proper degree of speaker toe-in

cporada · « **on:** 11 Oct 2007, 12:49 pm »

I'm wondering if anyone can recommend the proper amount of toe-in for my ACI alpha's. They have a Vifa H26TG35 tweeter, which is horn-loaded, and I'm not sure if there are any "rules" for the right amount of toe-in when it comes to horns, due to dispersion, off-axis response, etc. Should the tweeters fire more or less right at the listening position? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Chris

Mike Dzurko · « **Reply #1 on:** 11 Oct 2007, 04:11 pm »

It's going to vary by room and system as well as personal "taste". The rule of thumb is that the more toe-in, the greater center focus . . . but going beyond that usually starts to narrow the soundstage. I generally play music that has a centered vocalist and toe-in until that center image "locks in" and go no farther . . .

cporada · « **Reply #2 on:** 12 Oct 2007, 11:11 pm »

Hi Mike
Thanks, I'll start experimenting. I figured I would start by asking here, since I seem to remember reading that the amount of toe-in is also determined to a large degree by the design of the particular speaker, its crossover, and the drivers it uses. I realize this was quite a few years ago, but I was hoping that perhaps you might be able to point me in roughly the right direction based on how you set up the Alphas during design and evaluation? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, even something pretty vague like not much toe-in is needed, or toe-in until drivers are firing right at listening position, or something like that, just so I have a good starting point. At over 200lbs each as built, it's not a simply feat to move those guys around much, so I was hoping not to have to move them too many times to get the right position

Thanks so much
Chris

Mike Dzurko · « **Reply #3 on:** 15 Oct 2007, 03:32 pm »

Chris:

Got in late last night from RMAF, a great show with great people and many said we had one of the most musical sounding rooms (I couldn't say, I hardly got out, but when there are that many rooms and so many people keep coming back and staying for song after song) . . . . anyway. When I got there, Bryan, Glenn and Ross had the system pretty well set up. Still, we spent hours Fri morning fiddling with the toe-in . . . then again Fri after the show, Sat morning, Sat evening, you get the idea. I'd think it just right, Glenn would like it better a couple degrees out, Bryan wanted it a couple more inches apart . . . you get the idea. It just takes time with a variety of recordings to go from good to AWESOME! If I didn't have to fly on Sunday I would have still been tweaking it. And that's at a three day show!

Moral of the story, sorry, but you're gonna have to do some heavy lifting . . . and only your ears will tell you when it is best

cporada · « **Reply #4 on:** 5 Nov 2007, 08:50 pm »

Hi Mike
After some very delicate heavy lifting, I think I have finally dialed the Alpha's in to the correct degree of toe-in. It is much less than I had before (I had orginally had them firing almost directly at the listening position). The soundstage has now widened considerably (instruments now come from outside the left and right speaker when this information is present in the recording; listening to the Mobile Fidelity re-issue of Yes, Fragile is a lot of fun on track 3 with the guy running around the studio), but the central focus is still very sharp. Thanks for your help. Things just get better and better the more I play around with these speakers

Chris