Grimm Audio LS1, User Manual, Page: 10 / 62

Positioning
LS1 Setup
When placing loudspeakers, always keep the ultimate goal in mind and that is to hear the
music as it was intended by the artists. During production in the studio the producer
listened in a so called ‚equal triangle‘ setup where the corners of the triangle between the
two loudspeakers and the listener are all 60 degrees. When possible, please try to reach
this arrangement. The distance between the loudspeaker ideally is between 2.5 and 3m.
The next thing to look for in your quest for perfect sound is to make sure that both the
left and right loudspeaker have a similar acoustical environment. For example, if one
loudspeaker is placed close to a side wall and the other has free space on its side, the
sound of the speaker against the wall will be enforced by reflections and therefore the
stereo image shifts to that side. A quick and easy check is to sit at the listening position
and have an assistant talk to you from both speaker positions. If his voice color is equal in
both positions, you are fine. If he is boomy in one position and bright in the other, better
search further for better postioning. Listen to both the sound of the direct sound from
the assistant and of the ‚room sound‘. In fact, strange at may seem, you can hear these
effects too when speaking yourself at the loudspeaker positions.
The LS1 cabinet is wider than usual, so the effect of turning the loudspeaker around its
vertical axis is larger than you would expect. We can use this to our advantage since the
off-axis response of the LS1 is extremely even. The LS1 sounds just as good slightly
off-axis as on-axis. In the classic arrangement the loudspeaker faces the listener. The
angle of the loudspeakers relative to the wall behind them is 30 degrees. The superb
off-axis performance of the LS1 offers an alternative setup where both loudspeakers are
turned slightly further inward, or „toe in“. We advice an angle to the wall of 45 degrees.
The listener then sits at 15 degrees off-axis of the loudspeakers.
This setup has three advantages:
1. For seats left or right of the sweet spot, the stereo image is better preserved. The
reason is that for a left seat the sound of the left loudspeaker will reach the ear more
early. This causes a shift to the left in the stereo image. But at the same time, the listener
is more on-axis of the right speaker and more off-axis of the left speaker. The right
loudspeaker therefore becomes slightly louder and the image shifts to the right again.
It is not perfect, but the net effect is a wider area to enjoy a nice stereo image.
Positioning
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