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How important is the room and room reflections? Panels, Bass Traps etc...

Johan Liebert

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I see it on other forums all the time about the room.

Whether or no there's defraction panels, sound absorbing panels and bass traps and I'm just trying to make heads or tails out of all this.
 

AudioStudies

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Well it is a complicated topic. If you want to dig in very deeply, I would suggest Dr. Toole's book. Whether or not they are needed is highly dependent on things such as what speakers you are using, the dimensions of the room in which you are using them, and where in the room you intend to place the speakers. The position you will be seated in is also a factor. Even furniture in the room can affect the overall SYSTEM = Loudspeaker, Room, and Listener. Regrettably there is no "off the shelf" answer for this. I would mention however that both Dr. Toole and Amirm (who runs this site), have mentioned cases where they are not needed.
 

MRC01

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If the question is "how important" is the room, the answer is easy: very!
In my current room, treatment changed the response by 9+ dB at certain frequencies and reduced or eliminated decay/ringing. That's a big improvement in both directions: First, the room affected the sound in a big way. Second, treating the room took a big bit out of those effects. Unlike many audio improvements that are subtle, this (and room treatment in general) is easily audible.
 
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Johan Liebert

Johan Liebert

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Well it is a complicated topic. If you want to dig in very deeply, I would suggest Dr. Toole's book. Whether or not they are needed is highly dependent on things such as what speakers you are using, the dimensions of the room in which you are using them, and where in the room you intend to place the speakers. The position you will be seated in is also a factor. Even furniture in the room can affect the overall SYSTEM = Loudspeaker, Room, and Listener. Regrettably there is no "off the shelf" answer for this. I would mention however that both Dr. Toole and Amirm (who runs this site), have mentioned cases where they are not needed.
Thank you for the recommendation of Toole's book!

From the bit of reading I've done here I find it interesting that whether or not the side reflections are absorbed or not can affect the perception of sound stage!
 

Purité Audio

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Also depends upon your loudspeakers if you have even ‘off-axis’ you could be making the SQ worse.
Keith
 
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