Room size for Sasha's

[darkstar]

Originally Posted by daveneumann

Thanks Tima & Ray,

I had not considered putting the speakers on the long wall, that opens up a lot of new possibilities and certainly eases concerns about side wall reflections and a narrow soundstage!

Attached is a low-res picture of my current set up. It is going to be hard to leave this room, but it's good to know that the Sashas can work in smaller rooms. The long wall arrangement is an interesting possibility.

Thanks and keep your experiences coming.

Dave

Nice set up and love the Blues for Allah LP

[rockitman]

Originally Posted by SRT-10 Viper

Here's a trick I do without putting the wheels back on. Use the gold discs (hard floor savers) in the Wilson tool box. Put them under the spikes then put it on furniture sliders. This can be done with a little leaning. That way you can move them yourself.

That idea is brilliant. Previously, I would remove my wilson spikes to slide the speakers around. Now I can leave them on (speakers at correct height) and really tweak their position comfortably...

[daveneumann]

Great suggestions all, thanks much!

Trponhunter, as you go visit Chessman in Columbus, you can make a swing through Louisville too! I'll buy you a great dinner and a sampling of the best burbons made on the planet.

Love the idea about the furniture sliders too - that should make it a one man job.

[trponhunter]

Don't think the great set up road trip is going to happen for me- but please try the suggestions and post your findings. As I mentioned, the results are pretty predictable and repetitive, so if all works as expected, I can answer more questions and help fine-tune.

[daveneumann]

trponhunter,

Well, I spent the morning moving my speakers around. First let me say that the tip of using the brass disks and furniture sliders is brilliant and worked perfectly!

I made two different moves and then stopped. The speakers are now 124" at the tweeters, or 6" each further apart than previously. Toe is was adjusted accordingly. Tweeters are 124" from my ears, so I am right at an equalateral triangle. I didn't want to go all the way to 10" further apart as you had suggested but decided to keep them here for a while.

I used two references for evaluation, both vinyl. They were Allison Kraus New Favorite and Leonard Cohen Songs of Love and Hate. I know both very well and typically use them for evaluating gear.

Much more listening will be needed, but here's what I've noticed so far:

- Center images have the same if not more presence and body
- Soundstage is slightly wider and images are even more distinct throughout the stage
- There is more of an open and less "crowded" sound to passages with multiple instruments and voices, each seeming to have more space around it
- Backing vocals and instruments recessed in the stage have more solidity and presence versus being a little obscured by comparison
- Overall a more immersive experience, with more of a sense of being in the soundstage versus watching the soundstage

Thanks for the tips! After a while, I might try spreading the speakers even more, but for now will enjoy things as they are.

Getting back to where I started with this thread...I kind of hope the house doesn't sell!

[trponhunter]

Great to hear - and again, all very predictable. I thought the 10" each that I suggested would bring them to equilateral - my math math must have been wrong. You may be able to go a little further apart, maybe - maybe not - you'll have to try and see. As you go further apart, the extreme deep bass could end up improving a bit as the speaker gets a little bit more re -enforcement from the wall. Speakers that are too close too each other and too far away from their side wall sound congested spatially and "crowded", as you described. There's nothing like the "walk in" soundstage when you get it right.

[thesaint519]

Originally Posted by daveneumann

Hi Trponhunter,

Interesting observation. I have not touched the speakers since they were set up by the dealer in March 2010. The bass is currently very linear with no lumps, bumps or other anomolies that I can hear. And instruments/voices are very solid and sometimes 3D within the soundstage.

BUT...I have not fiddled with placement since I figured the pros knew what they were doing. If what you say is true, I can't imagine how good it is going to sound!

If I understand what you are suggesting, I should try spreading apart the speakers by about 4" each so the net will be 10' apart at the tweeters. I imagine it would also be important to change toe-in as well to adjust to the greater width.

Sounds like a job for me and some of my audio buddies. Lifting 200 pound speakers can be a little challenging! It may take a couple of weeks until I can get them over, but I'll report back the results.

Thanks for the tip.

Dave

Dave,

Here's the absolute best way to move heavy speakers on un-carpeted floors:

- Simply remove the WATT, get a hand towel (not a bath towel, as they are too cumbersome & thick).

- Lay the hand towel flat on the floor alongside the Puppy.

- Tilt the Puppy so that one side comes up off the floor.

- Pick up the discs that the lifted spikes rested in.

- With the Puppy still tilted and the dics removed, slide the flat hand towel underneath so that it will completely disappear under the speaker with just a little showing on the lifted side, but most of it is bunched up against the other spikes on the other side underneath the Puppy.

- With the Puppy still tilted, place the discs on top of the hand towel where the spikes will hit them when the Puppy is lowered.

- Duplicate the process on the other side.

- Once both sides are done, you should have a Puppy with spikes atop their discs on a flat hand towel.

Here's why I began to do it this way: if I remove the spikes & set the speakers where they need to be, once I re-spike, the speaker is not in the same place. Using the above process, once I laser my angle (I use an actual laser), calculate distance, and set the speaker, it's in exactly its proper place. And you don't need two people to do this. With some beer & friends, it's always more fun though. The speakers will allow you to move them quite easily, which makes life easy when making minute changes. Try this, it works.

BTW - my speakers are exactly 10 feet apart & exactly 10' from my ears.