AW: speakers: was AW: [sdiy] DIY help needed

[Scott Evans, Gen Mgr]

Hi again,

Scott

Czech Martin wrote:
> 
> And the funny thing is that these high price guys never mention
> the listening room. What sense does it make to measure in an anechoic
> chamber? I want to have sound in my living room, I don't want
> to live in a room stuffed with foam pyramids...
In my experience of installing sound systems in many peoples homes, I
found that, as a practical matter, proper placement of the speakers
could solve many of the issues of imaging and tonal imbalances. It was
not a real common occurrence for the room to prevent an enjoyable
listing experience for even the most critical listeners. I am NOT saying
that rooms do not have an impact on the perceived sound, but it must be
remembered that the majority of our impression of the musical experience
is weighted on the direct radiation of the sound source itself. As room
artifacts that disturbed this enjoyment are reflective in nature, most
were easily solved with proper room treatments.

> I think no matter how much you spend, a reproduction of
> a given acoustical situation into an arbitrary room
> via loudspeaker is simply impossible.
> 
> It is like the holy grail, you will never achieve.
We will, IMO, never be able to recreate a concert experience in the
home. The physics of the room will not allow it.

> You will never feel that you're sitting in the
> original concert hall, in the best case you'll obeserve
> that you are sitting in a small room next to it,
> and that the wall between has two more or less small holes.
> So the concert hall sound comes in, but will then activate
> the resonances in your room.
> 
> It will simply sound like sound comming from two sources in the wall
> resonating in your small room. This will be the case for very good speakers.
> Not so good speakers will pose some kind of distortion network
> into the holes of the example, so that dispersion, bass/treble roll of
> can be observed.
I agree. Again, it is a practical matter. However, this is not to say
that accurate reproduction of recorded material cannot be reasonably
reproduced to a satisfactory, even demanding listening experience.