Question to Frank Abela and Others re Dynaudio 1.8's and Toe in.

As I understand it, it's to do with the design of the drive units. These have very wide dispersion, but I believe they're designed not to be listened to on-axis. No denying the effectiveness though...

Regards,
Frank.

I've been messing with the position of my 1.8s ever since I've had them. Mine are further apart (about 12 feet) than they ought to be because of the room layout - they fire across the short axis of the room rather than the long axis - listening position is about 8 feet in front of them).

When I spoke to the Dynaudio UK rep he said that slight toe-in is OK so that's what I've got given the distance apart.

So what's the scoop then ?

Regards

Graeme

Graham! Welcome back. Long time and all that.

In your case, since the distance between the speakers is greater than the distance from you to either one, you have to toe in a little.

However, in the normal situation this is not the case and the speakers would be placed square to the back wall. The normal situation is that the distance between the speakers is the same as, or less than, that between each speaker and the listener.

The theory has it that the triangle formed by the three items should be equilateral, but in the absence of this, then it is preferable to form an isosceles triangle where the listener is further away than the speakers are apart. The reason for this is that if the distance is less, then minor movement side to side by the listener (say 1 foot) collapses the image significantly in a very off-putting way.

You also are much more likely to hear two separate speakers and a 'hole' forms in the middle. This is less obvious with wide dispersion speakers (such as Dynaudio 1.8s)!

Regards,
Frank.

Frank,

I'm going to smack you next time I see you . . .

1. It's G R A E M E not Graham - you should know better than that by now

2. I know the theory of triangles regarding speaker placement 'cos I'm a bright bunny, but, as we well know, theory does not always give you the best sound in a Flat Earth world.

I still suffer some excessive bass boom which I think is down to the speaker / floor / room interface (as well as the music) so I'm always up for new ideas. Things have got better since I introduced the dreaded M*** word but there's still a way to go. Maybe it's time to get you guys to "install" the system" !

OK - I'm gonna dink with the speakers one more time and see what occurs. BTW, I understand that some of the bolts on the 1.8s may loosen over time and the Dynaudio rep suggested they were probably due for a tighten by now, which would help the bass. He reckoned I should get the dealer over and then he might also show. What do you think?

Onwards and / or upwards.

Graeme
By way of a bribe in this area - a good friend of mine (with loadsa dosh) just commented that mine was the best system he'd ever heard in terms of musicality and he's coming over to discuss how he might avail himself of a similar system. Now where shall I take him . . . ?