What Could Cause Center Image To Present Lower than Expected


I will preface with admitting, that I am not an audiophile, but a hobbyist at best. Purchased Totem Acoustic Forest Sig. I am powering them with a ModWright  KWH 225I with Morrow Audio Sp7 speaker cables. My primary source is an Ayon S10 MKII network player/DAC feed by Small Green Computer (ROON) with Snake River Audio Mumushi Sig XLR interconects.

Integrated/Player feed with Morrow Audio Elite Power cords from a Shunyata PS8 w/Defender. PS8 connected with Shunyata Alpha v2 NR power cord.

Room is 13x19. Speakers 7' apart and 4" from front wall and 2.5' from side wall. No toe-in.  Audio equipment behind speakers along short wall with TV above mounted to wall. There is an 8x10 decorative rug hung on wall behind tv/equipment.

From the get-go, I have been very happy with sound and center image / soundstage present without fiddling with anything. Better than my ATC SCM19 v2.

My issue is with how low the center image presents.  Not sure how to proceed. Where to start. Is it most likely a speaker adjustment or component issue? I know my room is not properly treated.

Scott

amboguzzi

I would very much appreciate it if someone would remind me how to properly quote excerpts from previous posts.

@kingharold 

I was obviously referring to additional tilting from the manufacturer’s instructions 

OK. This is getting to be very frustrating. The first adjustment was reducing the tilt back. Or approached level. At first, I thought I noticed a slight change in image height; however, after further listening I can't confirm this change. So, I decided to move the speakers closer together. From 7' to just under 6' apart.

This, also, did not affect the level of the image, but it did negatively affect the soundstage. It was reduced in width but maybe deeper? But the strange thing was the image was affected too. And this is where it gets strange. The first time listening after the move, the image was not as centered.  I then thought about returning the tilt to the speaker. This did not seem to do anything. I decided to try something that I had read about and closed my eyes and things kind of came together but still no change in image height. 

Lost but not defeated.

Question - in a perfect world --- should it ever appear that an instrument is coming directly from the speaker in the soundstage? Or should everything be presented in an open space? I hope this question makes sense. 

Scott

You are tilting the wrong way.  You need the speaker to tilt back more OR sit further away OR sit lower 

FWIW some speakers sound much better at higher volumes, not so much at low volumes, especially imaging issues. Just for the fun of it, crank up your volume a bit an see what happens. Also, set up your speakers and chair in an equilateral triangle as an experiment just to see what your speakers can sound like in a more optimal position even though you may not be able to maintain this position for aesthetic reasons.