Stillpoints Ultra Vs - Wilson X1/Grand Slamms

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
While I actually meant that question for Christian, your answer has piqued my curiosity. I sit back 12 feet from my Alexias but they are only 9 feet apart tweeter to tweeter (%75 of the listening distance). Yours are 91% which much higher. If I recall correctly from Jim Smith's Get Better Sound, the average is usually around 83%. I'm not suggesting anything is wrong, just noting the differences. In any case, I agree that moving the speakers 1/2 inch does make a huge difference - a lot more than any cable change and sometimes a lot more than a component change. I use a laser to adjust toe in as well and you can use a laser for a lot more than that (as I learned from watching Jim Smith who uses multiple).

Steve, how far out are your speakers from the front wall (approx distance from back to wall)? I ask only for my own curiosity as I'm the last person who could suggest something was right or wrong about speaker positioning.

IIRC I am about 44" from the front wall to the inner rear corner of each speaker.

I can assure you my parameters are per Wilson set up specs and my measurements improved with that 1/4" toe out. Wilson formula states distance from side X 1.1-1.3 should equal distance from speaker to ear

BTW, I just remeasured and I am wrong. Distance from tweeter to tweeter is 10 feet (120") and distance from speaker to listening position is 144"

144/120 = 1.2
 

Jim Smith

Industry Expert
Dec 14, 2012
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IIRC I am about 44" from the front wall to the inner rear corner of each speaker.

I can assure you my parameters are per Wilson set up specs and my measurements improved with that 1/4" toe out. Wilson formula states distance from side X 1.1-1.3 should equal distance from speaker to ear

BTW, I just remeasured and I am wrong. Distance from tweeter to tweeter is 10 feet (120") and distance from speaker to listening position is 144"

144/120 = 1.2

or 120/144 = 83.33% :)

MadFloyd, if you recall, I do not consider 83% the rule so much as a good starting point. What decides the final resting place is the sound in the room.

As I wrote in GBS, I started noticing this unusual consistency when I was the distributor for Avantgarde Acoustics from 2000-2005.
 

PeterA

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Dec 6, 2011
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or 120/144 = 83.33% :)

MadFloyd, if you recall, I do not consider 83% the rule so much as a good starting point. What decides the final resting place is the sound in the room.

As I wrote in GBS, I started noticing this unusual consistency when I was the distributor for Avantgarde Acoustics from 2000-2005.

That is about the same ratio as I have in my set up. Jim Smith came and we did the final toe-in adjustments in 1/16" increments and judged symmetry with a laser on markings behind the listening seat. Once they were right, the sound just snapped (locked) into place. Dynamics and the sense of presence were greatly improved. Given the distances and angles, it's clear that tiny changes at the speaker end account for large changes at the listener seat. In a resolving system which is properly loading the room, these changes are very audible.
 
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Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
That is about the same ratio as I have in my set up. Jim Smith came and we did the final toe-in adjustments in 1/16" increments and judged symmetry with a laser on markings behind the listening seat. Once they were right, the sound just snapped (locked) into place. Dynamics and the sense of presence were greatly improved. Given the distances and angles, it clear that tiny changes at the speaker end account for large changes at the listener seat. It a resolving system which is properly loading the room, this changes are very audible.

Exactly what happened in my system. The sound stage opened up just as Nick promised and my results with the laser showed the big change at the listening position
 

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