Your expensive room treatments might probably making your system sound worse (and why you need to read the attached article)

[dminches]

The Vandersteen speaker setup uses a jig attached to the front of the cabinet with a built in laser.

 

[bonzo75]

I am curious. How do you find rooms with the channels reversed but the exhibitors don't know it?

Pick an orchestral side where first violin starts on left, then orchestra joins in (e.g. Scheherazade 4th movement). Violin will clearly start on right if channels are reversed

 

[Hydrology]

Im not sure how important using a laser is unless your room is absolutely symmetrical, which I doubt many are. By this definition, I would assume that each speaker distance to the listener should not be the same in order to achieve optimal results.

 

[TonyW]

The laser is a starting point. Careful listening and fine tuning speaker/chair position is the final step.

I also use the laser to aim my speakers with a yardstick placed on the back of my listening chair. That too is a starting point but the laser helps to make the fine tuning with precision.

 

[bonzo75]

Jim Smith’s book inspired me to buy a laser measuring tool, which I now use to position my speakers.

I still start with a measuring tape, but for fine-tuning, I rely on the laser tool to ensure everything is perfectly precise.

When I had Martin Logan’s, 10 years ago, I got a lot of ML owners telling me to use a laser tool, so bought one. I had also seen a surveyor use it during a house purchase to confirm floor plans.

ML is very specific about toe in, and with electrostats placement needs to he quite spot on due to very narrow listening spot. Both toe in or straight and vertical raking needs to be accurate.

With good horns which have a broader listening spot, and large dispersion (e.g. Altec), it will matter less than stats and tape will get you there too,

 

[exupgh12]

When I had Martin Logan’s, 10 years ago, I got a lot of ML owners telling me to use a laser tool, so bought one. I had also seen a surveyor use it during a house purchase to confirm floor plans.

ML is very specific about toe in, and with electrostats placement needs to he quite spot on due to very narrow listening spot. Both toe in or straight and vertical raking needs to be accurate.

With good horns, which have a broader listening spot, and large dispersion (e.g. Altec), it won’t matter as much

Thank you for sharing your experience with Martin Logans and your Altec. For me, the laser tool has proven easier to use than multiple measuring tapes, as the laser line remains perfectly stable while I move around the speakers to make adjustments.

I have direct experience with horns through my best friend who owns Avantgarde Trios. When we used a laser tool to precisely align the horn sections at height and direction, the results were noticeably superior and the setup process was much more efficient compared to using measuring tapes.

While I respect that different methods work for other people, I've found the laser tool to be invaluable for precise speaker placement across various speaker types. It's simply a matter of choosing the tool that works best for your specific situation.

 

[bonzo75]

Thank you for sharing your experience with Martin Logans and your Altec. For me, the laser tool has proven easier to use than multiple measuring tapes, as the laser line remains perfectly stable while I move around the speakers to make adjustments.

I have direct experience with horns through my best friend who owns Avantgarde Trios. When we used a laser tool to precisely align the horn sections at height and direction, the results were noticeably superior and the setup process was much more efficient compared to using measuring tapes.

While I respect that different methods work for other people, I've found the laser tool to be invaluable for precise speaker placement across various speaker types. It's simply a matter of choosing the tool that works best for your specific situation.

Trios dispersion is different from Altecs. The multicells have a wider dispersion characteristic compared to the circular tractrix or JMLCs.

Not saying no one should use the tool, it is quite easy to use (I often have one in my pocket when I go house hunting) but some speaker owners (e.g. MLs) will use it more naturally than others.

One of the reasons I am ant-stats is not the sound, but the need to sit in the perfect spot for listening, and the OCD in perfecting that.

 

[Salectric]

The reason to use a laser is to get the two speakers the same distance from your ears. You still choose speaker location by ear but for fine-tuning the laser ensures the speakers are matched where it counts which is the distance from the listener’s ears to each speaker as opposed to distance from each speaker to side walls and the wall behind the speakers. The laser is in no way a substitute for careful listening.

I owned ML CLS stats for a number of years and pushed them all over the room trying to find the best spot. Quite an exercise in frustration. For the past decade I have had horn speakers which also have a cone woofer in open baffle. Those speakers are not as critical as the CLS regarding room placement. It’s easy to find a spot where they sound good but careful listening is still needed to find the best location. The laser ensures symmetrical placement which pays big dividends in imaging and soundstaging.

 

[bonzo75]

The reason to use a laser is to get the two speakers the same distance from your ears.

What if room is not symmetrical, and there is a pillar or something else behind one speaker when at same distance from your ears

 

[Salectric]

What if room is not symmetrical, and there is a pillar or something else behind one speaker when at same distance from your ears

I haven’t faced either situation. But I think it would still be optimal to have each speaker the same distance from the listener even if this resulted in different distances to wall surfaces in the room.

 

[Tangram]

The laser is a starting point. Careful listening and fine tuning speaker/chair position is the final step.

I also use the laser to aim my speakers with a yardstick placed on the back of my listening chair. That too is a starting point but the laser helps to make the fine tuning with precision.

I do the same thing! That said, regardless of the speakers, I almost always have the tweeters “grazing” the outer edges of the listening chair back.

 

[Tangram]

Thank you for sharing your experience with Martin Logans and your Altec. For me, the laser tool has proven easier to use than multiple measuring tapes, as the laser line remains perfectly stable while I move around the speakers to make adjustments.

I have direct experience with horns through my best friend who owns Avantgarde Trios. When we used a laser tool to precisely align the horn sections at height and direction, the results were noticeably superior and the setup process was much more efficient compared to using measuring tapes.

While I respect that different methods work for other people, I've found the laser tool to be invaluable for precise speaker placement across various speaker types. It's simply a matter of choosing the tool that works best for your specific situation.

There’s really no reason to fuss with measuring tapes given how inexpensive the lasers are these days. Way easier to get accurate results, in my case 1\16 of an inch at times, although reproducibility is an issue!

 

[Al M.]

I haven’t faced either situation. But I think it would still be optimal to have each speaker the same distance from the listener even if this resulted in different distances to wall surfaces in the room.

Yes, apart from soundstage it can also make a difference in dynamics. You want the wave launch to be synchronized between the speakers.