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"...sitting in the back of the room"

Posted by Krav Maga (A) on May 4, 2022 at 03:06:21

In Reply to: On any given day... posted by Luminator on May 2, 2022 at 19:50:35:

"There's nothing wrong, with listening from the middle of the room. However, when you go to the back of the room, that's when the sound can gel, and that light bulb goes on, in your head. You think to yourself, "Maybe this is the realization of Thiel's design goals." "

"But it was during karaoke, when my friends were sitting in the back of the room. Without any prompting, they remarked how good the karaoke tracks sounded, via the Thiel CS.5."


These statements regarding how good the speakers can sound when the listener is located in the back of the room reminded me of a loudspeaker set-up technique that I was exposed to while attending Stereophile High End Hi-Fi Shows back in the nineties. It was in the Audio Physic rooms at several shows. The loudspeakers were placed well away from the front wall with the listening chairs located against the back wall.


I tried to find pictures of the Stereophile High End Hi-Fi Show Audio Physic rooms but it appears that these old show reports have been removed from the Stereophile website (a decision of the new owner?). However, in a 1995 Stereophile review of the Audio Physic Virgo loudspeaker I found a description of the Audio Physic set-up technique:

Link to article:

https://www.stereophile.com/content/audio-physic-virgo-loudspeaker-page-3

"When was the last time you heard someone tell you to set your speakers up along the long wall of your listening room? In Joachim Gerhard's view of things, the long wall is the way to go. What's more, he wants his speakers set up in the middle of the room and your listening position dead against the back wall. "What about room-boundary bass reinforcement? What about slapback echo?" I hear you cry.

...

So, why does Gerhard want you to sit with your back against the wall? The wall is a node-where pressure is highest and velocity lowest-where you'll feel maximum bass pressurization. That's basic, and that's why putting speakers against a wall generates maximum bass. Unfortunately, putting speakers against a wall is not ideal for other reasons-like for generating a three-dimensional soundstage. So, better to put your head against a wall.

Those who suggest that the reflection off the rear wall will confuse imaging are incorrect, according to the Haas primacy effect, which demonstrates that the ear prefers the direct wave over the reflected and can only process the time delay between the direct and reflected sound when the distance is greater than the circumference of your head, which is about 2'.

If that seems like only watermelon heads are involved, get out your tape measure-we're all a bunch of fatheads. So as long as you sit closer than 2' from the back wall, the ear/brain will not process the reflection, giving preference to the direct sound from the speaker; though, of course, if your back wall is glass, it will for other reasons affect what you hear. Clearly some treatment of the back wall will be of some value.

With you sitting against a wall, where is the best location for maximum bass pressurization? According to Gerhard, at the room's exact halfway point, with the speakers against either side wall. That's the second node. The next best position is at the quarter point in the room in both axes.

In fine-tuning the room for both frequency response and imaging, Gerhard first divides the room into two grids. One is even divisions-halves, quarters, sixteenths, which represent reinforcement nodes; the other is odd-thirds, sixths, ninths, which represent cancellation nodes. These measurements should be done to the inch with a tape measure and not be guesstimates. Ideally, you'd draw out each grid in a different color and overlay the two.

If your room is such that you can put your speakers at the halfway point in the room with the speakers against the side walls, the next move would be to move them laterally closer together to the quarter point on each side. That would be your ideal starting point for maximizing bass pressurization and creating a credible soundstage.

Now begins the battle of optimizing imaging and frequency response. If bass is too strong, you could go to an anti-node that could either be forward or back or side to side to one of the "third" points. While the trend is toward more bass as you move the speaker closer to the back or side walls, there are cancellation points as you go toward the walls."

There is additional information regarding this speaker/chair placement method in the linked Stereophile review article.


Additionally, I did a web search for Audio Physic speaker setup and found this article "Audio Physics Speaker Placement Method" here on Audio Asylum (link below).
"If people can't control their own emotions, then they have to start trying to control other people's behavior."

- Robin Skynner

• Audio Physics Speaker Placement Method - Audio Asylum   (Open in New Window)

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