I recall reading somewhere on the forum that the horizontal dispersion of the Aspens is reasonably wide, but not so much in the vertical plane. Is my memory correct? If so, would that be an issue given that my listening chair is higher than average by three or four inches? Also, given my room layout, I sit a little closer than is probably ideal. (I’m leaning towards an FR 10 but still might push the budget for a 20.)
I recall this same thing. There was a discussion about tilting the speakers being more crucial than toe in or out. Also that any change in height of listening position had an effect. I can verify this from personal experience. I recline a bit sometimes while listening (not lazy boy style) and a few inches in height does impact the sound, although not dramatically, just noticably.
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Oh, and to clarify - my experience is with the FR10’s. Once I painstakingly dialed them in they sounded absolutely fantastic, even in a problematic smaller room. My son was brought to tears hearing his favorite acoustic recording - he said he really thought he was at the performance when he closed his eyes.
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Thank you for sharing your experiences with the the tilt adjustment on the FR 10– that’s helpful. Even though the FR 10 is the ‘little brother’ in the family, it must indeed be a very good speaker to convey the music as it did to your son. 
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FR10’s have reasonable vertical coverage (even though the midrange is tall) because of the low crossover point used. Still, there is a dip centered around 25 degrees above the speaker at the crossover (1.75 kHz) and the tweeter gets beamy vertically, especially above 15 Khz.
Still, you have +/- 5 degrees or so and that will more than cover the few inches difference that you’re talking about without issue.
Below is a vertical polar map with the contour lines set at 3 dB.
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Kudos for doing this, Chris. I honestly can’t think of an uber priced speaker company that would volunteer to post technical information like this. They may be out there, but if they are I just haven’t seen any evidence of stuff like this.
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I take your word for it as I do not understand most of the science behind sound reproduction. Perhaps it is my slightly problematic room and the closer than usual listening position that makes the +/- 5 degrees a bit more impactful the closer one is to the speaker. In any case, I love the sound of the FR10s and they are perfect for my situation. Thanks @Chris_Brunhaver for designing something so great and so obtainable for the likes of myself.
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Thank you, Chris! Reading comments directly from the speaker designer as well as from those who have used the various Aspen models has helped me a lot as I make my decision. The forum really is a special place.
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I realize each room is vastly different but can you share your speaker placement in your room? I’m also realizing that these speakers take some time to get it right as far as placement goes.
I can take some measurements of room and speaker positioning and get back to you this evening. I did follow the listening and placement steps in the included book and CD. After a few days of tinkering I was really disappointed as it felt like the mid to highs just weren’t right. I kept at it and some small adjustments to toe in and distance from wall snapped it all into place. There was another forum member struggling with the FR10’s in the same way - he too found the magic spot and had a similar experience.
Thanks. Thats the same issue I’m having plus I have an odd shaped room. Getting better though and last nights brief listening session was the best so far.
Boy these speakers are finicky to place
I’m comparing to spatial audio x5 open baffle that were not was difficult for me to find the sweet spot
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I hear you. It was my experience that once I got it right I had no regrets. Since then I’ve made of few adjustments and found that after breaking in the speakers don’t seem as finicky. I can’t explain it but that’s just how it’s been. I’ll get back to you this evening with some room & placement info.
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Thanks again. No rush. Yes the best way I can explain the sound initially is like when someone cups their hands on the sides of their mouth and talks.
No need to explain. That’s just how it is. I have had a similar experience with my FR20’s. I could easily, and immediarely tell they were better than my older speakers, and somehow knew that I needed to find that magic positioning to make them even better. I found the ideal setup, even though unconventional.
Then I improved all the electronics around the FR20’s.
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Ok, I’ve measured my room setup/placement and tried to represent it somewhat accurately. Scale may be a bit off but the dimension labels are fairly accurate. The sub placement behind the listening position really helped tame the base boom in the room. I had turned off my sub while I adjusted the FR10’s position as I wanted to focus on getting the highs and mids sounding their best.
Room treatment includes absorption installed over the large window behind the rack and some homemade diffusers on side walls etc. Nothing expensive. I am open to comments and suggestions/questions.
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That’s impressive! You must be an engineer. One question. I thought I remember a post of yours where you mentioned no toe in but the schematic shows toe in. If you have toe in what did you settle on ?
my set up is an equilateral triangle but the right speaker’s wall is at a diagonal and flared out because there is a gas fireplace over there. That had caused a placement challenge for me
It’s not really to scale - just used a Smart Draw program. Yes, at first I did try no toe in, but I eventually increased the toe in until I found the spot. I do not know how I’d measure the toe in, but it is not quite as drastic as the schematic shows.
Sounds like you have a challenge but a flare out is better than a flare in. There are folks here who have dealt with all sorts of strange room configurations. I am rooting for you to find that magic adjustment. You’ll know when you get it right.
Thanks. I got stop moving them around so much but the clock is ticking fast on the 30 day trial. On top of that I’m dealing with a disc herniation so I have them on furniture sliders for now
So far for me 3 feet from the side wall is actually worse than a hair over 2 feet
I have them toed in so one edge is 2 inches more than the other edge from the front wall
I remember Chris saying that 18 inches from front wall and the same for side wall is usually enough and that more may not be better. I had mine on sliders too. Those things were surprisingly heavy for being the little brother of the FR20s! You might be able to talk to sales at PS Audio and get a little extra audition time. Might be worth a try.
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