VR55 AktivesBurn in and Placement Update

gammajo · « **on:** 5 Sep 2015, 08:16 pm »

I took delivery of my VR 55 Akltives five months ago. They have become more liquid, open, and dynamic as the drivers and crossovers have become more fully broken in. The tweeters continue to amaze - they are so natural and perfect. Mid-range and bass continue to satisfy as well. With the 55's as far as I can tell I enjoy a completely 100% silent background which allows the finest of detail to be savored.
Given how much I loved them (see previous post - VR 55 Aktive, Another Happy Listener!) after the first weeks, I am now ready to be married to the 55's for life!

And yet - yesterday I heard a rumor that one of the first purchasers reports that for him, at 8 months the 55's all of a sudden went to another new level of holography. That caused me to realize that with all the experimentation with placement, bass and ambience adjustments, I had never done the final fine placement tuning. So today I set the speakers within an exact (sixteenth of an inch) from front front wall, and side walls. Immediately I bowled over by a leap in image density, holography, expansion of stage width and depth. The 55's sound so great in just about any position that it could be easy to overlook these last little movements. That would be a mistake.

In case anyone is interested my final placement is with about 15 degree toe in, tweeters 9 feet 10 inches apart, listening position 10 feet from tweeters, and tweeters 6 feet 2inches from the side walls and 3 feet 4 inches from front wall (due to esthetic and practical concerns including WAF). I can bring them out to about 5 feet off the front wall easily when I want, as they are on Herbie's gliders but frankly they are quite tolerant of being close to the front wall. I have slightly damped the rear port by rolling up a wash cloth and inserting it loosely in the ports which resulted in even better defined bass. I will eventually experiment with moving the speakers out one third into the room just to see the difference in sound stage when my wife goes to Hawaii this spring for two weeks.

skolis · « **Reply #1 on:** 5 Sep 2015, 08:42 pm »

Very valuable info. Thank you!
Can you also please remind us of the L/W/H room dimensions, and
room treatments if any? Thx.

gammajo · « **Reply #2 on:** 6 Sep 2015, 02:03 am »

Room dimensions are 38 feet by 23 feet with 8 foot walls and 10 foot peak ceiling. First reflection points are treated with heavy drapes and wood slat blinds. Center front is treated with (removable) 3X6 foot six inch foam doggy bed covered with two wool blankets, Carpet over wood floor on floor reflection point

SundayNiagara · « **Reply #3 on:** 6 Sep 2015, 01:16 pm »

Quote from: gammajo on 5 Sep 2015, 08:16 pm

I took delivery of my VR 55 Akltives five months ago. They have become more liquid, open, and dynamic as the drivers and crossovers have become more fully broken in. The tweeters continue to amaze - they are so natural and perfect. Mid-range and bass continue to satisfy as well. With the 55's as far as I can tell I enjoy a completely 100% silent background which allows the finest of detail to be savored.
Given how much I loved them (see previous post - VR 55 Aktive, Another Happy Listener!) after the first weeks, I am now ready to be married to the 55's for life!

And yet - yesterday I heard a rumor that one of the first purchasers reports that for him, at 8 months the 55's all of a sudden went to another new level of holography. That caused me to realize that with all the experimentation with placement, bass and ambience adjustments, I had never done the final fine placement tuning. So today I set the speakers within an exact (sixteenth of an inch) from front front wall, and side walls. Immediately I bowled over by a leap in image density, holography, expansion of stage width and depth. The 55's sound so great in just about any position that it could be easy to overlook these last little movements. That would be a mistake.

In case anyone is interested my final placement is with about 15 degree toe in, tweeters 9 feet 10 inches apart, listening position 10 feet from tweeters, and tweeters 6 feet 2inches from the side walls and 3 feet 4 inches from front wall (due to esthetic and practical concerns including WAF). I can bring them out to about 5 feet off the front wall easily when I want, as they are on Herbie's gliders but frankly they are quite tolerant of being close to the front wall. I have slightly damped the rear port by rolling up a wash cloth and inserting it loosely in the ports which resulted in even better defined bass. I will eventually experiment with moving the speakers out one third into the room just to see the difference in sound stage when my wife goes to Hawaii this spring for two weeks.

When ya gonna try the rule of thirds?

gammajo · « **Reply #4 on:** 6 Sep 2015, 02:03 pm »

Sunday - Please read the last line of my post!!!!

SundayNiagara · « **Reply #5 on:** 6 Sep 2015, 10:22 pm »

Quote from: gammajo on 6 Sep 2015, 02:03 pm

Sunday - Please read the last line of my post!!!!

Ooop,missed that. Bet ya won't wanna put them back.

Wig · « **Reply #6 on:** 6 Sep 2015, 10:35 pm »

From my experience in setting up speakers in 6-7 different rooms, 48-50" measuring from the front of the speakers provided a much better tonal balance, depth, sound-staging and imaging. With your set-up, it can be a drastic difference...

Wig

gammajo · « **Reply #7 on:** 7 Sep 2015, 02:16 am »

Guys please, I did go over this on my last thread. I have to trust my ears in my room with the 55's. I have had them out four and five feet and yes, there is a difference but with these speakers, it is truly not very dramatically different than at 3 feet. Part of the reason I think, is that the dispersion pattern of the tweeter of the 55 is designed to be quite a bit different than most speaker designs. I can not comment yet on the one-third out into the room but will do so after I try it.