I went to listen to Al’s system last night. He heard mine on Monday. I was underwhelmed at first. Yes it sounded big and had some presence as I remembered it, but it lacked some life and natural sound. It was rather thick sounding, a bit sluggish, and not involving as I know it can sound. I was surprised because I enjoyed it very much the last time I was there. We discussed it and went to dinner. When we got back, we listened some more, played with the sub, etc. I thought the room was over damped or that the sub was messing things up. It did not sound as open and dynamic as usual and the highs were missing. I really thought that the sound issues were either a problem with the sub integration or that the room was overdamped. Little did I suspect that it was as simple as speaker alignment and positioning.
So, we discussed speaker set up. He said all was fine. From the listening seat, I thought the right speaker looked slightly higher than the left one. I took his laser device and shot a dot to the center of the back wall. Sure enough, the right speaker was an inch or more higher than the left speaker. I then checked toe in and distance to the center of the back wall. Toe in was not equal and off by six or more inches, but distance was within 1/4 of an inch or less. We adjusted toe in to be equal and listened.
Sound improved. Then I put a piece of paper under the back of the right speaker stand to make each speaker equal in height at the back wall. Al, this may still be a problem if the top of one speaker is higher at the location because it could mean that it is pointing from a higher position and so would be higher at the ear even if it is the same at the back wall, so that should be checked, but it is at least the same at the back wall now.
We then found the middle of the room between the speakers and found that the left speaker was 1 1/2 inches further out from the center of the room than the right speaker was. Al, you now need to recheck distance of each tweeter to the center of the back wall since we moved the left speaker closer in, it might be a different distance than the other speaker to the center of the back wall.
Anyway, the sound locked into place and everything improved. Tone was much more natural and neutral. Thickness gone. Highs returned. Dynamics to die for. Focus, Presence, Tone all improved. The change transformed the system, in my opinion, and it is now sounding amazing. I’d say the best I’ve ever heard it and I now have a newfound and real respect for the new speakers. Tone was off the last time I heard it, though it did have an effortlessness and big sound and great presence. Imaging is excellent. The instruments shrank to their correct sizes after the changes but the sound exploding out of the speakers became bigger and more immediate. Voices, horns, drums, strings, all sound much better.
Congratulations Al, your system now truly sounds great and the best that I have heard it sound. I am surprised that those slight adjustments in speaker positioning made such a significant improvement, but they did. Resolution also seemed to improve. But above all, CLARITY is superb. It is now a much more convincing presentation and very natural sounding. The Janaki trio, Spanish Harlem, Sonny Rollins, the Cave Painting song, it was all about the music after it was sounding good. The system disappeared and I forgot about the sound and simply became lost in the music.
Spend some time over the next few days and just listen without changing a thing and let me know if you still feel the same way about the sound. You can still experiment with toe in for tonal balance shifts, but remember, the speakers have to have precisely the same relationship to the listener.
Thank you for your hospitality. I really enjoyed the listening session and I learned a lot. Your system sounds tremendous.