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DIY / low budget experiment to physically controll the listening zone - hierarchy of need for stereo setup

Svensson

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Jun 15, 2022
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My room is rectangular at 6.5m (length) x 4m (width) x 2.4m (height). Because of doors, windows and access, i need to use this the 'wrong way'. That is, the speakers are along the long wall and I sit opposite against the rear long wall. Speakers are about 2m each from their nearest side walls.

I read about the use of a mattress in front of a listener to maxiumise each ear receiving the corresponding speakers beam of sound. I am not allowed to experiment with a mattress. However, I have a some awareness of reflections, absorbtion etc. I have tried to experiment over the past 6-8 weeks over different ilstening sessions. This includes asking my understanding wife, as well as friends to participate. All responses are entirely subjective, the music was my personal listening list whittled down by my considerate wife.

My experiment,
I did not want to spend £1000's on absorbtion panels, so I utilised home "room treatment panels" which look very much like large fabric sofa seat cushions that match my sofas at 1.4 x 1m x 10cm x 6 cushions.

Findings
In reverse order of benefit measured by our ears only.
5 Side wall treatment with 3 treatment panels at each side wall (my room is wide)
4. Front Wall treatment (4-6 treatment panels)
3. Rear wall treatment directly behind my head 4 treatment panels (remember my head is only 50cm from the rear wall)
2. Rear and front wall treatment (two panels front with four panels rear)
1. Rear wall treatment PLUS 30cm square cushions set 30-40cm from each ear angled out to about 45 degrees starting at shoulder height to approximately 20cm higher than my head.

I think that No 1 was the greatest change because my ears had the most dedicated line of sight for each speaker with most 1st and 2nd reflections handled. Alternatively, it could be my personal bias for a range of self selection reasons.

Discussion
The most effective option also looks odd, but easy to tidy away afterwards. It seems to be effective to me. Open question, does it make logical sense to those of us who are more experienced?
 
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