MartinLogan Monolith III - Manual (Page 22)

Page22 Monolith III User's Manual
Experimentation Experimentation Experimentation Experimentation Experimentation
Toe-in Toe-in Toe-in Toe-in Toe-in.
Now you can begin to experiment.
First begin by toeing your speakers
in towards the listening area and
then toeing them out. You will
notice that the tonal balance
changes ever so slightly. You will
also notice the imaging changing
ever so slightly. Generally it is found
that the ideal listening position is
with the speakers slightly toed-in
so that you are listening to the inner
third of the curved transducer
section.
Experimenting with the toe-in will
help in terms of tonal balance. You
will notice that as the speakers are
toed-out, the system becomes
slightly brighter than when toed-in.
This design gives you the flexibility
to modify a soft or bright room.
Tilting the Speakers. Tilting the Speakers. Tilting the Speakers. Tilting the Speakers. Tilting the Speakers.
(Backwards and Forwards)
As can be seen from the diagrams
in the
Room Acoustics section of
this manual, the vertical dispersion
is directional above and below the
stat panel itself. If you sit in a tall
chair, you may get better perform-
ance by tilting the speakers back
so that the high frequencies are on
axis with your ears. Otherwise, with
a normal sofa and normal listen-
ing, tilt the speakers only slightly
back if not straight up. Make sure,
when listening, that the vertical
alignment, distance from the back
wall, and toe in is exactly the same
from one speaker to the other. This
will greatly enhance the quality of
your imaging.
A Final Word A Final Word A Final Word A Final Word A Final Word
Final Placement. Final Placement. Final Placement. Final Placement. Final Placement.
After obtaining good wall treat-
ments and attaining proper angle,
begin to experiment with the
distance from the back wall. Move
your speaker slightly forward into
the room. What happened to the
bass response? What happened to
the imaging? If the imaging is more
open and spacious and the bass
response tightened, that is a
superior position. Move the
speakers back six inches from the
initial set-up position. Again, listen
to the imaging and bass response.
There will be a position where you
will have pin-point imaging and
good bass response. That position
becomes the point of the optimal
placement from the back wall.
Now experiment with placing the
speakers farther apart. As the
speakers are positioned farther
apart, listen again, not so much for
bass response but for stage width
and good pin-point focusing.
Your ideal listening position and
speaker position will be deter-
mined by the following:
1. Tightness and extension of
bass response.
2. The width of the stage.
3. The pin-point focusing of
imaging.
Once you have found the best of all
three of those considerations, you
will have your best speaker
location.
Placement
Imaging. Imaging. Imaging. Imaging. Imaging.
In their final location, your Monoliths
should have a stage width some-
what wider than the speakers
themselves. On well recorded
music, the instruments should
extend beyond the edges of each
speaker to the left and to the right,
yet a vocalist should appear directly
in the middle. The size of the
instruments should be neither too
large nor too small. Additionally,
you should find good clues as to
stage depth.
Bass Response. Bass Response. Bass Response. Bass Response. Bass Response.
Your bass response should neither
be one note nor should it be too
heavy. It should extend fairly deep
to all but the deepest organ
passages yet it should be tight and
well defined. Kick-drums should be
tight and percussive, string bass
notes should be uniform and
consistent throughout the entirety of
the run without any booming or
thudding.
Tonal Balance. Tonal Balance. Tonal Balance. Tonal Balance. Tonal Balance.
Voices should be natural and full,
cymbals should be detailed and
articulate yet not bright and
piercing, pianos should have a nice
transient characteristic and deep
tonal registers as well. If you
cannot attain these virtues, re-read
the section on
Room Acoustics.
This will give you clues on how to
get closer to those ideal virtues.