Major upgrade without spending a dime

[mdconnelly]

The beauty of the holidays is having time to sit, listen to music, and get out of the box a bit.   Well, I managed to come up with a major upgrade without spending a dime.   Here's how....

My listening room is my living room with spousal considerations ever present (i.e. minimal room treatments).   It's 24' long, 12' wide, 8' high.   I had the speakers (Aerial 10Ts) firing the length of the room about 5' from the back wall and about 2.5.5' from the side walls.   It's been that way since we moved in about 9 years ago and, overall, sounded pretty good.

Well, in a burst of spontaneity (and with my sweet wife's support), I decided to put the speakers on the long wall.   They now straddle a fireplace about 8' apart, front plane of speakers about 2.5' off the back wall and near equilateral triangle between the speakers and listening position.  Whoa, a substantial improvement in imaging and definition.   It may have cost me a smidge in soundstage depth but overall, a very, very nice improvement and has me lovin' my system again.   I'll post layouts when I get a chance.

[mdconnelly]

Here's before (speakers firing length of room) on left.   Updated room on right.   What are your experiences with this?

[attachment deleted by admin based on 2 year limit]

[rosconey]

ive read a few times guys say the long wall is better

[richidoo]

Nice look Mike! I'm glad it's sounding better for you!  Speakers in corners are tricky. The best way to solve it is to get them out of there if the new compromises are acceptable.

I had a similar experience twisting the room.  It can make a huge difference. But I was moving mine back into the corners. A few months I finally realized I could tweak the speaker location about a foot and that made another big improvement. 

Now I can see why your long speaker cables come in handy!  I'm looking to do the same thing now to get the electronics away from the fireplace, which they are now blocking.

Is your fireplace traditional brick with recessed mortar? That makes a good diffusor. Mine is just an insert with glass and marble surround, not audiophile approved. 

Enjoy!

[mdconnelly]

Rich, the fireplace is all brick floor to ceiling with a brick hearth out into the room.   With the new layout, there is very little wiggle room.  The speakers are about as far out as they can go without blocking passageways.   I could take them a bit wider but that will block windows and hence disrupt the orderly flow of spousal relations.   Yes, those long speaker cables definitely come in handy in that it allows me to keep the electronics in an adjacent room (room through the top archway) with cables under the floor.

[richidoo]

but that will block windows and hence disrupt the orderly flow of spousal relations. 

[Mike L]

I heard 2 different configurations with a pair of Gemme Tantos.  Along the long wall was phenomenal and along the short wall was just good.

Mike

[Carlman]

Chicks dig the long wall.

I had the same arrangement as you 2 houses ago and really enjoyed that setup.  Glad it's working for you again.

-C

[mdconnelly]

The reason I hadn't tried this earlier is because in my last house, the 10Ts just didn't work unless they were well out from the rear wall.   Given the 12' width of this room, I just didn't consider it viable.   Wish I tried it years ago...

[rollo]

Ah the old move the speaker trick. BRILLIANT!!! In a rectangular room except for Maggies the short wall is well SHORT. Good move Those 10Ts are are "T"riffic enjoy.


charles