the tweeter height. When I'm sitting very slightly reclined in my Stressless listening chair, my ear is right at 38" off the floor. That is the exact height the tweeters were at in the x-statik. However, with the NX-Treme it is about 43.5" - so my ear is sitting almost half a foot off axis vertically. I listen pretty near field, partially because I prefer it, but also because my room doesn't allow for much distance. The problem I'm having is that the imaging is off. The sound *sounds* like it is going over my head - which it is. Due to the fact that my room has stepped floors, I place the NX-Treme's down on the level below my listening chair - which brought the tweeters much more in line with my ears - and now the imaging has improved quite a bit.

Has anyone else come across this? It seems to be accentuated by the fact that the speakers also tilt backwards at 3 degrees. I'm curious if anyone else has experienced this, and if so, what they did about it.

[Early B.]

The problem I'm having is that the imaging is off. The sound *sounds* like it is going over my head - which it is.

Why is that a problem? When you go to a small venue live concert, the artist is on a stage and most or all of the speakers are above your ears and the sound is going over your head. That's a good thing. You'll adjust to it very quickly.     

[Tyson]

I had the same issue with my Super 7's, the tweeter was a fair bit above ear level and they tilted back.  I used some footers in the back of the speaker to tilt them slightly forward so the tweeters were pointing more toward my ears.

[Hobbsmeerkat]

Generally speaking, Danny prefers the sound of the NX series with ear height being within the range of the lower NQ woofer.
In the listening room, thats right about where you're ears are when sitting. But that preference may change from person to person.

With my NX-Studios in that's often where I like them best as well. With my X-Statiks, I'm less picky, but anywhere between the tweeter and lower woofer sound excellent.

You can always use footers in the back to adjust the angle as needed too

[subsonic1050]

Early - it's not necessarily a problem - it just sounds off to me. It sounds like when you're listening with a friend and you're not sitting in the "sweet spot". The imaging just isn't right to my ears.

Tyson - That's very interesting. With mine I'm able to correct for height by lowering them but that's not a solution that will work for many people. The 2nd pair I'm building will be going in a normal room so I'm thinking ahead in terms of placement. It may be a non-issue in that room as the listening position will be much further away.

Hobbs - thanks for the insight on that! Yes, my ears are basically directly in line with the lower NQ driver. It does sound weird to me like that, but I only have a couple of hours listening logged. After the dramatic transformation that the X-Statik's went through I really didn't want to sit and listen until they had some break in. I judged those speakers way too early and they ended up being some of my favorite speakers. I've listened to a few songs here and there and interestingly, these sounded great right from the beginning. I haven't noticed a huge change on them so far, I'm curious to see if there is much change after full break in time is achieved. I'll have to keep messing with positioning - who knows, maybe I'll end up preferring them at their normal height. It is amazing how you get used to certain speakers and when you switch it takes time to start appreciating the nuances of the new ones because they don't sound like what you're used to.

[Beerbellydad]

Generally speaking, Danny prefers the sound of the NX series with ear height being within the range of the lower NQ woofer.
In the listening room, thats right about where you're ears are when sitting. But that preference may change from person to person.

With my NX-Studios in that's often where I like them best as well. With my X-Statiks, I'm less picky, but anywhere between the tweeter and lower woofer sound excellent.

You can always use footers in the back to adjust the angle as needed too

YES! I had a similar problem with my NX-Studios. The soundstage in my room was high - like the top half of the room only. I adjusted the floor spikes to alter the rake angle of the Studios so they pointed slightly down toward my slouch couch and the soundstage lowered with it. The 1/2-3/4 " adjustment was all it took.

These are the best kinds of fixes - very fast and very $Free 

[lincolnmat]

I had the same issue when I bought my NX-Oticas. It seemed that especially female voices were physically too high. I am using taller spikes in the rear and shorter in the front now. Between that and familiarity, I don't notice the issue any more.

Matt