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Toe-in recommendation for stand mount monitors

I've used floor standing electrostatic speakers almost exclusively for over 30 years and am transitioning, I think, to stand mount monitors. I've positioned them to start with in the same location as I had the Martin Logan Ethos speakers and the Odysseys previous to them. The listening area is about 18 X 24 feet with the speakers positioned 12 feet apart and 16 feet from my listening spot. From the standpoint of the often discussed equilateral triangle recommendation this is not ideal but I really have very little latitude.

Regarding toe-in, with the ML's I used their suggestion of the "flashlight method" as a starting point but for "conventional" speakers several articles suggest using directions given by the manufacturer. The speakers that I'll be using, though, are old, having been manufactured in the mid 90's and I have no manual for them.

I don't know if it makes a difference for the purpose of this discussion, but these new speakers are the original Serie Reference MMC 3A's manufactured in France. They're a mid sized speaker with a rating range of 40-20,000Hz which would accommodate most of our listening requirements but I also purchased a used Polk Audio Micropro 4000 sub woofer to use with them.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
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Showing 1 response by timlub

timlub
2,039 posts
 
I've seen a few inaccuracies posted. If a speaker has a perfectly flat response and reasonable time & phase alignment a full tow in works well, especially in room with a lot of problems, the full tow in helps keep the frequencies from rebounding off sidewalls by aiming directly at your ears... often you can look at graphs of a speaker and see frequency peaks, in this case, almost always, you will find a soother frequency response off axis and a slight tow or straight frontal view helps a bunch.. So unfortunately, there is not absolute. Not knowing your speakers, I always suggest a full tow in, pointing at your ears... left speaker pointed at left ear, right at right ear, not crossing. If there are any peaks or maybe your soundstage is not wide enough, from there, start turning them outward, just a few degrees at a time. I would put something on the sofa back behind your head and measure outward marking the points at which your speakers should point... you will very quickly zone in on your preference.
I hope this helps, Tim
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