B&W 805D owners - Room positioning?

[Bavarian05]

I have been playing around with my room positioning recently in small increments, just trying to squeeze the last bit of sound out of my current set up. I was very surprised to find that in my room (11.5' wide, 15' deep with a 9.5' ceiling) a straight ahead firing position right down the room is giving me the smoothest frequency response as opposed to the typical heavy toe in I have used in the past with both the 805D and my previous 805S. Virtually all of the reviews I have read have stated that they typically need to be pointed directly at the listening position, which I mistakenly assumed would be best in my own room. If I point them directly at me, they can sound a little like they are shouting at me at times (not all the time or on all types of music) and sound can be placed coming from the speaker rather than in a soundstage. If they are pointed straight down the room, the soundstage overall size and depth increases significantly, the center image is stronger and more stable and the entire frequency range sounds better balanced. The difference is not massive, but it is certainly readily noticeable and more satisfying. I am kind of excited that I kept playing around. The result has been very positive in my room.

Any other owners out there, please let me know what positioning you have found to work best in your room.
Please include approx room measurements for perspective, if at all possible.

[chessman]

Cool result! Moral: believe your own ears.

[GaryProtein]

When my main speakers had cones, I found that toeing them in slightly BEYOND where I was sitting gave the best response. An added benefit of the extended toe-in was that the sound stage was enlarged and seating position in the room made less of a difference. The so-called "sweet spot" effect (maybe that's what you are calling the speaker "shouting at you"), which I never really liked was significantly reduced.

This may or may not help you, but a little A-B comparison may be worthwhile.

[lakesailor]

I have the 805S and not the 805D however after extensive (and I do mean extensive) experiments I have found that a very slight amount of toe-in is perfect, as in very slight. Really brings alive the imaging, however it will all depend on how far back your listening position is. On that note...how far back is yours ?

[Bavarian05]

Hi Lakesailor,

My current 805D set up is (all measured from the tweeter):

4' from back wall
6' between speakers
Seating position is just shy of 8' back from speakers and 3' from rear wall
Tweeters are each 30" away from the side walls with DIY absorption panels to prevent flutter echo

One other point of interest: a couple of months back, I removed my 5 shelf Solidsteel equipment rack from my listening room. It had been in the front of my room, and had been centered between the speakers, but set back about 18" from the the center plane of my speakers. I moved it into my fairly large closet (under stairs storage with a regular door) that is attached to the listening room and is behind my listening position to be used with my turntable and phono stage. I then bought a Finite Elemente Pagode Signature amp stand for my tube amp and a pair of cheaper ($79/each) Sanus Euro amp stands for my pre and source so they could be much closer to the floor. This made the largest difference of any change or upgrade I have ever tried. Up until this time, I had not realized how much the equipment and rack had effected my room acoustic. Spatial depth and imaging was improved considerably. (I assume because there was less reflections and therefore smearing) and it also had the added benefit of getting my turntable well away from the speakers and the feedback/vibration that went along with them. This may seem very obvious to some... I feel like I was a little behind the curve on this one.

[Lunchy]

I recently made this same observation in my own room. Arranging my speakers with very little toe in had the same effect. However, since it's a new room I'm continuing to experiment.

[lakesailor]

Originally Posted by Bavarian05

Hi Lakesailor,

My current 805D set up is (all measured from the tweeter):

4' from back wall
6' between speakers
Seating position is just shy of 8' back from speakers and 3' from rear wall
Tweeters are each 30" away from the side walls with DIY absorption panels to prevent flutter echo

One other point of interest: a couple of months back, I removed my 5 shelf Solidsteel equipment rack from my listening room. It had been in the front of my room, and had been centered between the speakers, but set back about 18" from the the center plane of my speakers. I moved it into my fairly large closet (under stairs storage with a regular door) that is attached to the listening room and is behind my listening position to be used with my turntable and phono stage. I then bought a Finite Elemente Pagode Signature amp stand for my tube amp and a pair of cheaper ($79/each) Sanus Euro amp stands for my pre and source so they could be much closer to the floor. This made the largest difference of any change or upgrade I have ever tried. Up until this time, I had not realized how much the equipment and rack had effected my room acoustic. Spatial depth and imaging was improved considerably. (I assume because there was less reflections and therefore smearing) and it also had the added benefit of getting my turntable well away from the speakers and the feedback/vibration that went along with them. This may seem very obvious to some... I feel like I was a little behind the curve on this one.

Our setups are very similar….my spacing has the 805’s a tad wider apart which may account for the very slight toe in working in my setup. I also agree if it is possible to move your gear elsewhere as you have done that usually works well. In one of my systems I have that ability but not the other. I haven’t tried putting the amps on the floor with amp stands though….mind you I run integrateds so not so practical in my case. What are you using for speaker wires ?

[lakesailor]

Originally Posted by Lunchy

I recently made this same observation in my own room. Arranging my speakers with very little toe in had the same effect. However, since it's a new room I'm continuing to experiment.

What is your spacing like measurement wise ?

[Bavarian05]

I am using Audioquest cabling:
CV-8 speaker cables (72v DBS, two ten foot pairs - running bi-wired)
Columbia XLR interconnects (also 72v DBS) between amp/pre and source/pre.

[Bavarian05]

Hi Lunchy,

Are your new room dimensions similar to mine?