legend series placement for 2 channel...vs placement for HT

[amusingisthedawn]

I had a friend over the other day listening to music and had mentioned the soundstage
was so wide, he thought it was wierd.

How far apart do most people place their speakers in their 2 channel
set-ups?

I suppose my original intention was to widen the
soundstage for theater, but perhaps it hurt the sound for 2 channel?

This
room is 12' wide and 15' long, and the speakers are right at the
corners. Maybe the soundstage IS too wide, even for HT? The only reason I'm thinking about that now is that you sit barely 10 feet from the speakers.

[amusingisthedawn]

this is the room.

Another reason they are placed so far apart is that my main goal is to have 2 SVS pc ultras to the insides of each KLF. I find that the sub is least noticeable in 2 channel music when it is in between the speakers, not corner loaded.

[Fotog]

My KLF-20's are directly beside the sides of my TV cabinet - facing the premier seating position. My sub is next to one of the 20's (I have a bottom firing sub w/ side port facing the corner). I run 7 channel stereo for both HT and Music. This set up works well for me. But each has their own requirements and what they are striving to achieve.

In your photo my 20's would be placed at the outside edges of your screen (about 5.5 - 6' centerline to centerline) with the sub on the outside of the right cabinet. My seating position is directly in front of the screen (about 12' away) with a pair of towers on each side (about 8' centerline to centerline) with the rear C7 centered overhead (about 6' back).

[wuzzzer]

Width looks fine to me. Placing the SVS speakers inside your fronts will result in a smoother sound overall than having them in the corners where your speakers are. I'd leave everything alone.

On second thought, I'd personally get rid of the cabinet thing that the remote and magazine are sitting on. Your center is sitting pretty low and that cabinet is blocking a ton of sound.

[amusingisthedawn]

It's a coffee table and the center channel is sitting higher than it. i would like to get rid of it and get a couple of ottomans to put my feet up on though

[rgdawsonco]

I pulled out my Legend Series Owners Manual. They show a two channel system with the speakers narrower than to the home theater setup. I'd guess and say they show about 30 degrees of sparation for 2-channel audio, and about 60 degrees with theater and a center channel. As fo me I compromised at around 40 degrees. If it were me (and I have the same speakers), I would bring them into about 40 degrees of separation. I've done considerable experimentation with this setup and 60 degrees is too wide for me for two channnel music. 60 degrees woul be if you had speakers 12 feet apart and you sat 12 feet from them. You are a little closer, so you are a little more than 60 degrees. Thats a little wider than recommended for HT and more than 2x what is recommended for 2-channel audio. One beautiful thing about these speakers is that they image so well, you will perceive a wide soundstage anyway. Trust me, when a phone rings off screen, you will be getting up to answer it. All situations are a little different, so try it out, experiment. Also, if its just you in the room sitting in the sweet spot, I promise you it/everything will sound better without the center. And given your space situation, I might lose the center entirely. In your setup you are significantly closer to your center and that is not optimum. Optimum would be where you are the same distance from your fronts and center. Get you friend back over and try out some new placements.

[amusingisthedawn]

I'd have to disagree about the center channel...very strongly. The center is also only like 3 inches closer than the mains, so it isn't a very noticeable concern. A few things have changed. I put up a lot of acoustic treatments and the room sounds like a new room...SO much better. I took the coffee table out of there and the speakers right now are about 9.5' away from eachother and about 10 feet from the couch. I feel the sub blends better with music while inside the mains and I don't have the room to change it.

I feel the wide soundstage was corrected with room treatments, I have to see once my friend comes back over. The more I listen, the spacing is perfect for HT, I really couldn't be happier with my 5.1 setup right now. Stereo listening sounds cool to me, and I did notice that with the treatments it changed the dynamics to the point where things such much more natural.

[rgdawsonco]

I guess it's just the picture. The center looked a foot or more closer. Sounds like your system is optimal for HT. I wasn't really sure on the center, so I threw that out there. I have the same center, and I like it for movies. But i don't use it for music.

Tell us more about the acoustic treatments.