Avalon Acoustics AVALON ASCENDANT manual Room Acoustics and Speaker Position, Introduction

Page 19

8.Room Acoustics and Speaker Position

Introduction

The listening room forms the final link of the playback system, as important as any other component in the chain. Just as an otherwise superb system is handicapped by an inferior pre-amplifier (for example), so can a well-matched system be hindered by poor room acoustics. It is not necessary to listen to your system in a specially-designed sound chamber in order to enjoy it. In fact, a dedicated listening room usually requires additional sound treatment, due to a lack of other items in the room that can help provide proper acoustics. However, attention to the listening environment can greatly increase your system’s performance.

Listening in a properly set-up room can be a startling experience. Due to the limitations of the two- channel format and the listening environment, the illusion of actually being transported to the recording site cannot usually be achieved. However, an uncanny sense of realism can be created. Perhaps it is best described as if the front half of your listening room has been removed, so that it now opens out into the recording site.

To optimize your equipment set-up and the listening-room acoustics requires a basic understanding of the principles that affect the propagation of sound in the room. Also, we will discuss the way in which our brain interprets spatial cues, and how the room acoustics can affect our sonic perceptions.

19

Page 18 Page 20
Image 19
Page 18 Page 20
Contents Page Page Table of Contents Page Introduction Unpacking Instructions ContentsIntroduction Opening the Crate Orientation of the Felt Anti-Diffraction Mask Installing the GrillesReplacing Grille Pins Page Connecting the Speaker to the Amplifier Wiring InstructionsBreak-in Period Grille Assemblies Speaker Placement and SymmetryMaximizing Performance Break-inApex Couplers Toe-inCorner Treatment First Reflection PointsCabinet Care of Your Avalon LoudspeakersWarranty Statement WarrantyPage Introduction Room Acoustics and Speaker PositionAn Optical Analogy Standing Waves Early Reflections Flutter EchoAvoiding Early Reflections Page Bass reinforcement Page Summary of Recommendations Speaker Placement Listening Room Example Sensitivity to Time-Related Information Accuracy of Bass ReproductionAnechoic Frequency Response vs. In-Room Frequency Response RationaleCorrelation with Amplifier Measurements Measurements of Audio EquipmentDesigning for Accurate Bass Reproduction Loudspeaker MeasurementsFrequency Response Effects Listening QualitiesListening for Size Distortions Transient Response Effects ConclusionFeatures Specifications
Top Page Image Contents