Kef Ref .2 owners..Do you toe-in?

[Mark Ward]

I've been tweaking for a few days and am very happy with the extra performance i've got from my system.

Now it's time to re-visit the "Toe-in" or not dilema. What do other Kef Ref .2 users do?

My front pair are around 7ft apart facing straight forward. I'm really happy with the sound now but I can't resist the urge to see if there's yet more to be gained.

I was given some advice yesterday that the main speakers should form an equalateral triangle and that ideally you should be seated withing the triangle. Does this mean that the direction they are pointing should cross behind you?

I know the best thing is try it and see but I'm hoping to benefit from conclusions already gained by others.

Cheers,

Mark.

 

[MikeK]

Some even say angle the speakers so that they cross just in front of you.......

I think you've hit the nail on the head in your last paragraph.
Even people with the same speakers as you probably won't be listening with the same ancillary equipment, with identical main speaker positioning, with an identical listening position and certainly won't be sitting in the same room.

My own opinion is that the further apart you place the speakers in relation to the distance you are sat from them, the more you should toe in. If you sit say 8ft from the plane of the speakers (that is, the line drawn directly between the two speakers) and have the speakers 6ft apart, I wouldn't generally toe in at all.
If the speakers were placed 10ft apart, then I'd start to toe them in. That's generally speaking of course - if the side walls are very close, you may find that toeing them in will help anyway (by reducing side wall reflections).
Unfortunately, IMO, speaker placement is very much an experimental affair once the basics are out of the way, depending on the room they are in - it's well known that the same pair of speakers can sound very different, in absolute terms, when placed in a different room, and hence what works in one room, may not work in another.

 

[GaryG]

Hi Mark

I have the Ref 4's but they are similar dimensions to the Ref 2.2's. I found that toe-in sounded 'odd', can't really describe the sensation so went back to having them pointing forward. I found the best way to set them up was to remove the spikes from the base of the speaker and just slide them around the floor trying different positions until I was happy with the sound

For reference my speaker's are about 6.75 feet apart, 2.5 feet from the rear wall and 6 inches from the side walls (limited by the width of my cinema unfortnately). The listening position is about 8 feet from the speakers at the same height as the Uni-Q (my settee sits on a plinth).

If you want to improve the soundstage (when used for music) try placing your speakers on Mana SoundFrames or Speaker stands (www.mana.co.uk/menu.htm) fitted with wood as opposed to glass isolation platforms. The Mana stands will widen the soundstage and give a tighter cleaner sound and can be stacked to improve the effects. I use a SoundFrame under each speaker and find it a worthwhile improvement.