Listening chair recommendations

[JeffS7444]

With so many working from home, business office furniture comes up used, often in good condition.

No kidding, I recently spotted a Herman Miller office chair (not an Aeron, but not far from it) at a thrift store for $5, and more recently, one sitting out with someone's trash! Do these people not realize that broken casters and seating surfaces can be replaced? Probably simply don't care.

 

[vddobrev]

Ekornes Stressless chair with ottoman, and/or love seat, or couch. Best orthopaedic seating I know!

 

[SoonToBeRetired]

I have the HM Eames chair as my main listening spot - it's nearly ideal as it puts my head at just the right level (it sits lower than most lounge chairs), above the back rest.

Other than it being worth gobs more than when I bought it, I'd encourage the Eames clone research.

The one you linked looks interesting and appears to be a 'big' version, probably a good thing.
The one thing I'd look for in a clone (not sure anyone does it though) is a tiltable seat, which I'd sure like.

The newer HM chairs have really puffy leather, and aren't as comfortable IMO, and I think some of the clones may be more adjustable (especially the back angle).

Hm. Also, the original is best suited for folks of smaller stature - at over 6', I find it hard to get perfectly comfortable (bad back esp.)
I speculate it was designed for Ray, not Charles. (HM does make an "XL" version now, but I haven't tested one yet.)

Repairs (the back structure is likely to fail after 20 years or so) are not too terribly expensive, but shipping back to Michigan can be a problem unless you have a commercial HM dealer nearby (I do, they were great).

I also have the matching sofa, and can easily recommend it for movie night company.
(Stunning in walnut, a good napping sofa, and a good 'sitter'.)

View attachment 461149

I also had one of these:
View attachment 461150
In Royal Blue. Screechingly Beautiful, but would try to cripple me if I tried to sit anything but rigidly upright on it, so sold it off.
The folding design was cute...and made it easier to move (but still weighed a ton, all steel frame.)
(At a decent profit...all of them have nearly investment potential.)

If I were to buy again, I think I'd give some serious thought to a Lazy Boy recliner (which I also have, but not in the movie room, but is disgustingly comfy), or one of the 'stressless' varieties, though those have started to compete with herman miller on pricing.

If you might be interested in one of the molded plywood lounge chairs, drop me a PM.

I inherited my parents' HM Eames chair about 10 years ago--it's almost 50 years old now. Months before he died, my father was sitting in the chair and the back gave way---he wasn't hurt and the plywood shell was not damaged--the adhesive on the "shock mount" rubber block beneath one of the arms finally failed. I'm not especially handy but I followed a YouTube video on gluing it back and the chair is still with me today at the top of my "diamond of stereo".

 

[JRowland]

Another Ekornes Stressless vote

 

[nonnyno]

You could try a Balzac chair and footstool. https://www.heals.com/blog/balzac-20-years-of-craftsmanship/ I don't think cheap clones are ever as good and I found it sublimely comfortable

 

[Berwhale]

@PristineSound There's a couple of threads on this topic you may want to checkout...

Listening Chair

Bought a new recliner for my listening pleasure this week I'm really falling in love with it, it's so comfortable but the main reason I got this one is the adjustable headrest. For critical listening you can have it all the way down which removes any negative effect one may have on the systems...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Your favorite listening chair?

A man's home is his castle. By extension, A man's chair is his throne. What's your favorite listening chair? I'm not interested in fancy-pansy Ottoman chairs that cost +10k, but instead chairs that feel extremely comfortable that you can sit in for hours at a time or even fall asleep in!

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[BR52]

@PristineSound There's a couple of threads on this topic you may want to checkout...

Listening Chair

Bought a new recliner for my listening pleasure this week I'm really falling in love with it, it's so comfortable but the main reason I got this one is the adjustable headrest. For critical listening you can have it all the way down which removes any negative effect one may have on the systems...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Your favorite listening chair?

A man's home is his castle. By extension, A man's chair is his throne. What's your favorite listening chair? I'm not interested in fancy-pansy Ottoman chairs that cost +10k, but instead chairs that feel extremely comfortable that you can sit in for hours at a time or even fall asleep in!

www.audiosciencereview.com

I can recommend a chair with a safety belt, because you are not blown away from the sound. Just kidding

 

[Neddy]

No kidding, I recently spotted a Herman Miller office chair (not an Aeron, but not far from it) at a thrift store for $5, and more recently, one sitting out with someone's trash! Do these people not realize that broken casters and seating surfaces can be replaced? Probably simply don't care.

I got one of the early Aerons, what, more than 30 years ago now? (32 actually)
And, other than new (skateboard!) wheels, it's held up with no repairs fine, with one or two dis-assemblies for cleaning and a bit of lube.
Impressive.

Those rubber pucks have always been a weak spot of Eame's designs....back to the 50s, when I remember my Dad fussing around repairing them on dining chairs.
I knew that they were vulnerable on the lounge chair, frequently letting go suddenly, usually dumping their owner unceremoniously on their backside.
So I managed to catch mine just before it let go (at first crack so to speak), and so suffered no shell damage (common with fallovers), but did have some attachment damage on the lower shell attachment point... the local (pro) dealer took care of boxing up and shipping back to HM, and the repair cost was reasonable - a few weeks and around $100-200?

 

[PristineSound]

I got one of the early Aerons, what, more than 30 years ago now? (32 actually)
And, other than new (skateboard!) wheels, it's held up with no repairs fine, with one or two dis-assemblies for cleaning and a bit of lube.
Impressive.

Those rubber pucks have always been a weak spot of Eame's designs....back to the 50s, when I remember my Dad fussing around repairing them on dining chairs.
I knew that they were vulnerable on the lounge chair, frequently letting go suddenly, usually dumping their owner unceremoniously on their backside.
So I managed to catch mine just before it let go (at first crack so to speak), and so suffered no shell damage (common with fallovers), but did have some attachment damage on the lower shell attachment point... the local (pro) dealer took care of boxing up and shipping back to HM, and the repair cost was reasonable - a few weeks and around $100-200?

I have an used Aeron for my home office, it's terrific.

But I'm not sure if I can feel comfortable listening to music with an office chair.