Initial Placement
It is important to refrain from installing the spikes until proper placement has been achieved. Because placement will involve moving the loudspeakers several times in order to evaluate the pros and cons of drastic or even minute changes, spikes will only become problematic and annoying during this process. The thing to keep in mind is that spikes basically perform two functions. First, they tighten the bass, and second, they improve the image focus. So when evaluating placement of your loudspeakers, realize that tightness of bass and image focus will further improve once the spikes are installed. That being said let us focus on loudspeaker placement within a variety of contexts.
Obviously there is no perfect room, unless of course your listening room was constructed from the ground up for the sole purpose of audio enjoyment. For the rest of you, these suggestions and diagrams will only serve as a general starting point. Further multiple listening sessions with a wide range of music selections will help you yield the best results for your own personal tastes.
There are two basic guidelines to keep in mind when placing your loudspeakers within a room. First, bass response generally increases as the speaker moves closer to side wall or rear wall boundaries. Second, imaging and soundstage reproduction are enhanced as the speaker moves further from side walls or rear wall boundaries. The goal of course is to find the happy medium of the two to deliver the most well rounded performance. In addition, rooms which contain a greater proportion of surfaces such as glass, concrete, and tile, will produce a livelier sonic presentation. Rooms which have a greater proportion of soft surfaces such as draperies, carpet, and padded furniture, will produce a dryer or even sterile sonic presentation. A good mixture of both should produce a fairly neutral presentation.