Super 3XRS placement advice for a small & difficult listening room

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meraklya

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« Last Edit: 4 Jun 2014, 04:47 pm by meraklya »

meraklya

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« Last Edit: 4 Jun 2014, 04:47 pm by meraklya »

Canada Rob

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Toe the speakers in so you can just see the "inside" of the inside surface of the cabinets from your listening position.  You may also want to move the each speaker out and back.  The Super 3XRS is not a difficult speaker to place, and they should be able to make your room sound like a cathedral.

You did not mention ceiling height or whether you have carpet. 

Also, what are you running for an amp, as the amp design can have an impact on bass response. 

meraklya

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« Last Edit: 4 Jun 2014, 04:48 pm by meraklya »

DaveBSC

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You definitely don't want equal distance from the front and side walls - that's placement 101. Try using the so called "golden ratio" formula as a starting point and go from there. If you can, put some sort of treatment on the first reflection points. with close sidewall placement, diffusers at the FRP may produce a smoother result and sound better than the traditional broadband trap. 

JLM

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Golden ratio is 5:8.  So I'd try starting with the speakers closer to side walls (especially with a bipole design I'd try to maximize distance to back wall).  I get imaging to lock in using equilateral triangle between speakers/chair.  Some push for that tight against the back wall position you're showing to increase bass, so you may want to pull away a bit.

As always, season to taste and enjoy.

meraklya

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« Last Edit: 4 Jun 2014, 04:48 pm by meraklya »

seikosha

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If your listening postion is pushed all the way to the back wall, I'd experiment with giving yourself some room between your chair and that wall.  That can often contribute to better imaging.

Canada Rob

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meraklya,
As far as amps go, start with the Decware with no preamp and stay with it until your ears are used to it, then try your other amps.  Rather than add a preamp to balance the channels, I would work with room acoustics to get the balance.  The less you have in the signal path, the purer the sound.  The Super 3XRS will reveal any upline change.  Also, the Decware amp is a tube rollers dream in that you can tailor it's sound. 

As far as speaker placement goes, just play around until you get the experience you are looking for.  I have considerable experience with the Super 3XRS and the SE84ZS, and they synergize beautifully.  The advantage of your small room is that you won't have your Decware anywhere near clipping, and so be able to enjoy all the dynamics it is capable of when not pushed too hard.  Done right, nearfield listening is hard to beat.

CR

meraklya

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« Last Edit: 4 Jun 2014, 04:48 pm by meraklya »

DaveBSC

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Just to clarify, even though it appears on the picture that my current speakers are shooting straight ahead, they're actually toed-in, I just didn't know how to rotate them in the drawing program :)

Also, the distances from the front / side walls are not exactly identical, due to toe-in and length of speaker cabinets.

I am getting decent (though not great) imaging with the current setup, the speakers can sometimes fully disappear especially when playing vinyl but I can still "hear" individual speakers now and then.

I have a feeling the Omega speakers will be an improvement in that regard.......!

Position your speakers so that the front center line of each is at 3 feet from the side walls, and about 4.7 feet from the front wall. Move your listening position forward so that your ears are the same distance from each speaker as they are from each other - an equilateral triangle. Once you've done that, experiment with toe-angle, and again, if possible, consider treating your first reflection points. Your room is also squarish which makes placement a lot harder.

meraklya

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« Last Edit: 4 Jun 2014, 04:48 pm by meraklya »

DaveBSC

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Sure. The conventional advice is to place something like a 2' x 4' x 2" broadband trap at the first reflection points (GIK, etc). This should help smooth out the response compared to a bare wall, but depending how close the speakers are to the side walls, something like an skyline diffuser can actually produce smoother, more pleasing results. You may also want to try corner bass traps on the front wall.