S5 owners. - How far from the back wall

BlueFox said:

I have a pair of S5s arriving next week, and since they weigh almost 200 pounds each I want the first setup to be close to the final setup. Since they are sealed speakers I am wondering if placement from the back is as critical as with ported speakers. What distance from the front baffle to the rear wall do you suggest?

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Bud,
The S5s are not as critical in placement as ported speakers. I have mine set up playing the corner with very good results, but if space is there, they do well with as little as 1/12 feet back of speaker to wall to 4-5 feet. I got hold of some $6 sliding pads from Home Depot, and when the speakers came in, we placed the speakers on these pads, and moved them around easily (hard wood floors). They also make some you can use on carpeted floors, and if that is what you need, maybe someone else can chime in as to how well they work. We live on the second floor of a beach house, and we uncreated the speakers below, wrapped them well with blankets, and moved them upstairs with the dolly. You'll need help, and it was the best $100. I paid the freight delivery guy I've ever spent. Get your dealer to send you the unpacking instructions if he's not going to be there. We had both my speakers unpacked, and moved upstairs in under an hour. I placed the speakers in a reasonable location, listened for a day, and then put the spikes under them for another 1000 hours of burn in. The bass really comes up in the 500- 800 hours so you will probably tweak them after then. They are movable on hard wood floors for small increments while on the spike and cups. Have fun, enjoy, and let me know your thoughts AFTER 500-800 hours.
Barry

Hi Bud,

If you're floors are carpeted or the speakers are ending up on an area rug then they are very easy to move around by simply tilting the cabinet and "walking" it to a new location. This works well with or without the spikes installed. If you are on a hard floor then I would highly recommend some of the teflon furniture gliders that Barry mentioned in order to avoid damaging the floor or the surface or the bottom of the speaker.

I've found the Magicos to be a bit easier to place over a ported speaker with respect to bass, but placement is still critical to get everything to integrate and hook up with the room correctly. Unfortunately, as every room is different there's no universal guideline for a starting point although most of the various speaker setup routines work quite well to determine a starting point. Assuming you have a current setup that works in this room then I would start the S5s in roughly the same spot as your current speakers and adjust from there.

I really hope your dealer is going to be involved in the setup. Given the price of the S5s I would expect someone there to set them up with you if not for you.

+1
get help from your dealer.... and take your own measurements for further optimization

Placement will depend on room size and orientation and listening distance.. In my case i have found a distance of 1.32 metres measured from the point closest to the listener to the back wall is quite good. i have read a review that said 1.5 metres- that is good too but a I detected a little less weight to the music. If I go closer, the sound still hangs together but it can lose a little sparkle.

In terms of angles, I have set them 10 degrees away from the point of convergence to the listener. To ensure consistent placement for both speakers I use a laser measuring device to measure distances from from the rear and side walls and from the listening position. To get consistency of angles, I use a theodolite app with my Iphone. It is remarkable how much difference there is to the sound if there is not perfect symmetry between the speakers. The Magico's are that revealing.