Anyone tinkered with this? My GoldenEar manual strongly recommends toeing my mains in to a specific point in the listening area. I tried using a cat laser toy and a target, but the Tritons are irregularly shaped and I had trouble reliably aiming the thing. Maybe one of those fancy leveling lasers?
Not really wanting to debate the merit of toeing in, or how using a laser is way over the top and eyes and ears are just fine. Yeah, I get that, but this IS the 21st century. Just wondering if anyone else has tinkered & if so what tools they used.
Yes, I use a simple pocket laser pointer for aiming speakers and a 3 beam laser line level for setting up the projection screen and projector. Been doing this for years. Makes for a faster and more accurate set up, especially for the projector and hanging a screen.
I find it works best to set the pocket pointer laser on the speaker and aim at the seat.
The trick with the Tritons is they don't have a flat top. I was just screwing around last time, though. Maybe if I got serious I could cobble together something that'd really work.
Use the side of the cabinet. Tape the laser on the side using some blue painters tape so you don't damage the cabinet finish. Position the laser level or parallel near the tweeter.
If you take the cloth cover off is the baffle (front surface) of the speaker flat? It appears to be from pictures. A laser distance measuring tool can be placed against the baffle since they will all be square at the bottom.
I didn't say it was a complete panacea... You still have to tweak toe-in on your own (eyeball it). Or, you could mount or hold the laser on the side of the cabinet if there is a vertical surface. Assuming the grill comes off and the baffle is flat, you could get one of those lasers that puts out a line, use it to place a line on the floor, then use a T-square, regular square, measure with a triangle or whatever to verify the front is perpendicular to the laser line. If the laser had enough resolution you could measure to each side of the baffle and determine the angle from that. You could temporarily affix a mirror to the baffle (perhaps using the no-mar picture tape) and verify the laser line is coming back on itself, or just that you can see yourself reflected in it (eyeballing again, without the laser, once you have determined the distance). You could affix a 90 degree prism to the baffle and check the angle of the exiting beam. Etc.
There are undoubtedly a ton of ideas I have not thought about.
I place a a drafting 30-60 triangle on top to get my laser level (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0057UMQ9G/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) to aim straight to the point where I want the speakers toed to. I used to use a flashlight with a laser on it, but it points anywhere but straight. I also use it for my center channel speaker so all three converge to the same spot.
This thing works for me. It shoots a laser perpendicular to the straight edge. For speakers with a straight baffle, I just put the straight edge against it and adjust the speaker. For speakers with a curved front baffle, I place the unit on top and align it so the straight edge is parallel to the plane of the drivers. Another benefit is that it is long enough to span maggies and I can slide the laser along the length so I can put it where the tweeter is on the maggies.
^ I may have to get one of those! @naim01: "But don't forget with toe-in you will get better details, but you will have to sacrifice soundstage width and depth."
I do not follow that completely. As you focus the speakers' centerlines away from the listening position, presumably you will get more reflected energy, and that could convey a sense of width/depth -- or not. It could also diffuse the image and create a hole in the middle, disrupting the central sound field. Frequency response could also be changed since you are listening more off-axis by not aiming the speakers at the listener. I do not agree based on my experience, but I think the recording, speakers and room, and to some extent personal taste, have a heavy influence on the desired toe-in. I have often found the image and soundstage (width/depth/imaging/FR/etc.) "locks in" when you get it all right.
The trick with the tritons is that they have a curved front baffle AND a curved (and inclined!) top. Great for keeping standing waves away, bad for mounting TARGETING LASERS (sorry, couldn't resist). But I think I can make the Kapro work with a bit of tape & such.
I'm probably not explaining it very well. Take one of the drivers, whether it is circular or elongated, the outside edges of the driver alone (not the baffle) should all be on one plane. Assuming all drivers are pointed in the same direction, you should be able to put the straight edge of the ruler against just the driver (lay it across at the center from side to side) and take the curvature of the front baffle out of the equation. That assumes the front baffle slopes away from the driver.
Many of these responses sound like they're discussing a symmetrical box, which the Triton Towers are not. With my Triton Sevens, the back panel is the only conforming geometric shape. It's perpendicular to the floor. Intentionally that's it.
The sides taper in to the front from the back. They also taper out from the bottom up by about a 1/4" which is about .5 degrees. And as mentioned the top is sloped.
The face is tilted back 2.5 degrees which is critical. In my case the MLP is 11.5' away. The face of the HVFR tweeter (which is the same as the One) is pointed, with a laser pointer, right at ear level at that distance.
Maybe Sandy did his homework.
Of course those non-symmetrical sides help the SQ but for aligning I find that anything beyond 4' means you can see those non parallel sides and it's easy to see an equal amount of each side when they are pointed at the MLP. No laser required.
The Triton 1s have a perpendicular, albeit curved, front. However, they're completely wrapped in a kind of black sock, and behind I think the grill is not removable, at least not without tools. I don't trust these ol' eyeballs, and I know that's just me.
hmm. is the back of the speaker flat? if so, you could put the straight edge of the kapro on the back of the speaker and have the laser pointer shooting just to the side of the speaker. If you knew how far the laser was from the center of the speaker, you would then know it was shooting x inches from where you want.
I think the back of the speaker is flat. Unfortunately, the top of the speaker angles upward. Just by eyeballing it, at least 15 degrees up back-to-front. I know it's not true, but sometimes it feels like Sandy designed them specifically to foil anyone attaching anything to them. Me, I consider it a challenge. A ridiculous, completely unnecessary challenge I could bypass just by using my eyes and a little patience.
THE BEST KIND OF CHALLENGE!
EDIT: On re-reading, I think you've proposed another strategy, which I will take a crack at.
Let's put this to bed. For horizontally aligning these speakers, the non-parallel sides are an advantage, besides helping the SQ. Because the front is narrower than the back, when you're in the MLP, you see some of both sides. The object is to see the same amount of each side. You don't even need great eye sight for this. Or plop someone in the MLP for two minutes that does. If you're considering other options, you haven't tried this. As mentioned above, no laser required.
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