stands a bit too high

[ebh]

i've had my 170SEs for a while, but have only started noticing recently that the stands are probably higher than they should be. From where I sit on the couch it seems the woofers are ear level, not the tweeters. so they are probably 4"-6" too tall (shoulda gotten some help measuring i guess). and i'm pretty tall, so for shorter people it may be an even slightly bigger difference.

anyway, my question is whether it's worth trying to saw them down (they are solid wood, but i don't have many woodworking tools in my san francisco apartment tho i can get a saw and mitre box or something) or just leave them as-is. I'm not sure what the differences in sound would be, having them at the proper height.

[curtis]

how far away do you sit from the speakers?

It is pretty easy to check to see if changing the height would make a noticeable difference to you, just sit on some books or your knees.

[ebh]

i sit about 8 feet away--the speakers are unfortunately a bit too close to each other already right now.

of course, i could have thought of that. i'll try sitting up at around the right height and see. i feel stupid.

how far away do you sit from the speakers?

It is pretty easy to check to see if changing the height would make a noticeable difference to you, just sit on some books or your knees.

[Lou-the-dog]

I think you will not notice as much difference if the tweeters are too high vs too low.

Randy

[bikeman]

I think you will not notice as much difference if the tweeters are too high vs too low.Randy

A bit too high didn't seem to make any noticeable difference with my 340's. I'd expect the same from the 170's.

David

[ebh]

to tell the truth, at least on the few songs i listened to, cymbals sounded a bit clearer, as did the lead vocals. it wasnt a huge difference, but i noticed something. for now i'll just leave things as-is, tho if i have the chance i might down the road adjust them down a little bit.

[wineguy]

Just curious as to what height the stands most people use for the 170's. I have a pair going to my parents and need to get some stands for them as well. I think I am going to go with some VTI stands that are 29" tall. The average listening distance will be between 13-15'. Does that seem about right?

[Abhi]

I have classic 170s sitting on a 30" bookshelf. That makes the tweeter at about 40" height. With my sofa, the ear level is at 34". I don't know whether Ascend would recommend this, but I placed the speakers upside down and there was a noticeable difference. It sounded more balanced throughout the mid and upper ranges. My sofa is up against the back wall. May be the high freq reflections from back wall were reduced with this configuration.

[curtis]

Just curious as to what height the stands most people use for the 170's. I have a pair going to my parents and need to get some stands for them as well. I think I am going to go with some VTI stands that are 29" tall. The average listening distance will be between 13-15'. Does that seem about right?

It really depends on the seating position and ear height. Ultimately, you want to get the tweeters at ear height. At 13-15'....you could easily give or take a half foot and still be well within the window.

[wineguy]

So it sounds more like a 24" stand would be better. I guess most people on a couch would like the tweeter closer to 33-36" rather than 39", right? 24" + 10" (from bottom of speaker to the tweeter) = 34". Is this the concensus on the best height or am I being a bit too anal?