Acoustic Discussions with Gene

[gene]

I certainly have much to learn myself. But, if I've learned anything over the past couple of years, it's that I wouldn't expect anechoic chamber readings to be repeated in a regular room. Even if it's well-treated, I doubt that it would be possible.

I have no idea if the room was treated or not. It's just that if I did get these results in an untreated room, I'd be very pleased.

Listening to loudspeakers in an anechoic chamber is a very unpleasant experience. Our brains rely on early reflections for directional cues and spaciousness. To completely eliminate all reflections would sound horrific and unnatural to us.

The desire of a good home theater should never be to mimic or even closely mimic the sound of an anechoic chamber though i have been in some theater rooms that are so deadened that they reminded me of one

FYI, The measurements conducted in this review were done in an untreated room.

 

[JerryLove]

Listening to loudspeakers in an anechoic chamber is a very unpleasant experience. Our brains rely on early reflections for directional cues and spaciousness. To completely eliminate all reflections would sound horrific and unnatural to us.

...outside of a speaker pair's "sweet spot". Otherwise it would sound like a pair of headphones, which also have no room reflections.

Speaking in generalities: the recording itself should already have room reflections from the room it was recorded in.

It's always been my beef with the onmipolar view.... that it becomes impossible to simulate an environment with less reflective surfaces than your room actually has (say "an open field" where the only reflector would be the ground)

This is, I think, why it's a balancing act between a hypothetical anechoic chamber: where there's no sound but what comes directly from the speakers; only you can only hear it properly in one spot, and a equally hypothetical sphere of reflective surfaces where everywhere sounds the same; but all sense of the intended environment is lost.

The desire of a good home theater should never be to mimic or even closely mimic the sound of an anechoic chamber though i have been in some theater rooms that are so deadened that they reminded me of one

I would think that, within the sweet spot, a near-non-echoing room would work well with a 7 or 9 speaker surround system... just remember to make sure *all* the drivers radiate into the listening area (as I suspect it would play havoc on a traditional subwoofer arrangement)

Should I assume you have a similar dislike of outdoor music? At least in an open space where the only boundary is the ground?

I think of the times I've been round a camp fire in an open field, or on a boat, listening to live music with no reflectors (other than people) in any direction but down.

 

[gene]

...outside of a speaker pair's "sweet spot". Otherwise it would sound like a pair of headphones, which also have no room reflections.

Speaking in generalities: the recording itself should already have room reflections from the room it was recorded in.

It's always been my beef with the onmipolar view.... that it becomes impossible to simulate an environment with less reflective surfaces than your room actually has (say "an open field" where the only reflector would be the ground)

This is, I think, why it's a balancing act between a hypothetical anechoic chamber: where there's no sound but what comes directly from the speakers; only you can only hear it properly in one spot, and a equally hypothetical sphere of reflective surfaces where everywhere sounds the same; but all sense of the intended environment is lost.

Oh my. Try placing a pair of speakers in an anechoic chamber and finding an ideal spot where its even palatable to listen too. I suggest to pick up Dr. Tooles latest book where he discusses the benefits of early reflections in home theater rooms. I honestly never encountered someone whose ideal acoustical environment would be anechoic but different strokes for different folks I suppose.

Outdoor vs anechoic is a different animal as outdoor isn't completely void of sound like an anechoic chamber is. That is very uncomfortable for humans. Also outdoor speakers are designed much differently than most consumer speakers which is why long thro horns are the way to go for outdoor venues but usually aren't for home environments.

 

[JerryLove]

For really "I'm sitting and listening to this", I do enjoy the relative "dead" of a good set of headphones.

For casual listening: I prefer *reasonably* resonant spaces to "fill the room".

I've never had the opportunity to setup in an actual anechoic chamber.

I have listened to live (un-amplified) performance outdoors (and in my house as well).

Each space has a sound (or lack thereof).

All that said: I hope to be up at Chris's place at the end of the year. Perhaps I'll become a convert

 

[WmAx]

Jerry, I have a large number(several hundred square feet) of broadband treatments. I can position them as to eliminate the vast majority of reflections in a room if you so desire to experience this un-naturally dead environment. You will have to help with the re-arrangement; it will be a bit of work to set them up in this manner - and frankly - it is not going to sound very good from a realistic perspective - just 'clear' near field type sound. You can just listen to my top notch near-field monitor system on my computer and get the sound (if it works when you get here ; last night a cup of water got knocked over into one of the amps! I kid you not... and I immediately unplugged it and have been letting it dry completely before doing a vitals check....).

-Chris

 

[JerryLove]

Chris,

I'd like to start with how you feel they will best reproduce sound. It's silly for me to be randomly mucking with what you've put so much effort into. Who knows, you may change my position on room reflections. I hope to learn a lot in the short time I am there, if you are willing to educate.

Jerry

 

[GO-NAD!]

Listening to loudspeakers in an anechoic chamber is a very unpleasant experience. Our brains rely on early reflections for directional cues and spaciousness. To completely eliminate all reflections would sound horrific and unnatural to us.

The desire of a good home theater should never be to mimic or even closely mimic the sound of an anechoic chamber though i have been in some theater rooms that are so deadened that they reminded me of one

FYI, The measurements conducted in this review were done in an untreated room.

Although I've never been in one, I've heard or read before, that as a listening space, an anechoic chamber would be unpleasant. I was only refering to it as a space for establishing the baseline FR of a speaker and that effort expended in attempting to precisely repeat that FR in a room would not neccessarily be a wise expenditure of time and money. I didn't mean to give the impression that I would like my living room to "sound" like an anechoic chamber.

I would guess that such a space would be like being inside the snowhouses we used to dig as kids. The snow was so absorbant, you almost had to shout at somebody sitting beside you in order to be heard.

 

[JerryLove]

I would guess that such a space would be like being inside the snowhouses we used to dig as kids. The snow was so absorbant, you almost had to shout at somebody sitting beside you in order to be heard.

Looking actually at one another works as well.

It's like the difference between a flashlight in a field and a flashlight in a small, white-walled room.

 

[GO-NAD!]

Looking actually at one another works as well.

It's like the difference between a flashlight in a field and a flashlight in a small, white-walled room.

If you say so...