Positioning and Placement Of Vienna Acoustics The Kiss Loudspeakers

mikey8811

Well-Known Member
Dec 24, 2014
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I would like some help with the appropriate positioning of my Vienna Acoustics The Kiss loudspeakers please.

I have had them for a while now and they were positioned correctly. I recently changed DAC’s to the PS Audio Direct Stream. With this I find there is a more open sound, more air and layering of instruments. However, the downside of this is there is some sibilance in the treble and upper mids and an overall leaner sound with less weight and midrange richness.

To remedy this, I tilted the head of the Kiss with the coincident midrange and tweeter towards my ear by quite a bit more. Prior to this it was tilted higher away from my ears and the listening axis. I had tried moving the speakers further out/ closer to the wall behind them, more / less toe in, swiveling the music centre or head inwards / outwards. None of these had a marked effect on sibilance and midrange richness. I experimented with tilting the music centre or head away from / towards the listening axis and was quite surprised by what I found. Received wisdom would seem to suggest that tilting the tweeter away from the ears leads to less treble energy. In this case, maybe the coaxial driver is different in that tilting towards the ears increases midrange as well?

This has solved the problem of sibilance. There is also more midrange presence now. However, the sound is slightly congested and there is less air and separation among the instruments. The resulting sound is less 3D.

I like the current tone as it is but would like to get a more coherent sound overall with more focus and a larger degree of instrumental separation than I have now. If I tilt the head back away from my listening position, this won’t really help as I guess the sibilance will return.

Can you suggest how else I may adjust the speaker positioning? Do I do more or less toe in? Via the head or the rest of the speaker? Do I move the speaker further out from the wall behind it?

The one thing I haven't done is to adjust the height of the spikes - front relative to back - on the integral stand. I have found this to be tricky with other speakers in the past and would not know the effect or how to begin.

Thanks
 

JackD201

WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
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Manila, Philippines
Hi Mikey

If you want some added weight and richness, I suggest moving the speakers closer together as a start. Try about 6 inches. To keep this simple focus on the lower midrange and midbass first until you get the effect you like. To increase the lowest octaves you can then try moving them closer to the back wall incrementally. You can then use the swivel heads to get the focus in the upper midrange. If everything is okay up to 500Hz or so but you're still getting some sharpness then perhaps you can adjust the rake by tilting the speakers up a bit. To make things easier, experiment with shims under the spikes of equivalent thicknesses so you don't have to deal with the spike screws. If it helps then you can fix the settings permanently later. If not, no problem, just remove the shims. Lastly, don't forget about your listening chair. You might want to experiment with regards to your chair placement vis-a-vis the speakers. I hope this helps.

best

Jack
 

Mike Lavigne

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
Apr 25, 2010
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if a change in digital source has skewed the tonal balance from what had been right, then I would first try to deal with the signal path imbalance before trying to fix it with speaker/listening position experimentation. maybe in the end speaker positioning will need to change, but theoretically the room/speaker/amp equation has not changed so see what is causing what first.

optimal detail retrieval happens when each piece in the chain gets optimized. when you compromise another link to accommodate an imbalance then you go net backward toward getting closer to the music.

I would try experimenting with power cords and interconnects and even footers first.....maybe even duplex outlets or power cord plugs or even power conditioning. keep the baseline of where your speakers are until you figure out what is what.

hopefully you have some spare stuff lying around, or that you can borrow, that allows you to experiment.

digital gear can be very sensitive to ancillary pieces.

OTOH it is free to move speakers......but you do lose your reference.
 
Last edited:

JackD201

WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
12,318
1,427
1,820
Manila, Philippines

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