[Delacroix]

I had the unfortunate experience of having to deal with our cable provider this week over a tv signal problem and as the guy fiddled around with the back of my cable box he insisted on moving one of my carefully positioned speakers before I could stop him. Worse, he attempted to do so by moving the top module only and left if all askance and out of alignment by the time he eventually departed. Once I got my blood pressure back under control, and being the fanatical empiricist that I am, I decided to test this new 'arrangement' just to see what it did to the sound and oddly, I found the soundstage seemed to have gelled slightly better around the center and was revealing greater depth, an area I always feel is hard to capture. Hum....clearly re-positioning was in order.

So, for the last day or two I've been playing around with speaker placement and I suspect you will think I am off the wall here but I even tried this with the upper modules totally taken off the woofers and placed on separate stands inside the usual layout. This was good but not nearly as good as where I've settled, with the upper modules back on top of slightly repositioned woofers, but turned 180 deg and firing backwards to the front wall. Now, to be clear, I have several feet of space between these and the wall so there is room to breathe, and dialing in the (formerly) rear-firing tweeter, which is now forward-firing, I get a soundstage that is hard to describe in the usual terms (but Jeff Beck just appeared from behind my right ear). I tried upside down, firing to the side (both ways) and was even thinking of putting the woofers above the mids/uppers but just rotating the uppers all the way to fire backwards is the best. All I can say is, try it and see for yourself. It's a simple tweak that might really open up your ears and system.

There are caveats, of course. It does not look the best to have the uppers turned around but I think I can get used to it. Anyway, if you do a blind test, who can see it? The biggest problem is the cabling - you won't be able to use regular biwired cables or jumpers unless you have very long tails but that's not a problem for me with my separate pairs and I managed to tape the upper cables out of the way so they don't dangle in front of the woofer.  I will ask Albert for a psycho-acoustic explanation of why this is happening but for now, it's simply intriguing and I wonder why this is not recommended anywhere else here or in the VSA literature. I think there has to be a market for a rotating module spacer, like a Lazy-Susan, that could make for simple A/B tests and moves -- forget spikes or vibrapods. I'll try to get some pics up later on this but if you have a spare moment and your cabling allows it -- what have you got to lose by trying for yourself.  Spin those upper modules around and rejoice.....

[ceedee]

Hi Delacroix,

You will never be finished with finding the best position for the speakers.

There are always so many parameters moving up and down every day.
Just like real music in a concerthall. I have been touring all around the world with life music. The same group with the same people, the same sound-equipment, the same music and often a few days in the same concert-hall.

Every day is different.

At home we are used to the same situation so these differences are tiny.
But we are very attent to those very tiny differences of micro-detailed information. Our brains are very sensitive on those very subtle movements.

Well there is an other explaination.

Speakers act also like women.
Every time they wear a new dress we get shocked by the atractivity

You get worried too when the cableman is in your house alone with... and you are not there. This is also bad for your bloodpressure. 

Enjoy and discover.

Happy Eastern.

Cor

[es347]

Delacroix...

Have you suffered any recent head trauma?    Just kidding.  I had to reread your post to be sure I was grasping what you said.  If you decide that you like your M/Ts facing you rather than the front wall, there is a tweak that will kick your soundstage up a notch...addition of subwoofers.  You've seen my post no doubt and pix so no need to belabor the point.  Addition of subs could be disastrous in the hands of a bass freak.  There is a fine line between seamlessness and overpowering low end.  I have found that point and am just below it.  The output of the twin subs is very subtle but the difference is huge.  I highly recommend it.  No doubt the new VSA subs would be killer (I run the Velodyne Optimum-12s) and paired with the VR4s or VR5s, they would get you several steps closer to the VR9, as Jack has pointed out.  One big advantage of having the low end transducers physically separate from the main speakers is that you can move the mains out into the room for optimum imaging and put the subs near the front wall to optimize their output.  In my room I had a null when my mains were in an ideal place.  When I added the subs and dialed them in, I was able to smooth out the freq response at my listening position, flat to within 1.5 db from 20 to 200 hz.  I am now a twin subs advocate.

ps...your post conjured up images of Jim Carrey and his strange cadre dancing to Matthew Broderick's hifi...scary

[varsharun]

Hmm....is it April 1 already? 

[es347]

Hmm....is it April 1 already? 

Good point Varsharun....

[ceedee]

We are nearly done with the first of april here.

Always a funny day.

Beware!

[foghorn]

I have to agree with Varsharun - I call "Shenanigans" !!!

Happy April 1st.

[es347]

Ok, Delcroix...we owe you one!

[ceedee]

Let's save that for Denver

[es347]

Now that Delacroix's April 1st cover has been blown, I won't even try to set this one up.  It's a video that I posted on YouTube some time ago that you guys may get a kick out of.  Not sure how many viewers bought this guy's double talk...hope you enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ya2huA-VDfw

[es347]

Oh heck, why not take advantage of you guys one more time..  Here's my son-in-law singing at our church.  Thanks for indulging me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIe4PgNyF7I&feature=related 

[Delacroix]

Hey guys....come on, try it and see

[jab]

great post!   I decided to turn the bass module around as well...  Now,, we're talking about a hi-end omni directional sound system.  I wrapped a skirt and top around the cabinet to hide the cables and binding posts..  The beauty is, you can mix-match and color coordinate top and bottom depending upon what outfit your wife/GF might be wearing that day..  Can you say A R M A N I chic!  The speaker now has a high WAF!  Will work now in any room, any color palate..

[ceedee]

Now we are talking Jack,

That is what we call Music Home Theatre.

[es347]

Now,, we're talking about a hi-end omni directional sound system.  A variation on the Heil Air Motion Xfmr. 

[ceedee]

That was always Albert's Goal, the inverse omni microphone.

http://www.vonschweikert.com/ABOUT/theory.htm

[mhconley]

Now that Delacroix's April 1st cover has been blown, I won't even try to set this one up.  It's a video that I posted on YouTube some time ago that you guys may get a kick out of.  Not sure how many viewers bought this guy's double talk...hope you enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ya2huA-VDfw

This reminds me of a video link in PS Audio's March 2010 newsletter I received yesterday...

http://home.comcast.net/~steveham21/turbo.mpg

Sounds like much of the high end audio marketing hyperbole I read.

Martin