Coffeetables - the silent killer (maybe)

[Foxxy]

I don't know when but recently stumbled upon that a coffeetable can be detrimental to sound. Especially when you can see the speakers in it's reflection, because that's the perfect place to be a mirror point. Ooof. Oh, and since my listening distance isn't that big but the table is, It covers about a quarter of the space between me and the speakers.

Okay, just for fun I pulled it aside and... ah, fuck. There is the damn soundstage height I was missing. And generally makes the sound more even feeling and dispersed. This made almost as much difference than my other room acoustics treatments. Now, I don't wanna live without a coffee table. But maybe something smaller and more moveable. And something different to rest my feet on.
But I can't keep improving my system while leaving this much sound quality at the table. Literally.

 

[Ropeburn]

I don't know when but recently stumbled upon that a coffeetable can be detrimental to sound. Especially when you can see the speakers in it's reflection, because that's the perfect place to be a mirror point. Ooof. Oh, and since my listening distance isn't that big but the table is, It covers about a quarter of the space between me and the speakers.

Okay, just for fun I pulled it aside and... ah, fuck. There is the damn soundstage height I was missing. And generally makes the sound more even feeling and dispersed. This made almost as much difference than my other room acoustics treatments. Now, I don't wanna live without a coffee table. But maybe something smaller and more moveable. And something different to rest my feet on.
But I can't keep improving my system while leaving this much sound quality at the table. Literally.

Floor reflection -> carpet
Wall reflection -> carpet
Window reflection -> curtains
Table reflection -> tablecloth!

 

[Foxxy]

A tablecloth is so thin that will at best be placebo.

 

[DVDdoug]

My coffee table is basically two shelves. The soundwaves can pass-through to my legs and couch!

Any reflections between the top of the coffee table and the ceiling are likely beneficial because they are small and "different" than the wavelength between the floor and ceiling.

There is the damn soundstage height I was missing.

Personally, I don't get a height illusion and I don't have Atmos height speakers...

 

[MAB]

A tablecloth is so thin that will at best be placebo.

How do you know the change in soundstage that you saw wasn't a placebo?

 

[Keith_W]

It looks as if IKEA has discontinued this product, but this is what I use:

Ikea HOL. Fold it up and put it away when you're not using it.

 

[Looneybomber]

Too many stubbed toes and smashed shins for me to have a coffee table. They’re a nonstarter in my house.

 

[markstein]

I don't know when but recently stumbled upon that a coffeetable can be detrimental to sound. Especially when you can see the speakers in it's reflection, because that's the perfect place to be a mirror point. Ooof. Oh, and since my listening distance isn't that big but the table is, It covers about a quarter of the space between me and the speakers.

Okay, just for fun I pulled it aside and... ah, fuck. There is the damn soundstage height I was missing. And generally makes the sound more even feeling and dispersed. This made almost as much difference than my other room acoustics treatments. Now, I don't wanna live without a coffee table. But maybe something smaller and more moveable. And something different to rest my feet on.
But I can't keep improving my system while leaving this much sound quality at the table. Literally.

Well, yes, you have to decide whether to listen in a living room or in a specific optimized listening room. Easy choice for me, as I don't have the space for the latter...

Speakers with narrow vertical dispersion might help (ribbon tweeter, asymmetric waveguide a la Neumann or Genelec S360, Genelec1237 etc.). It might be also an option to place the speakers a little higher and tilt them slightly down to your listening position. Neumann speaker manuals provide good guidance.

 

[egellings]

Floor reflection -> carpet
Wall reflection -> carpet
Window reflection -> curtains
Table reflection -> tablecloth!

Table cloth is too thin to have much of an effect, although a little is better than none, but not by much.

 

[Oddball]

Anything that can make your room more enjoyable is good. After all we do live in these rooms and should not be only obsessing only over audio.

Once people transition to multi-channel, it will help them understand that many things can be tolerated.

 

[antisuck]

My half-@ssed solution (at least it's rounded and not flat like a mirror. Fabric would be much better but I like the look of this.)

 

[respice finem]

I solved this in my living room by having the table behind me. I'm sitting (to watch movies or listen to music) near the TV and the sidebar on which the loudspeakers are placed (2m triangle). When needed, one turn of the chair and the table is in front of me. The surface of the chair and the footrest is fabric.

Another solution could be a coffee table with an "open" surface to minimize reflection - like woven rattan etc.

 

[Looneybomber]

Instead of a coffee table, have you thought of an ottoman? They can be covered in fabric and have matching seating but maybe you can find something that matches your current seating?

An example.

 

[respice finem]

Anything that can make your room more enjoyable is good. After all we do live in these rooms and should not be only obsessing only over audio.

Once people transition to multi-channel, it will help them understand that many things can be tolerated.

I've transitioned the opposite way, but still, you are right. A fully treated living room usually looks odd.
I've treated my WFH room acoustically and use it for "serious" listening, the living room for casual, movies etc.

 

[Chrispy]

While I do like putting my feet up, and a coffee table can work except for that reflection thing, I don't really have any other use for a coffee table so I substituted a stack of large pillows instead.

 

[krabapple]

Okay, just for fun I pulled it aside and... ah, fuck. There is the damn soundstage height I was missing. And generally makes the sound more even feeling and dispersed. This made almost as much difference than my other room acoustics treatments.

I don't understand...you already investigated room treatments -- often used to treat reflections -- but it never occurred to you how bad a reflective table in front of you could be?

Now, I don't wanna live without a coffee table. But maybe something smaller and more moveable. And something different to rest my feet on.
But I can't keep improving my system while leaving this much sound quality at the table. Literally.

Forget about having a table in front of you. Put something small to the side of you that you can rest stuff on.

 

[krabapple]

Anything that can make your room more enjoyable is good. After all we do live in these rooms and should not be only obsessing only over audio.

Once people transition to multi-channel, it will help them understand that many things can be tolerated.

Even multichannel won't fix the bad effects of a hard coffee table between you and the front array.

 

[respice finem]

But it will distract

 

[Jimi Floyd]

every reflection from the coffeetable is one less reflection from the floor, so it is a balance.

 

[respice finem]

every reflection from the coffeetable is one less reflection from the floor, so it is a balance.

But, the table is nearer to the ears than the floor (earlier reflection).