I mentioned in yesterday's post the idea of changing one's seat height to optimize the soundfield. So, what is this actually doing? It points the tweeter more or less at your ears, increasing or decreasing the level of the highs.
Several readers were quick to point out a close alternative to adjusting your seat height is to tilt, forward or backward, the loudspeaker itself. In essence, aiming it at the listener. On many designs this too has the same benefit I previously described, that of reducing or increasing the brightness of the tweeter. It's a lot easier than changing your seat height. But aiming the loudspeaker doesn't work for all types of speaker. Line sources, like my IRSV in Music Room One, don't benefit as there is no single tweeter to aim at or away from the listener. Not to mention the difficulty of moving the heavy beasts one way or the other.
Why then would moving one's seat height be effective on a line source? The answer's one we often overlook because we're immersed in it daily: the room itself. How close are you to one surface or another? What's the reflectivity of that surface?
Lastly, while it is true that aiming the speaker gets much of the same benefit as adjusting seat height, it is not identical, for the very same reasons just mentioned.
Here's my recommendation. Try it both ways before deciding. You can simply rise up or down relative to your seat and hear for yourself what changes. To tilt your speaker back or forth, focusing or defocusing the tweeter, use one, perhaps two, CD cases under the front or the rear of the speakers and see.
Despite popular beliefs, the two methods are not identical, but close enough to be effective in much the same way.
Drop us a note and share your experience.
