SCM100ASLT with room treatment

[Tobes]

I have my 100ASLT's setup in 6 x 4.3 x 2.7m room with some room treatment applied.
The front of the speaker baffles is almost 2m from the front wall and the seating position is about 2m from the back wall. This puts the listening position in a 2.5m equilateral triangle with the speakers.
The room treatment includes some DIY panels and bass traps along with Vicoustic DC2 and Wavepanel diffusers.







I recently added a second turntable to my setup - now have my old TNT with a Grace G-1040 arm and a newer Technics 1210GR

[Bulldog]

That's some serious room treatments! My room is 6.5 metres by 5.5 metres. I have no formal room treatments, but I have made use of bookshelves and curtaining etc. My speakers are 50cm from the rear long wall and my listening position is a similar equilateral triangle. I will pull my speakers a little further from the back wall and see what difference it makes.

[Tobes]

I found depth and overall balance better with the speakers further off the front wall. However ATC's are fairly tolerant of position due to controlled and accurate bass.
Previously I've had the 100's setup on the long dimension of the room. This had the speakers closer to the front wall but allowed wide spacing from side walls - which I left untreated. That setup also sounded very good but not as precise and revealing as my current arrangement.
The main issue probably was that long wall placement required the seating position to be close to the rear wall and that can compromise SQ due to reflections off the latter - even with treatment.

[Bulldog]

Thanks, Tobes. I'm going downstairs to have a play with the positioning...

[Bulldog]

Okay, scary. I moved the speakers out to 70cm from the back wall, now 2.5 metres apart measured from the inside front edge of the speakers, and 2.5 metres from my seating position. Soundstage and depth are similar, maybe a little more expansive, but... , the bass just went down another octave or so! Wow!

Update: I was wrong about the sound improvement. I just played Diana Krall's 'Live in Paris' CD. The soundstage has increased exponentially, and now wraps around behind me. The dynamics are huge. Just one question; how can the best speakers I've ever heard (and owned) suddenly sound so much better - just by moving them around by a few centimetres?

I've only had these speakers a few weeks and I've never really experimented with placement.

Thanks, Tobes.

[Tobes]

Glad to hear you got an improvement Bulldog!
The room, speaker location and listening position have a big influence on how a speaker sounds.
I originally put my 100ASLT's in the same position as the previous SCM19's (on the long wall). But I had a feeling they had much more to give and that proved correct.
Since the 100ASLT's are so big and heavy I put felt sliders underneath so I could push them around easily - fine tuning the sound by moving them slightly back/forward, in/out from the sides as well as playing with toe-in.
It's worth the effort with these speakers.

[fr.jazbec]

Hi Tobes
Are you the ATC freak from Australia? I‘ve seen your red couch sometimes in another forum.
Kinds regards Rüdiger
I tested about 6 month with the position and the room tuning to get a satisfied reproduction of music. At the beginning I had great problems with roommodes. Now my speakers are 2m before the backwall and 1m from the sidewalls. My position is 2m before the backwall. I packed a much of absorbers and a few diffusores in my room.
Sry, I have great problems to post pictures.

[Tobes]

Yep, Australia, not sure if I qualify as an ATC freak as I've only been in the 'club' for a couple of years.
I do hail from the same town as ATC founder Billy Woodman, so perhaps it was meant to be?

[AlastairH]

Great set up and your link outlining your system journey is a great read 👍

One day I will have a room that can just be used for music and film!

[SolarMusic]

great setup Tobes, you can already see in the picture how good that must sound. 🙂

[arzojaan]

Try to arrange the speakers according to the calculator (below you will find 3 versions of the calculator, for different types of placement)
As far as I know, the best speaker placement is along a short wall using a calculator if the room allows. But you can always at least try to have a starting point.

http://www.acoustic.ua/recommendations/800

http://www.acoustic.ua/forms/calculator1.en.html - short wall
http://www.acoustic.ua/forms/calculator2.en.html - long wall
http://www.acoustic.ua/forms/calculator3.en.html - square room

[fr.jazbec]

Thanks for this very interesting calculator.👍
Seams to be closed to the Cardas method.

http://www.cardas.com/room_setup_main.php

[Tobes]

Try to arrange the speakers according to the calculator (below you will find 3 versions of the calculator, for different types of placement)
As far as I know, the best speaker placement is along a short wall using a calculator if the room allows. But you can always at least try to have a starting point.

http://www.acoustic.ua/recommendations/800

http://www.acoustic.ua/forms/calculator1.en.html - short wall
http://www.acoustic.ua/forms/calculator2.en.html - long wall
http://www.acoustic.ua/forms/calculator3.en.html - square room

As it happens the distance from the front wall to my speaker baffle is almost exactly the same distance recommended by the short wall calculator (within a cm).
I have the speakers spread a little further apart, but the blurb on the calculator allows for this if side wall treatment is used.
My couch is a little closer to the rear wall than recommended by the calculator, but diagonal listening distance is only 2.5m so I'm pretty close to the speakers already.
I may play around with the listening position a bit to see if I like it closer to the speakers.

[arzojaan]

but diagonal listening distance is only 2.5m so I'm pretty close to the speakers already.

This is just a starting point, you can try to set it exactly according to the calculator, compare with what is and make corrections if necessary.

I may play around with the listening position a bit to see if I like it closer to the speakers.

It would be interesting to know what you got.
For a while I listened to my 50ASLTs from 2m distance, now it's 2.5m in another room. Both have their pros and cons.

[Nopiano]

Try to arrange the speakers according to the calculator (below you will find 3 versions of the calculator, for different types of placement)
As far as I know, the best speaker placement is along a short wall using a calculator if the room allows. But you can always at least try to have a starting point.

http://www.acoustic.ua/recommendations/800

http://www.acoustic.ua/forms/calculator1.en.html - short wall
http://www.acoustic.ua/forms/calculator2.en.html - long wall
http://www.acoustic.ua/forms/calculator3.en.html - square room

These look like a version of Cardas’ very thorough guide. I’m not, frankly, a huge fan of these calculators if followed slavishly, but they can be helpful.

http://www.cardas.com/room_setup_main.php

PS. Apologies I see I’m not the first to notice the Similarity!