Pioneer S-1EX Loudspeaker

Got the speakers in the right place. Put some Herbie's Decoupling/Isolation feet under the TADS and put some Auralex B22 Elite Pro Panels on the walls behind and to the side of the TADS. Now it sounds right to me. I can hear the speakers now and not wall slap or the floor. I'm driving them with Rogue Audio Mono 180's and the Rogue Athena pre amp.
I'm still experimenting with toe in and the length from the back walls. Remember I have the S-3EX, my room is too small for the S-1.
I thank everyone for their input.

Have you ever tried experimenting with smaller tube or transistor amps on these speakers? They seem very sensitive/efficient and I'm curious why many are using such high powered amps for these speakers. Perhaps better put, how much power do you think you are giving these speakers to make serious spl? Those 180's are brutes for power, but are you even needing much of that power to make excellent music? Sounds like the speaker is so resolving/revealing that every microscopic movement makes a night/day type of a difference, as in, this is a "very" high level speaker that involves a ton of critical care and not just your average/typical (cost no option even) speaker that you can make work quite simply without too much work.

Thanks for the input regarding power.

Sounds like the speaker is so resolving/revealing that every microscopic movement makes a night/day type of a difference, as in, this is a "very" high level speaker that involves a ton of critical care and not just your average/typical (cost no option even) speaker that you can make work quite simply without too much work.

Actually, I agree with Kal Rubinson's evaluation (from his excellent review in Stereophile):

In regard to ease of placement in a domestic room not exclusively dedicated to listening, the S-1EX surpassed all other speakers I've used. This means that anyone who buys the Pioneer is more likely to enjoy optimum results than with more finicky speakers.

All speakers require proper setup and some rooms are trickier than others...to say the least! While the S-1EX's are indeed very resolving and detailed, they have not presented me with any difficult/unusual placement problems/issues as compared with other floor standers that I've had in my room. Since they are front-ported, they can be placed closer to the front wall (back wall to some folks) than the typical rear-ported floor standers.

I'm using my 180's at half power (About 90 watts)with KT88's. Its just that these are the only amps I have right now. I put some EL34's in them and they were super warm.

I unfortunately spiked them when I was tube rolling. I forgot to turn off one of the amps. I had pulled a power tube and a signal tube and heard a huge CRACK BANG, but the speakers still sound the same. Nothing broken. I'm worried about the tweeter woofer combination getting cracked. Hopefully there is no damage. I will be rolling in the EL34's today, far less power and super warmth.Will report back later.

The EL34's sound the best as they are less powerful then the KT88's and the KT90's. These speakers really don't need super powerful amps.