I have been experimenting with different spacing between my Triton One Front L/R speakers. My PLP is about 12 feet from my Triton Ones, so "conventional wisdom" (including Sandy's recommendations) recommends that the spacing between the front speakers be 12 feet, with the speakers slightly toed-in toward the listener. This arrangement creates an equilateral triangle, with each angle being 60 degrees.

In my case, placing the speakers 10 feet apart creates problems within the room and moving my PLP closer than 12 feet also creates room issues. From a physical room perspective, the best placement for my Triton Ones results in a spacing of about 7-8 feet. Currently, I have the Ones at this spacing.

Last night, while lying in bed and before drifting off, I began to visualize sitting in a concert hall in what I would consider to be the ideal location -- basically in the center of the hall, front to back and left to right. Then, I visualized using my arms to extend two lines from my concert PLP toward the last musicians on each side of the stage (full orchestra). Typically, the outer musicians would be the rear of the violin section on my left and the double bass players on my right.

As I visualized this exercise, it seemed to me that the angles formed by my arms would be considerably less than 60 degrees - perhaps more like 35-45 degrees. So, I thought that my 7-8 foot spread between my Tritons might more closely approximate what I would encounter if I were sitting in my ideal PLP at a symphony concert.

Obviously, if I were either down front or in the rear of the hall, these angles would change dramatically. Likewise, being on either side would affect the angles.

Perhaps I am just rationalizing the limitations imposed by my room configuration, but it seems to me that the sound I am hearing now more closely approximates what I hear at the symphony - particularly when the recording emphasizes stereo separation.

And, all of this muse reflects listening to two channel music. Multi-channel presentations would create different effects.

Thoughts anyone?

Art

I too recently moved my Triton Ones closer together with a resulting improvement. I think I'm about 12 feet away and went with between 9-10' apart. I can't go closer because of my projection screen. As with all speakers, recommendations from a reviewer or even the designer should be considered a STARTING POINT, not an absolute.

Every room is different. My guess is if one could maintain proper sidewall distance (or damping) that wider spacing would always be preferred.

It is also relevant to mention that wider spacing and more toe-in will always increase the number of good listening seats, a powerful reason to push for that layout (unless you do all your listening alone).

Although fun, Arts musing are not relevant to loudspeakers as all have very different radiating patterns which determine best locations in a room. For instance, most speakers have more limited horizontal dispersion than the GETs and therefore cannot be pushed wider apart because they create the "hole in the middle" effect, for example. This also means most other speakers cannot be toed-in as much either, losing the benefit for creating a wider listening area.

I have tried various toeing angles and I agree that changing the toeing angle does impact the sound stage. When I am listening to classical music (which is most of the time) I find that exaggerated stereo effects lessen my enjoyment. I have some very early mono LP recordings which I have transferred to FLAC files and I find that I enjoy them, in part because they do not have an exaggerated stereo effect.

Stereo is fun when listening to music which can benefit from two channel sound (small combos, vocal & instrumental, string trios, etc.). In these instances, I have enough separation with my present spacing.

I have not experienced the "hole in the middle" effect with my Tritons, so I agree with Mr. Moderator that the Tritons excel in this area. My issue with the speakers being placed wide apart is that my attention is directed to one or the other speaker, rather than to the music as a whole dynamic (again, making reference to orchestral music primarily).

Overall, I have been really pleased at how musical my Triton speakers have been, regardless of the spacings or other placement variations I have tried.

My current configuration moves the Triton Ones well away from side walls. I have a nice soundstage and my wife reports better balance, when she sits to one side of the room in her "nest". She is not the dedicated listener that I am, but she loves music, so we both enjoy listening when she is present.

Thanks for the comments so far.

Art

Art,
IF your attention is drawn to one speaker or the other when listening with them farther apart, then something is wrong with that setup. So we can see why you are putting them closer together.
Since I call stereo, POS, I just don't even know what to call your suggestion of MONO?????
Call me old fashioned but I never heard music in a concert that was mono or stereo, it was always surround sound and that is the way I prefer it.
Mono and stereo were just baby steps in the process to get us there, just like Black and White was to get us to COLOR, 2D just a step to 3D. Some people still love B&W, prefer it even like many prefer 2D. Just ain't natural is all I am sayin'
Surround sound baby, get that center channel speaker talking to you!!! ha ha
Happy listening Art.
God Bless,
Wayne

Hi Wayne,

When I stepped up to the Cambridge Integrated Amplifier, I made the conscious decision to listen to all music in a 2-channel mode. I understand your comment regarding the surround-sound musical elements you might experience in a concert hall. When I was living in Kenosha, Wisconsin, I had the opportunity to sing with an a capella choral group in a convent in Milwaukee, which had a nearly 5 second reverb. Sounds were bouncing all over the place in that building.

Over the years, I have listened to music in 9.2 channel sound, using my Onkyo AV Receiver. The CDs from which the music came were created in 2-channel sound, so the receiver was artificially creating the other channels for reproduction. No way to know what the original performance sounded like, since I was not there. I always ended up listening in Pure Direct mode, which is 2-channel.

Hall ambiance is a hotly-debated topic. I have a couple of much older Sony 5.1 AV Receivers which attempted to reproduce the ambiance of several world-renowned concert halls. I have never been impressed with any of these attempts.

I have sung in very live rooms and very dead rooms and, yes, there is a tremendous difference in what I hear from one venue to another. I much prefer live rooms when I am singing solo. However, live rooms seem to muddy the sound a bit when I am singing with a group.

With my two "rear front" Triton Sevens, I am adding a bit of room ambiance, but the sounds are the same 2-channel sounds. Since I don't watch/listen to music DVDs, I do not experience the multi-channel effects offered with that medium.

Perhaps, if I owned a room-full of top-quality GE speakers and, if I owned a number of discrete amplifiers and processors to provide top-quality multi-channel sound -- and if I listened in a room that was large enough to take advantage of such gear -- then I might feel differently. But, I don't and I see no prospects of being in that blissful state in this lifetime. So, I will continue to work with my Triton Ones and Sevens and enjoy my old-fashioned two-channel stereo music and my even older-fashioned monaural recordings as I transfer and clean them into FLAC files.

Happy listening to you as well,

Art