Update, Shahinian Compass positioning and the joys of a new listening room

Posted by: Top Cat on 04 May 2002

Hi folks.

After one heck of a fortnight whilst I decanted my earthly possessions and entrusted them with a local removals firm (save for my hifi, cameras and laptop), I am finally in an empty house. In a week or so it will be gutted, new ceilings, redecoration, oak hardwood flooring installed prior to sale. ANyway, I digress.

I am now moving to the wife-to-be's flat, and will be there for the best part of a year or so whilst we (a) get married, (b) sell my house, (c) etc. etc. Eventually we will buy a house needing work and renovate, but that's a way away, so for now I have a new listening environment, unknown speakers (my Neats are now packed into storage, along with their funky Mana stands, so I will have to use the Shahinian Compasses for the next while.

Nice speakers, but not there yet IMHO. The problem I'm having with them (common to both the Nait-2 and the DNM driving the speakers) is too much bass. I'm using NAC-A5 because the rabbits don't like it (they prefer the taste of power cables but that's another story).

The room is approximately 15'x13' with a 10' or 11' ceiling. I've positioned the speakers along the length, around 3' in from the corners and about 1' into the room. I don't think this is ideal.

My questions:

(a) is there a convention for siting these speakers to gain a solid, convincing central image - things are a bit diffuse in the middle in my opinion as compared to conventional speakers.

(b) What orientation of the 'diamond' - in other words, do I have the bass driver and HF unit orthogonal to the back wall or do I toe the speakers in a bit?

(c) Should I look at a different cable? NAC-A5 doesn't seem to be very good at all with the Shahinians (it was better with the old speakers).

(d) ANy other tips?

Ah well, catch you later!

TC '..'
"Girl, you thought he was a man, but he was a Muffin..."
Posted on: 05 May 2002 by Peter Stockwell
TC,

have a go using the software from www.cara.de it'll give you something to run on in background on your computer.

Peter
Posted on: 05 May 2002 by count.d
1 foot from wall seems a little far. They do like to use the wall as part of their sound stage.

The heavy bass you refer to is more likely to be the way the Compasses produce bass. They do a great job for the money, but are not perfect.

I wouldn't advise toeing them in, it's not the way they work best. Keep them straight.

3ft from the walls seems a little close, try moving them in a little. This may improve bass definition.
Posted on: 06 May 2002 by Top Cat
I'll check out Cara - I've been tempted before, and it could well be worth the dosh.

It's really strange changing to a completely different room and different system all at the same time. What's more, when the speakers are so radically different to your current speakers in their approach, it takes some adjustment.

TC '..'
"Girl, you thought he was a man, but he was a Muffin..."
Posted on: 06 May 2002 by Peter Stockwell
Yes, that's true you have to use a generic speaker. Or you can try a model from another company that has similiar dimensions and drivers. I have B&W CDM1Ses, I used the software with a combination of a generic two way and and JMlab model. I've found that the computer predicted placings give excellent results. It's a long winded process, you have to build a model of your room that's sufficiently close to life without being complicated, i.e. all objects have to be reduced to the most simple approximation or else the calculations could take days or even weeks. But, very fine results are to be had with calculations using 5 room refelctions although Cara recommends 10 for more lifelike results, My 400 Mhz machine couldn't hack more than 6 refelctions without taking too long.

Peter
Posted on: 07 May 2002 by Mark Packer
TC,

You can buy the Cara software, but why not experiment with this spreadsheet for free.

http://www.acoustica.org.uk/downloads/RM.zip

Let the twisted Pair know how you get on please...

[Sorry the link appears to be duff, I'll try to get it sorted for you]

regards,

Mark
Posted on: 07 May 2002 by Top Cat
...I've already done the painful bit and paid for Cara Megabundle 2.1 (complete with training CD and audio test CD) so I'll report back once I get it.

TC '..'
"Girl, you thought he was a man, but he was a Muffin..."