TAD owners: speaker setup
 

Just wondering what TAD owners have found in terms of optimal positioning.

The manual recommends a triangle where the distance between speakers < distance from speakers to listener (see diagram below), with the speakers pointed directly at the listening position.

From personal experience I have found that whilst this gives great tone and focus it is somewhat restricting of the soundstage width, depending of course on the distance between the speakers (B).

At shows I have noticed TAD speakers are often setup with a little more toe-out than advised in the manual and this giving more of an expansive soundstage. This may be due to the large area of listeners the speakers need to cover at shows.

Typically loudspeakers are setup in an equilateral triangle with toe-in such that the speakers point just outside the shoulders of the listener.

I have started experimenting a little but have not yet found what I consider the optimal setup. Would like to get to a rule of thumb of say B=0.9A or B=0.95A where the size of the triangle wouldn't really affect the tone/focus/soundstage and would be more dependant on the room.

Would be interested to hear how other TAD owners have their speakers setup.

http://www.whatsbestforum.com/attach...4&d=1350894226

I'll get more specific when I have more time. I have my speakers about 18" from the front wall. They are spread out further than the diagram recommends. I have more of an equilateral setup with the speakers pointing more straight out into the room. This setup seems to give me the best of everything. I found the speakers pointed right at me uncomfortable with certain amps.

"Setting up the Reference One was quite simple and fast—about 90
minutes from crates in the garage to final placement. The speakers
seemed remarkably unfussy about location, but that could have
been an illusion owing to designer Andrew Jones’ vast experience
in setting up his creation. I was surprised by the amount of toe-in
Jones selected; the axes crossed in front of the listening position
rather than at the listening seat or behind it."

from: TAD Reference One Loudspeaker (TAS 218) | The Absolute Sound

Thanks for posting Joost. I was recommended this crossfire setup by Mike aka Face. I have not gone that far but now realize I need to try it and see how it sounds.

I have them pointed at my ears now as per Eli's suggestion. So crossing over around 30cm (1 foot) behind my head. Distance between speakers is 0.87 of the distance from listener to speakers, so a little smaller than the equilateral triangle, which is recommended is the manual. Soundstage, focus, tone is great. I may experiment with the crossfire setup and will probably widen the speakers a bit to around 0.95....

I was at an event with Andrew Jones, the TAD speaker designer, about ten days ago, and I asked him about the toe in the existing setup. It was a fairly small room, and the CR-1s were positioned to converge behind the listener by a couple of feet, or so. His response referenced how it was room dependent and also dependent on the purpose...such as providing acceptable listening for a group as opposed to a single chair. He did mentioned a time when they were set up to cross in front of the listener, as well. I got the impression that he preferred a little less toe, personally, but the ultimate location was completely a function of the interplay with the surroundings.

p.s. Congrats...great speakers! :thumbsup:

BlueChiaro... thanks for the response, much appreciated.