7
Friendly to Room Correction
It is impossible to separate the performance of a speaker from the room it is in.
No matter how well designed, a speaker will sound quite different in a carpeted
library with lots of bookcases, heavy drapes, and overstuffed furniture than it
would in a stone-and-glass great room.
Fortunately, even mid-priced receivers today have basic room correction ca-
pabilities. Some of these auto-equalization systems work better than others,
but they all measure the response of the speaker in the room, and give you the
option of trying to make the sound “flat.” Which is to say, all frequencies are
reproduced at an equal volume when equal energy is put into the speaker.
Unfortunately, there are important differences between how our ears hear “flat”
and how the microphone measures “flat.” Specifically, our hearing is quite adept
at separating the direct sound from early reflections, and from subsequent rever-
beration in the room. The measurement systems commonly used in room cor-
rection do not make this sort of distinction. If you do not make an allowance for
this difference, you often end up with worse sound, not better.
Your Insight loudspeaker addresses this important difference. See “Room Cor-
rection” for more detailed information.
