Your listening room
Strange as this may sound, the room itself will have a profound affect
on how your audio system responds. In fact, many experts consider
the room to be as important to the sound as any other component in
your system!
Did you ever notice how it’s difficult to talk in some restaurants
because you can’t hear each other over all the other conversations
going on around you? Yet another similarly sized restaurant is
perfectly suited to intimate romantic murmuring. The difference lies in
the surfaces around you. Here is a simple test – go into your bathroom
and clap your hands; then clap them again in a room with carpet,
curtains and other soft furnishings. Notice the difference? In a room
with many hard reflective surfaces sound waves bounce around a lot
before dying out. Not even the most expensive stereo in the world is
capable of sounding good in such a challenging acoustic environment.
When it comes to your listening room the same principles apply.
Wooden floorboards, polished concrete and slate tiles are all highly
reflective surfaces. In a room without curtains or other wall furnishings
the sound may be overly ‘bright’ or aggressive.
Similarly, it is possible for a room to be too ‘damped’ or absorptive.
Where there are no reflective surfaces at all the sound may seem
‘dead’ or lacking in energy and excitement.
Luckily for us, most household rooms are a combination of the two.
And, generally speaking, a combination of the two will bring about the
best results.
Too many hard surfaces?
If your room is too ‘bright’, try placing a large rug on the floor between
your listening position and the speakers. Or hang some soft
furnishings from the walls.
Too many soft surfaces?
If your room is too damped, try removing some of the soft furnishings
from the walls or rugs from the floor.
Managing the bass
Sometimes, low frequency waves can also bounce around and cause
problems in a listening environment. This may be the result of the
shape of the room, or the materials it is constructed from. Large
pieces of furniture in a room can often help to break up these ‘standing
waves’.
While few of us will feel the need to totally redesign a room to improve
its sonic properties, sometimes a small change, like placing a rug on
the floor, can make a big improvement to the sound.
