Rex, one of the many excellent features of the Reed 3P is the adjustability of azimuth in real time. It is a beautiful design where one can dial in azimuth by ear without changing any other parameters very quickly with the right source material.
Rex, what was the first thing I did before you listened to a note? Recall I changed the seat cushion so that your ears were precisely at 37" off the floor, which was absolutely critical to getting the optimum sound from the Alexx V's. As I have written before, ear height alignment is extremely critical for any Wilsons that use a (modified) D'Appolito design for their upper modules. (The same is true for the Alexandrias). It stuns me that this continues to be so under-appreciated when folks listen to these speakers at shows. I suspect it is the single most important reason that many are not hearing the speaker at their best in any environment. Even in a private home, it is why one listener may find the speaker less than stellar, while others find them to sound excellent to the point they disappear. As you know, movement 1 inch up or down from the ideal position can have significant sonic repercussions. Remember, these speakers are always set up to a precise listener ear height as per Wilson's exacting set-up instructions. If your ear height is not the same as the "reference" listener, the results will almost certainly suffer. It is unfortunately an inherent liability of the design just as the horizontal Venetian blind effect is a liability of other designs such as many planar speakers. Since I listen in only one seat/position, ask me if I care?
Enough OT. Now, back to our regular programming....
Marty , I think that you have made a very good point and one I find is dramatically ignored. A great sounding audio system is far more than the ingredients. To realize the full potential of a system there are many factors that need to be addressed and problems to be solved that has nothing to do with which piece of equipment you own or want to purchase. Let me say this first THERE IS A WONDERFUL SELECTION OF AMAZING GEAR TODAY.
Let me move on. Many are still looking for the silver bullet to fix what's inherently wrong with the sound that they had made. Yes they have made not the gear. Trying to fix a bad room, bad set up, bad acoustics, bad seating position, bad electrical supply, bad room noise levels etc. can't be over come by a new widgit!!
If you want to get any of the great speakers available today to do their job you must get the room right, you must get the speaker position correct, you must get your seating spot right. It seems people want to go round and round on WBF as if they understand this yet when you read on it seems they don't. I have gotten the opportunity in the last two years to hear Marty's system, Mike Lavigne's system , Carlos Marin's system and a few others and all of them have one thing in common. Wilson speakers NO, Tubes ? same cables? No they have a room that has been addressed and a properly set up and dialed in system. The judging the sound of high end speakers from drive buy's at shows or in a crowded dealer showroom with multiple other speakers in the same room , or with piles of gear between the speakers is quite a different experience.
Audio requires a lot of perspiration and effort. If you are instituting a system in a multi purpose room full of fireplaces, windows, large screen TV's , high backed listening chairs and other weird non helping objects you need to realize that these are not helping your sound. If you system is neatly stacked along a wall with everything tie-wrapped and all in the same plane your probably are not getting everything possible from whatever you bought..
If you don't know how to optimize a system, or don't have someone that can assist you, I cannot suggest more that you find someone that can. IMO this is a very good investment to get you on the proper path no matter what kind of gear you have.
