How wide is your sweetspot?

[DC-Audiophile]

Would like to get some feedback regarding the size of your sweetspot. Specifically, what I'm looking to find out is:

a) How far can you move left or right, before the "centered" image appear to emanate from the left or right speaker?
b) What tweaks have you done which have resulted in maximizing the "width" of your sweetspot?

Notes:
To measure the sweetspot, I would recommend starting by moving or leaning your head to the left or right to see if the image remains rock-solid in the center or if it moves in the direction of your head and speaker.

Next, see how many seating positions the sweetspot accommodates. Is yours a solo listening setup, or can 2 or 3 sit comfortably and enjoy a rock-solid centered image?

I know there are many factors that can influence this, including proximity of speakers to listening area. Lets try and just keep it to the facts and actual listening impressions rather than theory. Your measurements and ratios would probably be very helpful to all!

Regards,
ANDREW

 

[Beakman]

I checked with my system the other night, Vantages at 9'-6" apart (coc) and 12' from the listening position. I can say that the sweet spot is a cramped 2 person sitting width before one or the other speaker becomes dominated by the other. Within the aformentioned space the sound does get biased by the speaker side favored but is not overpowering toward the other, giving an adequate stereo perception. Not nearly as good as sitting dead center though.
Panel centers are ~ 6" from the side walls and 56" from the front wall. Toe in is roughly 1-1/4" off square for 12" depth of speaker cabinet. 7' x 4' of sound absorption panel is placed center, ~4" off the front wall. Funky modded paper lamps are behind the speakers for diffusion.

 

[DC-Audiophile]

I checked with my system the other night, Vantages at 9'-6" apart (coc) and 12' from the listening position. I can say that the sweet spot is a cramped 2 person sitting width before one or the other speaker becomes dominated by the other. Within the aformentioned space the sound does get biased by the speaker side favored but is not overpowering toward the other, giving an adequate stereo perception. Not nearly as good as sitting dead center though.
Panel centers are ~ 6" from the side walls and 56" from the front wall. Toe in is roughly 1-1/4" off square for 12" depth of speaker cabinet. 7' x 4' of sound absorption panel is placed center, ~4" off the front wall. Funky modded paper lamps are behind the speakers for diffusion.

Thanks for the stats! I think you mean 6 feet of the side wall?

 

[Beakman]

6' off the side walls would be correct.

 

[JonFo]

In my dedicated, treated room, the sweetspot is pretty large, but it still is primarily a one-person sweetspot.

Although the seats to the left and right are very, very good, the absolute perfection of the prime spot is amazing.

My sweetspot is wider than it had been before in the same room, primarily thanks to a boatload of room treatments.


I find it is the interference patterns of the rear wave reflections into a room that either give that one-millimeter-wide sweetspot, or the wall of undistinguished sound some systems have.
Managing that results in a much more cohesive soundstage.

Details and diagrams (with measurements) of my room are over here.

 

[DC-Audiophile]

I've been reading the Better Sound book, and came across a section that deals with the sweet spot. Contrary to what I'm trying to achieve and by extension, the Raison d'être of this thread, Jim makes the point that by its very nature, the sweet spot can't be very large. As you leave dead center and start changing the distance between one and the other speaker, it should affect the sound quality (my words not his). So I'm re-evaluating the notion that I should try and widen my sweet spot.

Interested in hearing other ideas/perspectives on this!

 

[FOUNTAIN]

I've been reading the Better Sound book, and came across a section that deals with the sweet spot. Contrary to what I'm trying to achieve and by extension, the Raison d'être of this thread, Jim makes the point that by its very nature, the sweet spot can't be very large. As you leave dead center and start changing the distance between one and the other speaker, it should affect the sound quality (my words not his). So I'm re-evaluating the notion that I should try and widen my sweet spot.

Interested in hearing other ideas/perspectives on this!

I believe Jim is right on about this point. There is nothing wrong with adjusting your speakers for a wider sweet spot as long as this spot is still sweet when you're finished. I for one do not want an extremely narrow stereo image, but in my limited experience there is a range as to how wide this spot can be without loosing the magic that makes one suspend disbelief. When Jim adjusted my speakers to best play the room the center image did widen a little bit, but this was mainly due to my speakers being located too close together. From what I understand this is rare since most have their speakers too far apart giving them a wide image with a more diffuse center. In short there is a finite range for the sweet spot in your unique room which one should experiment with that will work in his environment with his speakers.


Glen

 

[gordonmenninger]

with my Sl3's the sweet spot is only about 12" on either side of my head at most... when i walk behind my listening chair, the sound is very muffled and not very good... when I sit down though, the magic appears! Wish the ML's had a wider sweet spot, but that is what you get with Electrostats!

 

[amey01]

Definitely only one person. That said, I am always surprised when I sit outside the sweet spot how good the sound actually is. No, it's not the same as sitting in the sweet spot, but even sitting outside the speakers there is a surprisingly good image still there.

 

[churchill]

Definitely only one person. That said, I am always surprised when I sit outside the sweet spot how good the sound actually is. No, it's not the same as sitting in the sweet spot, but even sitting outside the speakers there is a surprisingly good image still there.

I agree with Adam, mine is also a one person sweet spot, but sitting left or right of the sweet spot is still good.

 

[Jimna]

this might be my only advantage over everyone's superior speakers (said with covetous lust). my sweet spot is certainly the whole width of the love seat i have in the listening spot.

 

[Sambob2]

comments on my experience with my system in my room...

When my system was set up in a suitable place with good placement and seating positioning, the sweet spot was narrow. Only the center seating position yielded the best imaging of the anchored center soloist, be it a vocal or solo sax playing. You knew you were in the sweet spot when the imaging of that soloist was locked in and appeared as though they were there 12 feet in front of me. Moving my head slightly to the left or right about 6 inches lost that exact imaging.

Now I also want to make a distinction on my perception of sweet spot and soundstage size. I feel the two are different and independent of each other. Moving my ReQuests closer or further apart (to a point) did not loose the sweet spot. I don't recall the exact dimensions from when I had the room dedicated to sound reproduction (prior to converting the upstairs loft to bedrooms, closets and a bathroom for the addition of our daughter), but I will approximate the area as 16' wide, 24' deep with a cathedral ceiling above that went from 8' to a height of 11' 6". My ReQuests were about 44" from the wall behind them and about 7' apart from each other center to center. This left about 4' on the left speaker to the wall, the other side had an open area which opened into the rest of the loft upstairs. (total room size was 34' X 24') I sat about 14' from the front edge of the speakers which left about 6' behind my listening sofa. Moving the speakers from 6' to 8' did not affect the sweet spot locked-in imaging but did change the soundstage presentation. I found that I could maintain the sweet spot by toeing in the speakers the further out I moved them apart from each other. By moving the speakers out, I could increase the soundstage (again to a point) and make more use of the room acoustics to present a larger soundstage. There is a point however that the soundstage is not as seemingly accurate as it could be when the speakers were at closer distances to each other. Something I did notice is that I the further I separated the speakers, the more I had to move them away from the rear wall to preserve the sound-staging accuracy. Toeing in would help again with anchoring the sweet spot…and of course more volume.

With all that said, I'll go back on myself a bit and say there is a optimum location for the speakers for the best balance of the sweet spot and soundstage accuracy.

 

[DC-Audiophile]

Sambob2,

Thanks for your observations on the matter. I too have found similar results to what you describe. My setup is along the long wall which necessitates wider placement. Recently I was doing some minor adjustments because after frequent placement options I had settled on a position that somehow had lost some of the center image focus I previously heard. Then I started to toe the speakers out a bit, as I had them too far in, and precisely adjusted the distance to the back wall. Bingo! Now the sweetspot image is back again, and furthermore, the soundstage seems deeper too!