Speaker Positioning

[Dlite]

Hi All,
I am looking for some suggestions/tips in regards in how to rectify a problem I have with speaker positioning.

I recently upgraded my speakers, and failed to pick up (Stoopid me) that there was a significant difference between the 2 speakers. Both are floorstanders, however the old speaker a Whatmough P31 is front ported, whilst the new speaker a Whatmough 303 signature is rear ported. I am forced by the fact that I live in an apartment to keep the speaker about 30-50cm away from the wall.

On some tracks the bass has become really loose and boomy (becasue of the rear port I assume). Apart from moving the speakers out from the wall, does anyone have any suggestions on how to improve the sound by removing the boomy bass.

So far some improvements have been made by;
1. Switching the cables between the woofers and tweeter binding posts (bi wired with different cables)
2. Adding spikes to the base
3. Adding spikes to the front of the base only so the speakers are tilted upwards a little.

I think part of the problem is the Amp I am currently using. Normally I use a Krell KSA-100S but this is in for a service and I am using an Acurus 3X100 amp. Does anyone have experience with this amp, it seems to have really sloppy bass ( i noticed on my other speakers to a limited extent when I switched from the Krell).

Suggestions please.

Details on the speaker can be found on this page.

http://www.pymblehifi.com.au/Specials2.htm

Thanks in advance

[Jason R]

try plugging the port with a rolled up pair of socks, if that helps then you can get some foam bungs for it. That should reduce bass output slightly, also they might tighten up when run in as most speakers do.

Some more details or a picture would help, as side walls have an impact as well.

[David Meek]

Hi Michael,

Jason's suggestion on plugging the port is a good one. Also, try moving the speakers out further from the back and side walls in 1" or 2" increments. I understand that you may be very constrained on what you can do based on room size, significant others, etc, but even small movements can produce surprising results, as some of the boomy bass is caused (hopefully) by interaction/re-inforcement with the room boundary (walls). Once you find a spot that sounds more natural, try varying the toe-in from none to pointing directly at your nose at the listening position.

[benny]

Make sure the distance from the speaker to back wall is not close to the same distance as from speaker to side walls. Similar distances will enhance the boominess.

[Dlite]

Thanks all I will try the above, and see how it goes.

[David Meek]

try varying the toe-in from none to pointing directly at your nose

Let me clarify that a bit. Start at the no-toe-in position and gradually change the angle of the speaker, finally reaching the point where the face of the speaker is pointing directly at you (your nose ). Changing the toe-in may not help much with the bass itself, but a some point on that changing arc you'll hear the imaging and soundstage snap into focus (including the bass).

[mark4x4]

I would try some acoustic panels or bass traps. That should help clean up the bass. I have some rear port speakers and tried plugging up the port and it seems to make the bass less boomy but also less defined.

Good Luck

[Dlite]

After much fiddling around with the different pieces of equipment I have I came across a combination that works best, funnily enough it involves using a passive pre amp, that tightened the bass so much I had to change the transport I was using to an old meridian 207 to soften the sound a little. Now everything sounds pretty good but still seem to be having problems with some frequencies, so i will continue fiddling, thanks all for your input.