Wisdom Ls3, Owner'S Manual

Page: 15 / 26

15
advantages to placing several subwoofers around the room, rather than relying
on a single large woofer. If you have the luxury of doing so, this having multiple
subwoofer can reduce the size of the room’s response irregularities from 20
decibels down to perhaps as little as 6-8 decibels—a tremendous improvement.
Reducing the room’s inherent problems to this degree provides a huge advan-
tage. It allows the SC-1 System Controller to put its considerable abilities to work
on perfecting your system’s response, rather than on trying to perform major
corrective surgery.
Room Treatment
Rectangular rooms have six reflecting surfaces (four walls, ceiling and floor)
that reflect sound to the listener, after various delays introduced by the indirect
routes the sound take on their way to the listener. These first reflections are par
-
ticularly damaging to sound quality. Looking at the simplest case of stereo repro-
duction, you have a minimum of twelve
first reflection points in your room that
deserve some attention.
Unfortunately, it is often difficult to do much about the ceiling and floor reflec -
tions, even though they are known to be the most destructive. (The minimiza-
tion of these reflections is one of the strongest arguments for tall, line source
loudspeakers.) This leaves you with eight “first reflections” that you should
consider minimizing somehow. These points are easily found by having an as-
sistant slide a small mirror along the four walls of the room, while you sit at the
listening position. Any place on the wall where you can see a reflection of any
speaker is a first reflection point. Concentrate on the first reflections for the Left
and Right speakers first.
If you can, arrange to apply either absorption or diffusion at these eight points
(don’t forget the wall behind you). Absorption can be as simple as heavy, insu-
lated drapes; diffusion can be provided by a well-stocked bookcase with books
of varied sizes. Alternatively, you can buy purpose-designed room treatments
(some sources listed under References, below).
The important things to remember are these: a good room should have a bal-
ance of absorption and diffusion; and if you are going to treat only a few areas
of the room, the first reflection points are the most important ones to treat.
Professional Acoustic Design
Does this all sound too complicated? For good reason. It is complicated.
The difference between the average listening room and one that is professionally
designed and implemented is huge. A great listening room will disappear to an
astonishing degree, letting the experiences captured in your recordings speak to
you directly. A well-designed room is also quieter and more comfortable. It can
easily become a favorite retreat for peace and rejuvenation.
If you decide to investigate the possibility of improving your room with the help
of a professional, it is important to find someone who focuses on residential
spaces. Most acousticians are trained to deal with large spaces — airports, au-
ditoriums, lobbies in commercial buildings, etc. The problems seen in “small”
rooms (residential spaces) are quite different, and outside the experience of most
acousticians. Find someone who specializes in and has a great deal of experi-
ence designing home studios, home theaters, and the like. Your Wisdom Audio
dealer may be such a person; failing that, he/she can help you find such a pro -
fessional.