Specifications

4
POSITIONING
All speakers sound best when they are equidistant from you.
Because the Model 10's imaging is so much more precise than
conventional speakers, they will reveal errors in equidistant
placement more than conventional speakers. The section of this
manual called “Advanced Positioning Techniques” will assist you
in obtaining the exact positioning needed.
Aim the speakers directly at your listening location — do not place them
parallel to the wall.
Equidistant to speakers
The speakers are designed to have a hard, reflective wall behind them — this will disperse the high
frequencies throughout the room so they sound good when you are out of the sweet-spot. So do not put
damping material on the wall behind the speakers unless you only listen at the sweet-spot and do not care
about the sound when you are off-axis.
The speakers may be positioned close to a wall — any wall, side or rear walls work equally well. You do not
have to place them out in the room.
Corner placement exaggerates undesirable bass and room resonances — it is best to avoid corner placement
for speakers.
The bass frequencies in all speakers are adversely affected by room acoustics. Depending on your room
dimensions and the positions of the speakers, bass resonances will occur that cause ragged bass frequency
response.
This problem cannot be avoided — but it can be minimized by trying to produce an infinite number of
infinitely small resonances instead of just a few large ones. Therefore, the worst bass will be produced with
both speakers are positioned symmetrically in the room. This will have them at the same distances from
walls and corners, which will cause them to produce the same two or three resonances and double their
magnitude.
It is much better to place the speakers randomly in the room so that they are each at different distances from
walls and corners. This will produce more resonances at many frequencies and will reduce the magnitude of
those resonances so the bass response will be smoother than symmetrical placement. You don't have to use
random placement, you can place the speakers symmetrically (most listeners do), but symmetrical placement
will compromise the smoothness of the bass.
Random placement of the speakers refers only to their relationship to the walls and corners of the room. It
does not apply to the relationship of the speakers to your listening location, which must always be set up so
that the speakers are equidistant from you and pointed directly at you.