Owner's Manual

2. You in Relation to the Speakers
Where you sit in relation to your speakers obviously makes a
difference too. The proportions of the particular triangle formed by
your speakers and you matter. (You may need to send more power
to the more distant speaker to compensate if you get much further
from one speaker than the other.) The overall distances involved
also matter. As you get further from the speakers, more sound
reflected from your room's surfaces (in contrast to the sound
coming directly from the speakers) reaches your ears, and the
original spatial relationships in a recording are changed as your
room "takes over." Sometimes the result is a mellower, more
"integrated" sound. Other times, it's a more strident or annoyingly
"echoey"-or other-quality. Once again, the particular dimensions
of your room playa part. And depending on what seems more
realistic and/or enjoyable to your ears, you may choose to sit at a
great distance or have close-up, "near-field" sound.
Keep in mind that the right "toe-in," the right speaker height, and a
reasonably symmetrical distance from the speakers all tend to work
together to deliver the best high-frequency definition and imaging.
3. You in Relation to Room Boundaries
Changing your own position with respect to a room's boundaries
may also bring a big effect, sometimes for a small change. Getting
further from the wall behind you may make sound more precise
and localized. Getting closer may make sound more "mellow" and
integrated. Coming too close-to back wall, side wall, or
(especially) acorner-may trigger a major sonic peak or
cancellation of a certain band of frequencies. It depends on factors
we can't cover fully here but do get into on our web site -
www.psbspeakers.com.
Remember too, with respect to your own positioning, that it
may-or may not~be easier to change your own seating location
than to move your speakers. As with so much else in life, the one
certain rule is that you shouldn't fix, or worry about, what isn't
broken (audibly in this case), especially if it means moving heavy
furniture.
As you consider the three relationships we have outlined, the idea is to manipulate
whatever variable is easiest and most productive for improving your listening experience.
Be sure to base your judgements on listening to a good variety of recordings of
vocals, and acoustic instruments, soloists, different movies and musical
instruments to most easily recognize tonal balance shifts.
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