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la scala placement


kuisis

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I finally got my la scala's wired in and running. Man what a difference from the bose 501's. Does anyone have any suggestions about room placement. The speakers are so much clearer than anything I've heard, even through my sherwood ss equipment.

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Hard to provide you suggestions since we have no idea what the room looks like, how it is shaped, what is in the room, what the dimensions are etc, etc. What usually works best is experimentation with placement. I would say in the corners of the room facing your listening position and toed in towards you would be a good starting point.

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Proper positioning of loudspeakers for accurate response and imaging quickly becomes a matter of inches. The simple article from George Cardas, of wire fame, gives some excellent pointers, with a few caveats for horns.

http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/manufacture/0602/cardas.html

As you can see from the article, the result is loudspeakers placed precisely at certain golden nodes in the room. They end up quite far from each front or sidewall. It works. In fact, my own Cornwall Is were very close to these marks and had an excellent sonic holograph. At first, the bass may seem too lean, but overall, the mid-range should improve in accuracy and tonal balance. The distance from the front wall, which you face, creates the depth of the soundstage. Truth be told, most loudspeakers I have positioned this way show remarkable sound staging capabilities, even the low cost Axiom Audio M3Tis.

This assumes, of course, that your loudspeakers are in phase with each other. Simply lining up the proper positive and negative wires may not do the trick. There are Test CDs to prove when each channel is in phase. The best value seem to be the Stereophile magazine CDs, available online. When speakers are in phase with each other, the focal image tightens in the center of the sound stage. Images are not as diffuse, their placement improves and the sonic-graphic illusion snaps into place.

Horns image best when pointed directly at the ear, or the back of the head. In an average size room, this means they are pointed away from the side walls at quite an angle. This angle seems to reduce sidewall interference. It is possible to place horns closer to the sidewalls and create wider soundstage then what Cardas recommends. This certainly seems to be true with Classic Audio Cinema Ensembles. They have a rectangular black mid-range horn almost the size of the Khorn. I have them farther apart than any other conventional cone loudspeaker I have seriously auditioned in my home. They are about a foot closer to the side walls.

Your listening position, by the way, should be 1.5 times the distance between the two loudspeakers. Ideally, you should position yourself at the apex of an isosceles triangle. If there is four feet between the two loudspeakers, for example, then the sweet spot will be about 6 feet in front of the loudspeakers. Once located in their proper positions, the inches make a big difference. Scooching a loudspeaker an inch or two closer this way or that makes a noticeable, though not wholly significant, different in the imagining. This isosceles angling is true for all but certain cone loudspeakers.

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Like haggis, pickled eggs & Guinness, it's a matter of individual taste and preference.

Here's what works for me. Measure the wall you want to place them against and divide into quarters, then place each speaker in from the outside wall at that quarter mark. So you'd end up with a 1.2.1 ratio. I keep them out about a foot from the back wall, and follow a Forum tip in keeping the fronts tipped up by a 2 x 4 wrapped in a towel to prevent standing waves. The sweet spot is straight out from the middle at the same distance between the two.

IMHO both LaScalas and Heresys are deep bass shy and benefit from subs. Anyway, enjoy them.

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