You'll have learnt of it in history class. Rather less bloody is its application in hifi. In anticipation of an inbound small monitor, I recently upgraded the speaker stands in my office. A pair of white NorStone ordered in from Belgium via Amazon.ie to which I bolted Virtual Hifi Vibron isolators came to just the right height. Because their plinth is rather smaller than the previous stand's, I could position the speakers still closer to the chair. At my 170cm spacing tweeter to tweeter, this naturally demanded even steeper toe-in. My photos don't fully show its severity. But the upshot was very rewarding. I now have even more of an out-of-head HeadFi-type immersion bubble going on. Forget the 34" computer screen being any sort of barrier. Given the layout, my soundstage is positively gigantic and without any electronic trickery, I'm enveloped in quasi surround sound.
It's what happens when we transform nearfield listening into a pincer attack. It's a free tweak. With small monitors on stands, it can even be temporary should the décor not allow permanence of such a setup. Simply move the speakers into position during listening then back into their allotted parking spots afterwards. The difference a few two-digit centimetres and steeper angling can play here is exceptionally rewarding. Should you find yourself in a situation that allows for such flexibility, experiment with going really wide, really near and perfectly face on. You could be really glad you did. It also really minimizes room interference. That's a lot of 'really' so what's keeping you?
