I'd like to share some of my recent observations on how critical the speakers' placement is to extract the sound clarity, crisp bass, and large soundstage.
I have quite an oddly shaped family room (12 x 20)with a large 7 ft opening to the dining, kitchen, and rest of the open floor plan.
I just recently bought Sierra 2EX and my first placement attempt resulted in a lack of wide soundstage and poor bass response. My Sierra 1 sounded better and fuller in the other room. I was quite disappointed to say the least.
initial placement.png
However, given the superb opinions about 2EX, I didn't give up. I started digging around room acoustics. I found out about the
Cardas Method and leveraged this
calculator for the ease of computation. After following rigorously the recommendations, the speakers started to sound completely different. Outstanding soundstage, clarity and musical bass. I believe this is how 2EX are supposed to sound.
cardas placement.png
I experimented with a few other setups, including the rule of thirds and Vandersteen method, but Cardas seems to work the best in my case with slight 1” toe in.
Lesson learned - do not underestimate the importance of room acoustics and speakers placement. I highly recommend trying the Cardas method in your room to get the most out of your speakers. It was day and night difference in my case.
Good sound to you!