Tweeters at ear level?

[JohnMichael]

I was wondering how many concern themselves with speaker height and tweeters near ear level. I recently had the MA RS6's out due to yet another great review of an MA product in Stereophile. I keep worrying I am missing something. The tweeter was below ear level and I began to wonder how my other speakers would sound and were they at the proper height.

I own stands that are fom 22 inches tall to 28 inches tall. Since I sit only 7 feet away from the speaker pair I think this might be more important than if I sat further away. I measured my ear height while seated in my chair and then chose the stands that would raise the tweeters to the same height. Judging by my measurements the Mobile Fidelity OML1's should be on 28 inch stands.

Having raised the speakers I gave them a listen. I am a little embarrassed to admit that I feel like I am hearing them for the first time. In the past they looked like they were the right height on the 24 inch stands but in fact too low. The front baffle is also angled back so I thought the speaker should be a little lower if the sound is angled up. Wow not the case at all. I am impressed with the added detail along with better soundstaging. Bass is actually better which my only thought is due to less floor reflections. What a surprise after all the years I have owned these speakers.

Of course the rather squat cabinets on a tall single column stand makes the speakers look like lollipops. The sound is far greater than the visual effect. I have decided not to buy anything new until I sell some of the older equipment. Of course what I am wanting now is a pair of Skylan 27 inch stands.

Has anyone else worked with speaker height and noticed a positive improvements? I know tower speakers can be angled using their spikes to put the tweeters on the proper axis. Has anyone been as surprised as I by a change in height?

[Hyfi]

If I cannot adjust the height, as in my floorstanders, I use a laser pointer and math and tilt the speakers accordingly so that the tweeters end up driving to my ear level in the sweet spot.

[Jack in Wilmington]

I was wondering how many concern themselves with speaker height and tweeters near ear level. I recently had the MA RS6's out due to yet another great review of an MA product in Stereophile. I keep worrying I am missing something. The tweeter was below ear level and I began to wonder how my other speakers would sound and were they at the proper height.

I own stands that are fom 22 inches tall to 28 inches tall. Since I sit only 7 feet away from the speaker pair I think this might be more important than if I sat further away. I measured my ear height while seated in my chair and then chose the stands that would raise the tweeters to the same height. Judging by my measurements the Mobile Fidelity OML1's should be on 28 inch stands.

Having raised the speakers I gave them a listen. I am a little embarrassed to admit that I feel like I am hearing them for the first time. In the past they looked like they were the right height on the 24 inch stands but in fact too low. The front baffle is also angled back so I thought the speaker should be a little lower if the sound is angled up. Wow not the case at all. I am impressed with the added detail along with better soundstaging. Bass is actually better which my only thought is due to less floor reflections. What a surprise after all the years I have owned these speakers.

Of course the rather squat cabinets on a tall single column stand makes the speakers look like lollipops. The sound is far greater than the visual effect. I have decided not to buy anything new until I sell some of the older equipment. Of course what I am wanting now is a pair of Skylan 27 inch stands.

Has anyone else worked with speaker height and noticed a positive improvements? I know tower speakers can be angled using their spikes to put the tweeters on the proper axis. Has anyone been as surprised as I by a change in height?

I never noticed a difference in sound when the speaker height was changed. Which I'm glad about as I don't always sit with my ears at the same height. If I recline in my chair, my ears are now lower then when I'm sitting up. Since I have floorstanding speakers, there is not a whole lot of vertical adjustment that I can do anyway.

[JohnMichael]

Some speakers are designed so the tweeters are flat on axis and some are designed to have a flat in room response which would make the tweeters bright on axis. I wonder if this is more noticeable depending how the speaker is voiced. The midrange now seems to be less recessed than when mounted too low.