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The criticality of speaker placement still applies with Phantom
#1
Audiophiles well know the criticality of speaker placement for a conventional/traditional speaker. For example, the closer a speaker is to a wall, the more re-enforced the bass becomes. In particular the consequences of corner placement can be detrimental in some instances, particularly with very large full range speakers as the bass can become overblown and boomy. Conversely a smaller speaker can sometimes benefit from being close to a wall or in a corner to compensate for bass roll-off. None of these situations are scientific in the sense that it is a false reality to say the frequency response measured at the listener will be flat. To achieve that, a combination of room EQ and room treatment are typically required which most do not have. In addition, a truly flat response with no room effect is undesirable as it will sound, to put it simply, flat! The effects of some rooms are positive in making the sound come alive and give every listening environment a unique quality even with identical equipment to another. To put this into context one of the first and still highly regarded Room EQ systems from Lexicon, deliberately did not maximise the removal of all room modes (bass interaction with a room) during its calibration because they knew the resulting sound was not pleasant.

So having got the fact that a flat response is not the ultimate goal out of the way, I wanted to return to the topic of speaker placement and the Phantom. I think the impression that Devialet give, is that this magical speaker fills the room with sound such that you can have only one, stick it anywhere in the room, and it sounds wonderful. From my own experiments, speaker placement is just as critical as a conventional speaker, and in fact possibly more so if you only have one Phantom.

Right now I only have one Phantom, due to financial contraints. I decided to get Phantom for the bedroom. I tried several placements. What I found is that with a single Phantom, not only do aspects like bass depth vary wildly based on placement, but the soundstage from a single unit, particularly in how it "fills" the room varies significantly too. As I had read that the bass response was "strong" with the Phantom, I initially opted for a placement towards a sidewall and mid way along the wall away from a corner. What I noticed is that the sound always came from the specific point the Phantom was located and was therefore not filling the room. I also found that sub-bass frequencies were missing in lieu of mid-bass which is not pleasant to my ears. So against my better judgement I then went for the corner placement. "Bang"! The sound was transformed. Sub-bass was now present but not overblown and the overall bass response was much more pleasing. One could argue it is still slightly pushed, but it comes across as warmth rather than a night club sound. Also, because of the corner positioning, the sound was able to bounce and fill the room much more effectively, giving a much much wider soundstage from a single phantom. I no longer felt like I had a poor-man set-up for only having one speaker.

My main listening environment is high-end. Kef reference 4.2 speakers, Lexicon MC-12, Bryston power-amps. I know what true audiophile quality sounds like. The Phantom, at least a single one doesn't match this in terms of resolution, dynamics and overall clarity. But considering its size and cost, and with correct placement, I have to say I am now hearing "hi-fi" and not "high street". Putting on some tracks from Linn records (for those that have Tidal try the Linn 40th Anniversary collection), jazz does particularly well with a defined robust bass and clear vocals. Guitars sound particularly real as if they are in the room. I am very impressed!
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#2
I found that a pair of Phantom sounded far better pulled away from the wall at least a few feet. I'd love to mount Phantom on the wall (Geko bracket) but don't think that the Phantom avoids the need for proper positioning. The Kii Three works harder on that but I've not yet heard them so don't know how well they work.
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#3
Jonstatt,

Excellent post. I had two speakers stands that are taller than normal. One is 30 inches. With my pair, I needed to have a bit of ground reinforcement. I dropped mine lower and the lower mids filled in nicely . I've yet to experiment further but placement does indeed matter much.
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#4
A friendly local dealer recommended this method to position speakers by ear, saying that it is easier and more accurate than other methods. I mean to try it but haven't yet.
http://hifi.ir/wp-content/uploads/2009/0...er-set.pdf
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#5
(26-Jan-2016, 14:29)deviousalet Wrote: I found that a pair of Phantom sounded far better pulled away from the wall at least a few feet. I'd love to mount Phantom on the wall (Geko bracket) but don't think that the Phantom avoids the need for proper positioning. The Kii Three works harder on that but I've not yet heard them so don't know how well they work.

You are right. In this regard Phantoms behave like normal speakers and you'll have to optimize placement in a room for best possible sound. The Kii Three uses special DSP manipulation of it's output to control rear sound and prevent (reduce) reflection from the wall behind and sides of the speakers. I've heard Phantoms in unfamiliar conditions. Very nice indeed. I've yet to hear a pair of Kii Three.
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#6
Hey guys - thinking about placement - what happens when my phantoms (pair of white) have their rears less than a foot from the wall? They are on an entertainment unit about 5.5ft from each other and 2ft off the ground. My listening spot (couch in a one bed apartment - so smallish) is about 10 ft in front.
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#7
You will most likely end up with a LOT a bass....possibly too much depending on how far away the side walls are. If they're 5.5tf apart you might want to sit a bit closer, say 7-8ft for a better sound stage experience. Which will also put your ears further away from the rear wall, resulting in less reflections.
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