By Juan C. Ayllon Earlier today, my friend, Joe, dropped by to visit and listen to my two channel stereo system, however, if I thought this would merely be a show and tell, I was in for a very pleasant surprise. With years of experience in audio sales, setting up audio shows, and sound engineer work, he suggested tweaking my speaker toe-in and positioning in the room. When I originally set up the listening/AV room space, I was concerned about the basement room coloring the aural presentation, so in addition to employing thick curtains, room and ceiling acoustic treatments, I placed the seating in the front half of the room and employed severe toe-in, aiming them at the ears of a person seated in the center position in the listening couch. Moreover, I placed them a tad on the closer side -- maybe seven feet apart -- to help ensure a very solid center image. However, I noticed that as the signal approached 90 dB, the sound of my User Mini Dancer 2 DMD speakers took on a harder edge than I liked. Joe was impressed with the Mini Dancer 2s, but suggested that a few tweaks might both ameliorate the hardness and improve the soundstage. Borrowing a measuring tape, he moved the right speaker roughly seven inches to the right. I explain that I keep them closer as I don't want the strength of the center image to collapse. "Nonsense," he says. Then, he suggests towing them wider, reasoning that since these Usher Mini Dancer 2 DMDs employ a diamond tweeter, it's very detailed, but can also produce a harder sound. Comparing a silk tweeter with a rubber mallet and the DMD tweeter to a sledgehammer, he said that the former softens the impact whereas the latter produces a sharper one "so you don't want the diamond tweeter pointed directly to your ears." When I express concern about towing the speakers out further might heighten the room effect on the sound, he assures that the room's size, the distance from the far wall and the sitting nook at the left rear side of the room would mitigate any negative effects. "Besides, I don't hear your room at all when I'm listening," he says, adding that other factors, such as the exposed beams in the ceiling breaking up the flat reflective surface, the ducts above, curtains, acoustic treatments, furniture upfront, and the large dining table at the rear of the room all help breakup, diffuse and/or absorb sound reflections very well. "The idea is that the speakers should be toed in so they converge at a position behind the listener," he states. We listen to the first cut on Roger Waters' Amused to Death album before and after towing the speakers out further. "The dog barking should be at a 45 degree angle to your right and the TV sound at a 45 degree angle to your left," he suggests. Prior to making this adjustment, the sounds appeared to be emanating much closer to the speakers, but afterwards, bingo! They are imaging exactly where he said they should. We play other reference cut favorites of his, such as "Heard It on the Grapevine" on Bill Frisell's East West and a few tracks from an EP entitled Overcome by local artist Emily Kathryn. The depth of field is more immersive and magical in this recording rife with aural cues.
"Turn it up," he says. After I raised the volume substantially, he took a reading from a decibel meter app on his phone and showed it to me. It is hitting 93 dB and up, but it still sounds luscious and smooth. "No listening fatigue, right?" "Absolutely! This sounds amazing," I gush. Belle's going to hate me," he says laughing. Why's that? "You're going to be spending much more time listening down here," he predicts, adding that now I'm hearing the full potential of my speakers. It's not the cost of the equipment, but the setup, the room, and the synergy he proclaims. "And what you have hear sounds very, very good." I agree. Thanks, Joe!
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Juan C. AyllonA writer, artist, educator and owner of Prairie Audio Man Cave, he lives with his wife, Isabel (AKA Belle), and their Goldendoodle, Liam, enjoys listening to high fidelity music and all things hi-fi at their home in the greater Chicagoland area.. Archives
March 2024
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