Is impactful and visceral sound simply a product of high SPL?

[Ellebob]

A note about placing speakers too close to listeners, particularly surrounds. Often the person seated very close to a speaker will not get a very good presentation and will get what we term, speaker in the ear effect. It can be very distracting.

A couple solutions for this type of problem. 1. Move the speaker a little higher on the wall and possibly slightly forward or behind the listener to increase that distance. If you do move it higher make sure you aim it towards the center of listeners and not aiming at the opposite wall.
2. Use a bipolar speaker where none of the drivers directly face the person seated near it.

 

[Digital_Thor]

There is a difference between a horn and a waveguide. A horn does use a more narrow dispersion to put more energy forwards and not as wide.

A waveguide is used to match dispersion between divers in the crossover region between the drivers. This allows more consistent dispersion. Without a wave guide you will have uneven dispersion and not as wide of dispersion as the off axis response will not be similar to the on axis response. Usually, without a waveguide the off axis response will see changes at about 40-45 degrees dispersion. With a waveguide the off axis response will still be similar to on axis response at 50-60+ degrees dispersion.there are exceptions like ribbon tweeters.

Agreed. After I started using waveguides, I'm never going back to direct radiators again
My point was merely, that any design that send most of the sound energy towards you, rather than spreading it mostly into the room - might sound more intense and impactful.
I often think of it like a garden hose, and we all definitely know which type is the most comfortable to be hit by, but also which one is the most effective at hitting the spot, at a distance with variable degree of force

 

[DavidMcRoy]

My DIY dipole (open baffle) speakers seem to have this characteristic in spades, even at low listening levels. The distortion is very low and there's a lot of driver surface area at all frequencies compared with more conventional designs. (See my profile pic)

 

[EJ3]

I do both - and like both.

I find my "open back" Sennheiser cordless TR-220's to be tolerable (it is on the cordless phone spectrum, not Bluetooth).
Because I am both free of the cord (30 meters range, so can walk outside, depending on distance from the transmitter) and
can hear someone talking to me.
But, if I did not have to have consideration for my wife (she comes to bed about 2-3 hours after me & gets up about 2 or 3 hours after me [& we both go to sleep later than 3 AM]), it would be rare that I would wear them.

 

[EJ3]

I read that a bit too quickly the first time and read it as, "I wear headphones to avoid my wife".

She's actually pretty good. Usually, by the time we do get annoyed with each other, one, the other (or both of us [heading in different directions]) heads somewhere 5 or 6 driving hours away & sometimes to other countries (as far as 9,000 miles away) for months at a time.
Then, when we get back together, it's Honeymoon time again (except there is also a large 'Honey Do' list that comes along with it).

 

[EJ3]

Agreed. After I started using waveguides, I'm never going back to direct radiators again
My point was merely, that any design that send most of the sound energy towards you, rather than spreading it mostly into the room - might sound more intense and impactful.
I often think of it like a garden hose, and we all definitely know which type is the most comfortable to be hit by, but also which one is the most effective at hitting the spot, at a distance with variable degree of force
View attachment 475787

Great analogy.

 

[Ciobi69]

Off topic but listened to this triaxial and a 15 inch woofer efficency 100 or so , the sound even at a ridicolous volume was clean and impactful, horns for high dinamic range content are a step ahead