Audiophile seating [poll]

[fieldcar]

Recently when I was listening to music, I was working on making sure that the position of my front pair of speakers were aimed and spaced correctly, but when I was doing that to find the sweet spot, I found that the sound drastically changed as I moved just about a foot away from my recliner. It's one of those typical leather couches that recline, and the headrest is above your head when seated upright and reclined. So, I assume some sort of first reflection from the rear of the chair is muddying the sound field and affecting the sound quality, especially soundstage. I may not do anything as this is primarily a home theater that doubles as my primary music listening system.
Let me know what you think.

My current sofa:


An audiophile friendly option?

 

[Vict0r]

Only suspension is audiophile. It's only uncomfortable the first 99 times. Your ears will thank you (just your ears, mind.)

 

[fieldcar]

Only suspension is audiophile. It's only uncomfortable the first 99 times. Your ears will thank you (just your ears, mind.)

 

[nerdstrike]

It's more likely that you're straying into a zone of room effect that differs from where your sofa is, for example shallower reflection off the ceiling increases your high frequency reflections further back, a noticeable room null can be found at that distance, or you find yourself straying off axis from your speakers.

For example, I thought I'd wired my speaker terminals wrong because perched on a foot stool I was a little too far inside the toe of my R5's and I was hearing what seemed to be reversed stereo imaging. When I retreated to the sofa it was fine, but up close I was leaving the beaming of one channel and hearing mostly the other. A very strange effect until I ostriched around enough to figure out what was happening.

Not ruling it out, but I don't think the sofa will be decisive next to wall distances and other furnishings

 

[fieldcar]

It's more likely that you're straying into a zone of room effect that differs from where your sofa is, for example shallower reflection off the ceiling increases your high frequency reflections further back, a noticeable room null can be found at that distance, or you find yourself straying off axis from your speakers.

For example, I thought I'd wired my speaker terminals wrong because perched on a foot stool I was a little too far inside the toe of my R5's and I was hearing what seemed to be reversed stereo imaging. When I retreated to the sofa it was fine, but up close I was leaving the beaming of one channel and hearing mostly the other. A very strange effect until I ostriched around enough to figure out what was happening.

Not ruling it out, but I don't think the sofa will be decisive next to wall distances and other furnishings

Thanks for the constructive criticism. Audyssey detects reversed wires, so it's not that, but I'm open to anything to explain the phenomenon. I'm currently set up using the method illustrated below, but my speakers are aimed directly at me and not slightly toe-out as the illustration shows. As for ceiling reflections, my tiles absorb so well that I couldn't do reflecting atmos speakers, so I'm pretty sure that the ceiling and carpeted floor are not the issue. I've got first reflection absorbers on both sides and a rear absorber at the back wall.

As you said though, it could just be the room creating the difference in sound. That's what so hard about this, everything about the environment is a variable fighting against you.

 

[richard12511]

Recently when I was listening to music, I was working on making sure that the position of my front pair of speakers were aimed and spaced correctly, but when I was doing that to find the sweet spot, I found that the sound drastically changed as I moved just about a foot away from my recliner. It's one of those typical leather couches that recline, and the headrest is above your head when seated upright and reclined. So, I assume some sort of first reflection from the rear of the chair is muddying the sound field and affecting the sound quality, especially soundstage. I may not do anything as this is primarily a home theater that doubles as my primary music listening system.
Let me know what you think.

My current sofa:
View attachment 127206

An audiophile friendly option?
View attachment 127207

I've definitely noticed this. The imaging changes a bit(in a positive way) when I sit forward a bit. It's not a huge change, but it is a slight improvement over resting my head against the sofa. If I care enough at the time, I'll put a big pillow in between my back and the sofa, which helps.

I wouldn't change sofas, though. Ultimately the added comfort of the head rest is more important to me than the slight image degradation it causes. The pillow trick helps.

 

[mansr]

Missing option: I believe furniture can affect the sound, but I haven't bothered to investigate.

 

[fieldcar]

Missing option: I believe furniture can affect the sound, but I haven't bothered to investigate.

Done.

 

[Twitch54]

For one thing it's speaker dependent, stats will for sure have a smaller sweet spot. Regardless, a proper, comfortable listening chair is essential

 

[Frank Dernie]

The listening position has a huge influence on the bass and the seat and its upholstery on higher frequencies.
I find a seat with no headrest sounds best but uncomfortable (I detest low backed seats) so I have a multi-folded wool rug over the headrest which makes a big difference.

 

[Frank Dernie]

I voted 1 btw which isn't 100% correct since I have done something about it (I had noticed many years ago) but not buying new furniture just reducing reflection.

 

[hmscott]

Use Headphones. No room effects

It looks like Sennheiser has changed their line up since I had the RS200, but this one looks nice:

Sennheiser RS 175

Sony likely has some nice HT Wireless with more Surround attention

Many do multiple feeds, so you only need buy more "receivers"/headphones and share off of the same transmitter. I did that for many years in addition to 7.3 speakers, sometimes the neighbors (150' away) are home to sleep.

 

[Deleted member 28849]

I have my speakers positioned to create the stereo image/soundstage for my listening chair. I also use room or sound reflections to create that image. And yes I have noticed the chair effects the sound I am hearing, if for example I rest my head on a pillow I notice how it changes the sound a little bit.

I don't have the luxury of being able to move around the room in an effort to find a better sweet spot as my room is crammed full of stuff. If I am listening from outside the room, say upstairs, I don't have the soundstage or stereo imaging but the sound is clear and tonally correct.

 

[Frank Dernie]

Use Headphones. No room effects

But a tiny line of micro musicians between my ears is much, much worse

 

[Burning Sounds]

I suspect the framed album covers on one side and glass doors on the other affects the sound more than my chair does. It's so comfortable I can easily fall asleep in it if I'm listening to laid back music - it's called The Stressless Dream for a reason!

 

[MattHooper]

Seating definitely has an effect!

Both of course in terms of altering your position relative to the speakers, and you can be hearing the sonic influence of your sofa, the closer you put your head to, for instance, the head rest.

I had a custom sofa designed so that the back went up pretty high, to give plenty of shoulder support, but not above my head, so it wouldn't induce reflections near my ears. It worked great.

But I often use acoustics to my benefit to change up the sound. Sometimes I'll move my sofa (it's on easily movable sliders) a little back and the sound will become more focused and lively. If I move it forward the sound becomes more smooth, rich and enveloping. If I slouch on my sofa, my head against the big pillows, it changes the sound due to reflections to my ears - the sound is more focused towards the center, it thickens in the upper mids/lower treble and brightness somewhat. It's vivid, but less rich and subtle in tonality.

But another "trick" I use is a small, narrow head-width pillow that I find very comfortable. I can use it behind my head when I'm sitting fairly upright, getting some head support. Or, if I'm slouching on my sofa, I place it behind my head which holds my head somewhat off the rear pillows a bit. This gives a really nice effect. The sound becomes a little more vivid and sparkly, the imaging a bit more focused. It looses just a bit of tonal
subtlety vs my head not being near a pillow. But I sometimes find a perfect balance where I've moved the sofa closer so I get lots of direct sound, very immersive, but the addition of the little pillow behind my head adds some focus and sparkle, so it's close to a best of both worlds.

I was listening like that recently and simply in awe of my system.

 

[LTig]

The listening position has a huge influence on the bass and the seat and its upholstery on higher frequencies.
I find a seat with no headrest sounds best but uncomfortable (I detest low backed seats) so I have a multi-folded wool rug over the headrest which makes a big difference.

I second that. Before we got a sofa where the headrest is absorbive (and can be lowered to the back) and audible difference is negligible I used a Stokke Gravity where the headrest has upholstery but not as thick and probably a wooden plank inside. Moving the head away from the headrest opened the soundstage significantly.

 

[Kvalsvoll]

Oh yes, this is very real. Seating with high headrest is bad for sound, unfortunately the alternative is not very comfortable.

In the 2-ch room Room2 I have a simple, low chairs, excellent for sound. In the media room, the sofa with higher headrest is a lot more comfortable, and when I am fortunate to have F205 speakers in there, I find I prefer comfort at the expense of slightly reduced sound quality. With the previous generation F1 speakers, I rarely listen to music in there. So speakers are more important than seating.

 

[Rip City Dave]

This should be your new correct seating position.

 

[Twitch54]

Oh yes, this is very real. Seating with high headrest is bad for sound, unfortunately the alternative is not very comfortable.

completely false, comfort abounds here ............... https://shop.stressless.com/en/c/recliners