Toe-In: In an ideal room, the speakers may be set-up so that
the speakers fire directly forward. For the rest of us, some
degree of toe-in, that is rotating the speakers cabinets until
they point at the listener is desirable. Toe-in reduces sidewall
reflections of the mid and upper frequencies. Though one
might reasonably conclude that aiming a speaker at the
listener would result in a brighter sound, this is actually NOT
the case. Toeing a speaker inward will result in a smoother,
warmer and usually more focused sound.
Important Tip:
The distance between speakers is interrelated to the degree
of toe-in. If a speaker loses clarity from toeing in, try
increasing the distance between them slightly. This will have
the effect of "opening up" the speaker and restoring clarity.
ROOM TREATMENT
Good sounding rooms have a well-balanced acoustic. This
does not mean that your home should look like a recording
studio. Commonly found furnishing such as bookshelves,
carpeting and furniture all exhibit beneficial amount of
absorption and dispersion. Rooms with little furniture,
carpeting or other surfaces will demonstrate poor damping and
will produce a hard, bright sound.
As a general rule, it is helpful to have more of these sorts of
things in the space immediately around the speakers than
scattered throughout the space. A thick carpet or area rug
mounted between your listening position and the speakers is
of tremendous benefit in controlling reflections off the floor.
Tapestries, hanging rugs and/or drapes on the side walls hung
slightly ahead of the speaker position will damp reflections off
these surfaces.
