I guess I was somewhat taken by surprise at a comment on our
Community Forums in the thread about our upcoming Arnie Nudell loudspeaker line. In it, I suggest the new speakers won't need more than a few degrees of toe in and that seems to have come as a surprise to readers used to generous toe in on their speakers.
It is true most speakers require a good degree of toe in to sound right. It's also true we're not fans of that technique nor would we design a speaker that required it. In my opinion, toe-in is a holdover from years past when speakers were monaural. Just take a look at this great old Quad ad with the admiring token wife.
See how they are pointed straight at the speaker? No worries about on-axis or off-axis response.
Now, jump ahead a few years and see how Klipsch wants you to listen to the (then) new stereo sound.
Not sure about the center speaker, but clearly these are all on-axis. Again, a holdover from the mono days, a trend I believe many loudspeaker designers subscribe to.
But, Arnie Nudell wanted nothing to do with pointing speakers at the listeners because it narrowed and restricted the sweet spot in a way that was unnatural. In his view, one we at PS Audio subscribe to as well, speakers should have even on and off-axis response so that there is a broad and natural sweet spot that more closely resembles a seat at a live concert.
Unusual? Apparently. But then, change is always tough. It sometimes takes years to break old habits.
