Speaker Rake or (tilt back)

Huskerbryce

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Speaker Rake or (tilt back)
« on: 14 Mar 2026, 01:07 am »
So this came up tonight during some critical listening with a friend.  I have a pair of NX-oticas with maybe a 3-5 degree rake.  He has a pair of Maggie LRS speakers that have a steeper tilt maybe around 10 degrees?  We 3D printed some new custom stands for his.  We can adjust the spikes on the front to adjust the tilt.  We felt stock was too much.  0 degrees was very forward sounding.  We preferred about 6 degrees.  Question is probably for Danny.  Was the rake back on the Otica speaker “listened” to and settled upon or is it random for any reason?  What is everyone else's experience with speaker tilt?

FullRangeMan

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Re: Speaker Rake or (tilt back)
« Reply #1 on: 14 Mar 2026, 02:03 am »
So this came up tonight during some critical listening with a friend.  I have a pair of NX-oticas with maybe a 3-5 degree rake.  He has a pair of Maggie LRS speakers that have a steeper tilt maybe around 10 degrees?  We 3D printed some new custom stands for his.  We can adjust the spikes on the front to adjust the tilt.  We felt stock was too much.  0 degrees was very forward sounding.  We preferred about 6 degrees.  Question is probably for Danny.  Was the rake back on the Otica speaker “listened” to and settled upon or is it random for any reason?  What is everyone else's experience with speaker tilt?
Toe-in and Tilt-back are a personal taste issue.
My personal taste for planars are no toe-in and no tilt-back (little tilt-back).
For boxed speakers my personal taste are some toe-in and little tilt-back.
It all will depend on the room shape and size/volume.

Early B.

Re: Speaker Rake or (tilt back)
« Reply #2 on: 14 Mar 2026, 02:05 am »
Yep to FRM.

My experience with speaker tilt is the same as yours and your friend's -- you gotta experiment to find what sounds best. It's the same concept as toe-in: experimentation will determine the extent of toe-in, if any. In my case, I've tried tilt and toe-in on countless occasions over many years with several speakers, and no-tilt, straight ahead works best 99% of the time. I'm guessing my room has a lot to do with it.

NIGHTFALL1970

Re: Speaker Rake or (tilt back)
« Reply #3 on: 14 Mar 2026, 03:30 am »
I agree with you guys. When I had Magnepan 1.7s everything I read said to toe them in. Whenever I did, the magic died. In my room they always sounded better parallel with the front wall. YMMV.

max190

Re: Speaker Rake or (tilt back)
« Reply #4 on: 14 Mar 2026, 06:14 pm »
After putting stands (not factory) on my LRS+ which raised them 6.5" leveling them vertically sounded the best.  This put my ears at the center (my LP chair height sets this) of the spkrs with some toe firing at my shoulders.

Danny Richie

Re: Speaker Rake or (tilt back)
« Reply #5 on: 15 Mar 2026, 10:49 pm »
The tilt on the NX-Otica and NX-Treme is only 3 degrees. The vertical off axis on those models hardly changes. So at the listening position slight changes in tilt won't effect much.