speaker comment

[s dog]

I have a pair of klipcsh sb-3s as mains , the other night i was moveing them around a bit to see if i could get them to sound better , a strange thing happened i had them about 6 feet apart sounded ok then i moved them about 8feet apart and the speakers became way less localized,that seemed strange to me ,you would think moveing them farther apart would make them more localized not less , hell in 2ch stereo i had to walk up to my center channel speaker to see if it was on because the singers voice sounded like it was comeing right from it , that was pretty cool, i dont know what to think maybe it is my room acoustic or them dam horns.

[markw]

Even a subtle change in position and direction can have a profound effect on the sound.

Actually, kerfutzing around with speaker positioning, toe in/toe out and room acoustics is the most effective tweak there is. It's second to the speaker themselves (assuming sufficient power to drive 'em) in the power of their effect on the sound of a system.

I spent weeks finding the (relatively) perfect position and toe in for my maggies. That was even more fun. They radiate from both sides and I had to damp the back/side walls. ...but it was well worth it.

If, after playing with positioning for a while, one still isn't satisfied with the sound, it's time to jettison the speakers. Nuttin' is gonna make them any better. I'm glad you like yours.

[Worf101]

of speaker placement. I agree wholeheartedly with everything Mark said. Just futzing around is how I found the right place for my Platinum Audio Studio 3' (thanks ebay). At first I hated their sound. But after proper toe-in, distance from rear wall and a slight increase in distance apart, I have to say these are some of the best speakers I've ever owned. The soundstage is incredibly wide if not too deep and quite detailed. All htis from a little experimentation.

Da Worfster

[kfalls]

The problem is probably not with "them damn horns". I know you only moved them a couple of feet, but by chance did you happen to disconnect them and possibly re-connect them out-of-phase? The symptoms you describe sound as though they are, especially the 2-ch symptoms. Usually there's no definable image and the bass is substantially reduced. Any number of test disc can help you determine if phasing is correct, or you can just look at the speaker wires and ensure the positive wire is on red, negitive on black. Most speaker wire, including zip cord have polarity marking. Usually on zip cords there's either a stripe, printing or lettering, or a groove on the insulation.

[Hairsonfire]

of speaker placement. I agree wholeheartedly with everything Mark said. Just futzing around is how I found the right place for my Platinum Audio Studio 3' (thanks ebay). At first I hated their sound. But after proper toe-in, distance from rear wall and a slight increase in distance apart, I have to say these are some of the best speakers I've ever owned. The soundstage is incredibly wide if not too deep and quite detailed. All htis from a little experimentation.

Da Worfster

I have the Platinum Quatros (yes, we have spoken before). I find that minimal toe in, 7 ft apart, 3 ft from back wall, 4ft from sides, sounds very nice indeed. I leave the grilles on.

[s dog]

The problem is probably not with "them damn horns". I know you only moved them a couple of feet, but by chance did you happen to disconnect them and possibly re-connect them out-of-phase? The symptoms you describe sound as though they are, especially the 2-ch symptoms. Usually there's no definable image and the bass is substantially reduced. Any number of test disc can help you determine if phasing is correct, or you can just look at the speaker wires and ensure the positive wire is on red, negitive on black. Most speaker wire, including zip cord have polarity marking. Usually on zip cords there's either a stripe, printing or lettering, or a groove on the insulation.

know i did not disconnect anything i just moved them a couple of feet , i try to be very careful when hooking things up im know expert by know means but i do no some basic stuff ,i wander if klipsch are known to be funny about placement, well i like the way they sound now , but i do think they make better HT speakers than music speakers, thank you guys for the input

[Worf101]

I have the Platinum Quatros (yes, we have spoken before). I find that minimal toe in, 7 ft apart, 3 ft from back wall, 4ft from sides, sounds very nice indeed. I leave the grilles on.

Mine are about 9 feet apart due to a stairway and I've a slightly increased toe in. But these speakers are my first "modern" set of speaks and I love them. I run grills on as well. What's the main diff between the Quattros and the threes? Larger driver's or more of em? Thanks for the love and I'm looking for a set of Quattros even as we speak but if I get em I'll have to sell the the 3's. WAF problems.

Da Worfster

[Hairsonfire]

Platinum had three models, or rather, divisions of models: Studio Series, Listening Series, and, damn, cant remember the other one. Phil Jones was the designer. Won product of the year from Stereophile in 1992 for their Platinum Solo, which is from their Listening Series, along with the Duo, Trio, and of course, Quatro. So, the Quatro is a Solo times four. Four six inch woofer cones and an aluminum tweeter. They are 38 inches high, about nine inches wide and about 15 inches deep. One Inch Thick Black Acrylic tops. Adjustable Spikes, Aluminum Heatsinks on the back, 5 way dual binding posts. Retail was 7,000.00 when I bought them. The grills are steel with baffles between each driver. I think that is all I can remember. Oh yeah, 6 OHM and 300W Peak Power (but, boy, can they handle more - total juice hogs)

[kexodusc]

I can remember taking weeks to get my Wharfedale emeralds to sound right. Same with the Studio 40's.
My Vifa towers took only a few minutes, but they have incredible off axis response and don't need toe-in, plus they were in a dedicated 2-channel room (lucky me).

I always found that the separation of speakers was somewhat proportional to the listening positions distance from the speakers too. So if you were 6 feet back, separate them 6 feet or so...8 feet back, 8 feet or so...etc.

The problem I had with my HT setup for stereo playback was that I was about 10 feet back from the TV and main speakers, but could only separate them about 7.5 to 8 feet due to walls and doorways. This really compromised the width of the soundstage (though it took some of the harshness of the Studio 40's tweeter out).

I performed a test not too long ago with my Yamaha RX-V1400 after some bad YPAO settings. I noticed that Norah Jones (great CD's for measuring imaging, some bad clipping in them though). was very off-center. Fixing the delay 0.5 ft (I KID YOU NOT) solved this problem immediately. This got me thinking, how much of an impact does inaccurate SPL level's have. Surprisingly, I had to have a difference of about 2-3dB's to get the same "center-tilt" to the image.

So 6 inches can ruin everything in my farfield setup. So can uneven toe-ins, etc.

What I most learned about this was that you almost need a good few days of in-house demos to adequately determine how a speaker sounds. Or you have to trust that a dealer really knows what they're doing. I wonder how many "wrong" purchasing decisions were influenced by improper placement, toe-in, etc?

(Just my directionless rambling for the day...)

[Worf101]

Platinum had three models, or rather, divisions of models: Studio Series, Listening Series, and, damn, cant remember the other one. Phil Jones was the designer. Won product of the year from Stereophile in 1992 for their Platinum Solo, which is from their Listening Series, along with the Duo, Trio, and of course, Quatro. So, the Quatro is a Solo times four. Four six inch woofer cones and an aluminum tweeter. They are 38 inches high, about nine inches wide and about 15 inches deep. One Inch Thick Black Acrylic tops. Adjustable Spikes, Aluminum Heatsinks on the back, 5 way dual binding posts. Retail was 7,000.00 when I bought them. The grills are steel with baffles between each driver. I think that is all I can remember. Oh yeah, 6 OHM and 300W Peak Power (but, boy, can they handle more - total juice hogs)

That answers everything. Quatros might be a nice thought but too big for my listening room/living room. She'd kill me. Even though she was the one I bought the Studio 3's for in the first place. She didn't like the look of my classic Ohm Walsh F's. But she loves the slim lines. I must admit I kinda like them now too.

Thanks.....

Da Worfster