absolute fidelity
panels about 2 to 5 degrees towards your seating position until you have a properly defined center image.
When properly set up very little sound should appear to come directly from the speaker, instead, the sound stage should extend far beyond the left and right edge of the loudspeakers and they should have tremendous front to back depth. When the recording is close miked (when the instrument or performer is very close to the recording microphone) the music may appear to come directly from the loudspeaker. This is normal. Typically, however, the sound should appear to be detached from the loudspeakers.
A simple rule of thumb to follow is that focus will be achieved by placing the speakers closer together or farther apart, and front to back depth can be adjusted by the distance from the rear wall.
Further, as the system “breaks in”, the depth and width of the soundstage will increase, and so will the “smoothness” of the sound.
Phase Control
We suggested in the beginning of this manual to set the phase to zero degrees. Now that you have roughed the system in, you may want to experiment with different phase angles.
Using the remote control you can adjust the woofer's phase angle up and down in
The changes are subtle and they usually affect the imaging and soundstage. Listen carefully to the positioning (in acoustic space) of the orchestral players as you change the phase control. You may notice small shifts in their apparent relationship to the other members of the orchestra. Do not expect them to actually move. Expect minute changes in the soundstage, the apparent width of the stage, your ability to distinguish individual players etc. If you reach a phase shift of ninety degrees you have probably gone too far. Using the recommended connection, the phase shift needed is usually below ten.
The other change to listen for is coherence and timing. Adjust the phase will subtly change the relationship between the bass and the midrange. When you get the phase perfectly correct, you will find that the timing between the vocalist and the double bass “snaps” in place,
14
