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Listening chair recommendations

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

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


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


I can recommend a chair with a safety belt, because you are not blown away from the sound. Just kidding
 
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?
 
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.
 
I bought a new listening chair for nearfield listening and now i hear more detail because the big leather headrest sending the sound directly in to my ears.
You can test it if your hold your hands on yours ears like on the picture. :)

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So this chair connoisseur apparently voted for this HM Eames look alike with a headrest over the Eames.

I just ordered it from Home Depot with my HD CC, so I have a one year return policy on it. Let's see how it works out.

 
I have a Siesta Lounge chair and ottoman by Igmar Relling, like this one, but with Teak wood. The drum dyed leather is sumptuous.

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Came in today, initial impression is very good. Will do a very long listening session on this chair this weekend and see how it holds up. I will post my review here.

Also, this is the Chita brand that was reviewed by Ahnesty, but the brand "Spruce & Spring" resold it. However, the box and everything has Chita all over it, absolutely no mentioned of Spruce and Spring.

The benefit of buying it under Spruce and Spring from Home Depot is that I have a one-year return policy as I purchased it with my Home Depot credit card.

On sale at Home Depot for $842 before taxes. Wasn't cheap, but it's not the cost of the Eames chair neither and besides, can't always cheap out on comfort.
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A good thing about Elornes Stressless is that they are very well made and hold up, but are often found used at estate sales or Craigslist for vastly less (like several $100) than new ($4000 or more) cost. More comfortable than Eames classic, IMO, too
 
View attachment 479395

Came in today, initial impression is very good. Will do a very long listening session on this chair this weekend and see how it holds up. I will post my review here.

Also, this is the Chita brand that was reviewed by Ahnesty, but the brand "Spruce & Spring" resold it. However, the box and everything has Chita all over it, absolutely no mentioned of Spruce and Spring.

The benefit of buying it under Spruce and Spring from Home Depot is that I have a one-year return policy as I purchased it with my Home Depot credit card.

On sale at Home Depot for $842 before taxes. Wasn't cheap, but it's not the cost of the Eames chair neither and besides, can't always cheap out on comfort.
View attachment 479402
Unfortunately, no bueno for me with this chair.

I personally like a very flat back rest. This seat like so many others buckets in on the back. My back tightens up after about 30 mins.

Will return and back to the drawing board.
 
What I have gathered from several listening chair threads is that from and acoustical (dare I say: audio scientific?) perspective it is preferable to go for fabric instead of leather and have no headrest.

What is not clear to me yet is if from an acoustical perspective it would or preferable to use a sofa or a single chair if both are possible. I can imagine a (larger) sofa brings more absorption and/or diffusion than a (smaller) single chair, which could work out positive acoustically. On the other hand, it might block reflections closer to the loudspeakers that otherwise would travel further into the room. Is there any general acoustical recommendation possible on this or would this be too room dependent?

This is of course ignoring other relevant elements for listening seating as comfort, looks and practicality.
 
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