Toe-In: In an ideal room, the speakers may be set-up so that the speakers fire directly forward. For the rest of us, some degree of toe-in, that is rotating the speakers cabinets until they point at the listener is desirable. Toe-in reduces sidewall reflections of the mid and upper frequencies. Though one might reasonably conclude that aiming a speaker at the listener would result in a brighter sound, this is actually NOT the case. Toeing a speaker inward will result in a smoother, warmer and usually more focused sound.
Important Tip:
The distance between speakers is interrelated to the degree of toe-in. If a speaker loses clarity from toeing in, try increasing the distance between them slightly. This will have the effect of "opening up" the speaker and restoring clarity.
ROOM TREATMENT
Good sounding rooms have a well-balanced acoustic. This does not mean that your home should look like a recording studio. Commonly found furnishing such as bookshelves, carpeting and furniture all exhibit beneficial amount of absorption and dispersion. Rooms with little furniture, carpeting or other surfaces will demonstrate poor damping and will produce a hard, bright sound.
As a general rule, it is helpful to have more of these sorts of things in the space immediately around the speakers than scattered throughout the space. A thick carpet or area rug mounted between your listening position and the speakers is of tremendous benefit in controlling reflections off the floor. Tapestries, hanging rugs and/or drapes on the side walls hung slightly ahead of the speaker position will damp reflections off these surfaces.
