JM Lab speaker positioning.
Posted by: Steve Toy on 11 February 2001
At the Chester Hi-fi Show of last year all the systems featuring JM Lab speakers sounded awful because the company director for the UK insisted that the speakers be placed too close to the audience, and too far apart, thus creating the proverbial hole-in-the-middle soundstage effect. One of the systems was CDS2/NAC52/NAP500/Utopia.
On a live performance with applause, I heard two separate lots of applause from each speaker, rather than the whole. I felt this was done deliberately., so that we were not hearing the complete system, but our attention was instead drawn to the speakers as the component part of the system for our attention.
I felt that JM Lab were deliberately subverting the notion of realism in musical reproduction, rejecting the idea that their equipment should serve as a vehicle for the musical performance, as though their equipment should instead draw attention to itself, creating a notion of interplay between equipment and music which serves to detract from that between musical performers (PR&T?). Presumably this is done for commercial purposes, drawing attention to the components THEY wish to sell. In another room at the show I met Micro Utopias at the end of YBA electronics. I was impressed, blissfully unaware, the only person in the room, that I was standing, listening to the music, with rows of empty chairs several feet in front of me! I asked if it was necessary for so much space to be behind the speakers, in which case they would be unsuitable in my room. How NOT to sell speakers!!!
In such high-end systems, I would also like to add that notions of Flat Earth and Round Earth should not be mutually exclusive.
Also I would like to add that JM Lab Make excellent speakers that sound brilliant on the end of Naim systems when positioned approprately.
On a live performance with applause, I heard two separate lots of applause from each speaker, rather than the whole. I felt this was done deliberately., so that we were not hearing the complete system, but our attention was instead drawn to the speakers as the component part of the system for our attention.
I felt that JM Lab were deliberately subverting the notion of realism in musical reproduction, rejecting the idea that their equipment should serve as a vehicle for the musical performance, as though their equipment should instead draw attention to itself, creating a notion of interplay between equipment and music which serves to detract from that between musical performers (PR&T?). Presumably this is done for commercial purposes, drawing attention to the components THEY wish to sell. In another room at the show I met Micro Utopias at the end of YBA electronics. I was impressed, blissfully unaware, the only person in the room, that I was standing, listening to the music, with rows of empty chairs several feet in front of me! I asked if it was necessary for so much space to be behind the speakers, in which case they would be unsuitable in my room. How NOT to sell speakers!!!
In such high-end systems, I would also like to add that notions of Flat Earth and Round Earth should not be mutually exclusive.
Also I would like to add that JM Lab Make excellent speakers that sound brilliant on the end of Naim systems when positioned approprately.
[This message was edited by steven toy on MONDAY 12 February 2001 at 03:18.]
[This message was edited by steven toy on MONDAY 12 February 2001 at 03:25.]
[This message was edited by steven toy on MONDAY 12 February 2001 at 03:44.]
[This message was edited by steven toy on MONDAY 12 February 2001 at 03:47.]
I had attended both last years show and the year before, where I was massively impressed with the Mezzo Utopias on the end of a Naim system. However i must concur with the 'crap sound' view held by Steven Toy. I just found that the Utopia based system was far less musically involving, which was a shame because I had expected geat things from them, and had had them marked down as a potential highlight of the show. (Instead, I fell in love with the Avatar OBX's and the Acoustic Solution's model 8/Sugden system, but that's another story!)
Whether or not that is due to speaker placement being too far apart is debateable, and I hold that view because I myself have the speakers firing across the length of the room, some 5 - 6 feet away from the listening position, and with a gap between the speakers of approx 8 - 10 feet, with no hole in the middle effect. In fact if the speakers are moved further together, the vocals and instrumentation lose the air around their respective places in the sound stage, which then starts to congeal. I have spent many hours (days even - yes I was that sad!!)finding the best positioning for the speakers, and this was the one that worked, giving me a nice balance of solidity and air. This is what i suspect that the distributor was attempting to achieve, as generally, most systems that i've heard at shows tend to come across as very detailed, but hard and unsubtle - in short, they don't allow you to relax. Unfortunately, I think that this time they may have overcompensated, and the sound sort of fell on it's arse as a result. Andrew, I use Electrocompaniet and, assuming the company has a house sound, I would have loved to have heard the Utopias on the end of some Electro amplification. At least they looked impressive....
Whether or not that is due to speaker placement being too far apart is debateable, and I hold that view because I myself have the speakers firing across the length of the room, some 5 - 6 feet away from the listening position, and with a gap between the speakers of approx 8 - 10 feet, with no hole in the middle effect. In fact if the speakers are moved further together, the vocals and instrumentation lose the air around their respective places in the sound stage, which then starts to congeal. I have spent many hours (days even - yes I was that sad!!)finding the best positioning for the speakers, and this was the one that worked, giving me a nice balance of solidity and air. This is what i suspect that the distributor was attempting to achieve, as generally, most systems that i've heard at shows tend to come across as very detailed, but hard and unsubtle - in short, they don't allow you to relax. Unfortunately, I think that this time they may have overcompensated, and the sound sort of fell on it's arse as a result. Andrew, I use Electrocompaniet and, assuming the company has a house sound, I would have loved to have heard the Utopias on the end of some Electro amplification. At least they looked impressive....
[This message was edited by wal riley on SUNDAY 18 February 2001 at 02:08.]