[jimdgoulding]

That looks very doable to me.  You may not be able to get your speakers 5' out from the back wall so get them out as far as you can.  Spread your speakers out to the where your shelves and your workspace begin.  Toe them in, more or less.  If your workspace is open to the room and those shelves are open without a lot of large flat upright objects you're good.  Position your chair equidistant or slightly longer at the apex of a triangle with your speakers.  Don't have anything cumbersome on the wall behind your speakers if you can help it.  If you have your gear on a rack or table, keep it simple.  The alternative is the length of the room with your speakers out from the south wall in the diagram.  This looks better than a lot of apartment layouts I've seen.  Try it and see.  You're single, right?  Stow your dining room table and eat at the bar. 

[Ichinichi]

so 1 or 2?

no, I'm not single, but she's moving off to school in a few months and that layout is post-move. i don't plan to have a dining table as i'll be eating at my desk. As for the equipment, that will be on a 48"x24"x3" maple slab over some carpet-piercing feet. super low profile. two components: the CDP and the amp. no rack, no metal, no glass, all wood and brass. the chair and ottoman are low to the ground and made of solid oak with firm foam cushions.

"south" wall is no good since there are no outlets on that wall and the windows face west (lotsa sun in my eyes and on the equipment).

the shelves are 8.5' high and filled with large boxes (i.e. you can treat them as soft walls).

you say:

"Spread your speakers out to the where your shelves and your workspace begin.  Toe them in, more or less. ..Position your chair equidistant or slightly longer at the apex of a triangle with your speakers."

what do you mean by "spread your speakers out to where your shelves and workspace begin"? position 1 below? or 2? x is the chair.

[Russell Dawkins]

I would say 1, but would guess that it would be even better to do a diagonal with the center axis aimed at the corner to the right of the window. Imagine sitting where you plan to now, then turning yourself and the speakers 45º to the left (counterclockwise).

The left speaker would be just to the left (from your seated perspective) of the window. Both speaker could be square to the walls behind them and it looks like when you  positioned yourself at the equilateral triangle position you would automatically have the correct toe in, roughly.

The equipment shelf could go against the wall facing the kitchen. Your bass would sound more similar left and right this way, I think, since the speakers would each have a similar acoustic environment.

[jimdgoulding]

I think 1, also.  Some guys for practical reasons return their speakers to the wall when not listening.   I mention this because I am recommending that you bring them out greater than 3’ when you listen as I think you already know.  That's assuming you can sit at least at the distance the speakers are seperated which it looks like you can.  Mark the spot if you do this or be prepared to measure each time.  Toe in to one degree or another is subjective.  You will see what is right when you experiment.  Not to worry, this may change as you get settled.   I don’t understand quite what Russell is saying (my bad) but it might be very beneficial to you.  I gather you don't want to say what kind of speakers you are placing.  It's the dimensions of your enclosures I'm interested in knowing and the size of your bass driver.
 

[Russell Dawkins]

To be clear (I hope!), I mean turn the arrangement pictured here 45º counterclockwise, so the left speaker is on the short wall section at the bottom of the picture, firing "up",  just to the right (from our perspective) of the window and just to the left of the computer table. The right speaker is on the left wall (the wall at the back of the bedroom closet) facing right, towards the kitchen. The equipment would be to the right ("up" in this picture) of the right speaker. The listening position would be a little to the left of the one illustrated.

[jimdgoulding]

Thanks, Russ.  Posted a few heads up in the World Music topic that might appeal to you. 

[BrianM]

Not to distract from ichi's situation, but I have a question: if you were putting a system in a small, 11x12 room, would you rather have a 3-seat sofa in there or not? (as the listening "chair")?  Assuming it was the only furniture (and assuming smaller speakers).  I.e. is a sofa good for sound absorption or would it muddy things up.  I'm playing with some ideas...

[Ichinichi]

I would say 1, but would guess that it would be even better to do a diagonal with the center axis aimed at the corner to the right of the window. Imagine sitting where you plan to now, then turning yourself and the speakers 45º to the left (counterclockwise).

The left speaker would be just to the left (from your seated perspective) of the window. Both speaker could be square to the walls behind them and it looks like when you  positioned yourself at the equilateral triangle position you would automatically have the correct toe in, roughly.

The equipment shelf could go against the wall facing the kitchen. Your bass would sound more similar left and right this way, I think, since the speakers would each have a similar acoustic environment.

This is an interesting idea!

I think 1, also.  Some guys for practical reasons return their speakers to the wall when not listening.   I mention this because I am recommending that you bring them out greater than 3’ when you listen as I think you already know.  That's assuming you can sit at least at the distance the speakers are seperated which it looks like you can.  Mark the spot if you do this or be prepared to measure each time.  Toe in to one degree or another is subjective.  You will see what is right when you experiment.  Not to worry, this may change as you get settled.   I don’t understand quite what Russell is saying (my bad) but it might be very beneficial to you.  I gather you don't want to say what kind of speakers you are placing.  It's the dimensions of your enclosures I'm interested in knowing and the size of your bass driver.
 

Well, three addenda:

1. I have an ACI downfiring sub that I also plan to set up once the speakers and chair are settled. The line-level runs CDP to sub, highpass filter (>80Hz) to amp, amp to speakers. But I don't think this will be a problem for the two great suggestions I've received!

2. As I said, my setup is meager . They're bookshelf speakers/monitors that are rear ported and have 5" woofers. Enclosure measures 11" x 11" x 7". The speakers are coupled to 28" stands via four vibrapods (is isolation or coupling better for this? i have feet for them). the stands are sandfilled, square, single-post metal stands (anyone have 24" Target MR40s or 21" Atlantis XLs in the closet I can take off their hands?)

3. Chair is lowback (you can see my head from behind...edit: NO SNIPERS!) and my ear height, depending on whether I'm slouching is 35" - 40" (I can feel the laser sights already).

suggestions?

[jimdgoulding]

ALL that sounds good to me.  Think you're ready to rock&roll.  You have fun and let us know.  Cheers

[JLM]

Season to taste, but regarding the last floor plan ...

I'd try pulling chair and especially speakers away from the walls (more nearfield, less room interactive) and put the whole listener/speaker triangle on a skew to the lower left corner of the room. 

[jimdgoulding]

2bigears.  Where you at??