I am sure it would sound so much better if the speaker were on stands.
Hi,
Good point raised.
Stand and Deliver?
There is a common Audiophile misconception, that speakers MUST be on stands. Some do benefit, but is not a cast-iron requirement. The problem is that common 'Audiophile' speakers are designed according to a set of ideals that are usually either misconscrued or misunderstood, if our goal is to reproduce the recording well.
Common are the ideals of the 'pulsating sphere' or the 'pulsating hemisphere'. Neither will produce good results unless placed far out in the room on stands, because such speakers
maximise interaction with the environment, causing the performance in the bass and midrange to be extremely room dependent.
There is a reason why most large format true studio monitors are designed for soffit mounting (meaning flush in a wall) and have quite directional midrange and high frequency systems. Mounted correctly they present a very neutral tonal balance and killer imaging (kind of 'and the walls disappeared and the sea parted') in ways few audiophile systems ever manage. Of course, Studios are also acoustically-treated, on top of this. However, often less treatment is applied than most imagine.
The iFi Retro LS-3.5 was designed with both an understanding of serious studio monitoring
and home replay of music. It was designed to be used exactly like shown, as we imagined that most customers would place it like this, where they have a comparably modest (negative) visual impact on the room. And the WAF factor is best.
Most 'Audiophile' speakers based on 'close to a pulsating sphere/hemisphere' approach invariably must be placed where the visual impact is most negative, often almost in the centre of the room
1(and the WAF factor is worst!).
This is direct result of the design of these speakers with an intentional (if extremely ill advised) wide directivity. Placement free from room surfaces is essential to avoid early reflections and to avoid an excessive thickening of the bass and lower mids (male voices become overly plummy). As an added result of this type of design/tuning/placement the speaker's efficiency is usually quite low, meaning smaller designs placed thus struggle to play loud and clean.
An alternative method to controling early reflections in the midrange and treble is to improve the directivity (make the speaker approach more a 'spotlight'), which is what is done in the LS-3.5 and also in large format studio monitors. Equally, the midrange and LF balance are ideally-suited for literal placement as 'bookshelf speakers' ideally surrounded by books (this simulates for low frequencies soffit mounting).
Placing the LS-3.5 out in the open will mean they will sound thin, in which case the use of X-Bass switch is essential to avoid this. The X-Bass system is actually tuned to compensate for semi-open (one dot) or free on stand (three dot) placement of the LS-3.5 or for similar speaker designs (generally ones that otherwise perfer to dwell near walls).
In addition, again contrary to audiophile practice, we have designed the speaker to have a flat frequency response not on the direct axis, which means that the speakers must be toe'd in and directed towards the listener to avoid sounding dull. Instead the flat response is realised on the 30 degrees off-axis position, meaning the speakers should be pointed straight ahead, not toe'd in.
You might say that with LS-3.5 we took as one of the starting points the way 'normal people' would place a HiFi system and speakers and then set out to deliver a serious audiophile performance from the speakers. How well we have suceeded? Do listen for yourself and let us know.
As it stands in our chief designer's open plan living room (with an open Galley style kitchen) the Retro Stereo 50, a pair of LS-3.5
2 in a large space of over 45sqm (144cubic foot) with great sound, loud enough to annoy neighbours and for any music listening this side of head banging heavy metal at live concert levels. Elevating the speakers some more may be good, however even as is, the image height is pretty good (never mind width and depth) and the vertical listening window (even standing up) is good. Of course, don't try this at home with common 'audiophile' speaker designs.
1See Audio Physics method for speaker placement: http://www.soundstage.com/audiohell/audiohell200111.htm
2 The extra 10" active subwoofer is a nice compliment for movies and such in a pretty large space of over 45m^2
)
