While reading this thread I began to wonder about the carpet on the wall behind the speakers. I put it there when the projection setup was installed, but there are other ways to darken the wall. Is that counter productive? The speakers are a pair of KEF Reference 1s supplement below 80 Hz by a pair of Velodyne HGS-15 with acoustic bass management. The equipment that used to be on an adjacent wall now resides in a low (20") rack between the KEFs. In the past I’ve avoided placing anything between the speakers, but the low rack between them makes for a neat setup. If I did move the rack, I’d leave the amp on the floor between the speakers so there would be only a pair of balanced cables running from the preamp to the amp.
Soundstage
I have a decent size room 20’x33’x9’. Due to the placement of some large columns I need to place my equipment on the long wall. While I can achieve an equilateral triangle between seat and speakers (11’ on all sides) .... I am unable to have the front of the speakers more than 3’ from the front wall. I am using Avantgarde Uno speakers with Pass Labs XA 60.8 amp and AR Ref 6 pre. Sources are Lumin X1 and SME 20. The overall sound and imaging are wonderful. There are two problems that I can’t seem to get right. First, the soundstage is rather narrow ... does extend beyond the speakers (have tried every off to on axis position). Second, the image is detailed/precise but not deep ... it just sort of hangs on the wall 3’ behind the face of the speakers. I believe that the problems are due the speakers not being far enough from the front wall but I can’t move them out more (due to the columns I mention). Any suggestions on how I might fix these two problems?