Planar Speaker Asylum Welcome! Need support, you got it. Or share your ideas and experiences.

---

[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] Thread: [ Display  All  Email ] [ Planar Speaker Asylum ]

---

[ Alert Moderator ]

---

RE: The Limage works.

Posted by zulugone (A) on April 27, 2015 at 14:30:28

In Reply to: The Limage works. posted by Bigjimsguitars on April 15, 2015 at 14:10:16:

First my thanks to the folks that started the Limage threads as they have led to my best setup so far.

I noticed looking at all of H/K Limage's room coupling pictures that he has planar and box speakers near the side walls with the speaker faces either perpendicular to the side walls or turned toward the listening position. I found the best overall results with the latter positioning for my 1.7s. If the tweeters are not pointed toward my ears I lose too much detail on too many recordings. I did not ever get a solid snap that worked as well as possible for all recordings but I did get better results overall. Previously my best positioning was with the speakers centered at 33% from the front wall; 5 feet apart; directly facing the listening position (~30 degree angle) with my ears at 66% from the front wall.

I did the Limage hilarious action with a variety of CDs starting with 60's Bossa Nova (Edyie Gorme and Ultra Lounge :|). For finding the resonance point I had the 1.7s 25% to 40% of the way from the rear wall facing the rear wall as normal and about ½ the room width apart as I walked (on my knees) the middle line of the room. I noticed that the quietest area is always exactly between the speakers with the volume increasing up to 3 feet away going both directions on the center line. No surprise there. The last 3 feet at both ends of the room sounded different than the rest of the room, quieter but with more air. I decided that I had a resonance line between 33% and 38% from the front wall rather than a resonance point.

Previously I had set up 2 DWM at 38% from the front wall. I found this point by placing the DWM perpendicular to the side walls and moving them back and forth from 3 feet off the front wall to 3 feet off the back wall. I used track 4 from Philips 412 117-2 which is mostly very low notes played one at a time quietly on a pipe organ. This position was found with more of a snap. If I place the 1.7s on this 38% line perpendicular to the side walls I clearly hear more bass from them but don't get the best soundstage for most recordings.

Currently my front and back walls and ceiling are open framing filled with sound deadening Roxul. The side walls are mostly floor to ceiling book shelves. After the Limage exercise I finally located the 1.7s about 6 inches from the outside edge of the book shelves, centered between the 33% and 38 % lines from the front wall at about a 30 degree angle facing the listening position. My ears are centered between 25% to 33% from the rear wall. Some recordings sound a bit better at 33% from the rear wall and a few symphonic recordings all the way at the back wall but for most I hear no difference between 25% and 33% from the back wall. The DWM remain on a line 38% from the front wall between the 1.7s and as close to them as possible without blocking the tweeter path. My ears are about the mid-height of the 1.7 speaker element with the 1.7s plumb. I plumbed them because if they tilt back individual vocalists tend to be embedded in the floor from their waist down.

During the Limage exercise I placed the 1.7s in many locations between 0 and 12 inches from the side walls between 33% and 38% from the from wall and at various angles to the listening position. I also tried them next to the DWM which were next to the side walls.

For some recordings the speakers disappear into the soundstage but for other recordings most of the sound comes from the speakers which may sound from 1 to 3 times their actual width depending on the recording. On recordings where most of the soundstage was nearer the speakers I still heard bass, cymbals and an occasional woodwind or brass burst in the soundstage between the speakers. Without the Limage positioning the soundstage tended to disappear when the speakers were too far apart. With the Limage positioning there is always something like a wall of sound (hard to describe) on or behind the speakers even when I cannot place as many individual symphonic instruments in the sound stage and even when the speakers are further apart.

I have no proof but I think a lot of the soundstage is in the recordings. Given my Limage positioning Telarc CD-80072 track 3 places more sound on the speakers but with Deutsche Grammophon 453 085-2 the speakers disappear. This may be because the DG recording is of Stravinsky who uses all of the instruments in the orchestra and has the violins take their turn and play atypically.

Telarc CD 83483 has Ray Brown and friends playing 3 double bass. This sounds great regardless of speaker position but with Limage I could hear the bass in the middle clearly separated from the 2 bass on the outsides. One of my favorite classical vocal recordings is of Handel's Utrecht Te Deum (L'Oiseau-lyre 414 413-2). The music and singers are great but the choral parts suffer from "choral screech" especially the sopranos. When I get speakers positioned at their best I discover that the soprano choir is boys not women and I can clearly identify each of the 2 female soprano soloists and the counter tenor. In order to do this I have to have the speakers facing me and not perpendicular to the side walls.

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Western Glow Tube Service

---

[ Top of Page ] [ Contact Us ] [ Support/Wish List ] [ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]

---

[ General ] [ Speakers ] [ Tubes ] [ Vinyl ] [ Digital ] [ Hi-Rez ] [ Video Asylum ] [ Cables ] [ Tweaks/DIY ] [ Music ] [ Films ]

---