ROOM ACOUSTICS, SPEAKER POSITIONING AND TONAL BALANCE
If you desire a more detailed description of room acoustics and speaker place- ment, the following information may prove helpful:
•Large areas of glass, mirrors and wood paneling will reflect sound waves and may result in harshness and excessive brightness. You can reduce the sound waves reflected by hard surfaces by utilizing softer surfaces. For example, draperies or wall hangings do a good job of absorbing high frequencies. Placing a soft, absorbent piece of furniture near the hard surface often
helps reduce unwanted sound waves. Be careful not to absorb too much sound as this will interfere with sonic balance, causing overall sound to be dull and lifeless.
•A good listening room has just the right amount of reflection and absorbtion. To test the sonic balance of your room, stand in the location where the speakers will be installed and clap your hands two or three times. If the room is reverberant, you will hear a sharp echo. If the room is dull, the sound of the clap will decay rapidly and there will be very little or no echo. In fact, it will seem that the higher frequencies generated by the clap will be missing.
•Furniture, pictures, bookcases, tables and lamps will help reduce unwanted reflections because they are located at random points in the room. Carpeting or throw rugs also help reduce floor reflections, although heavy carpeting can absorb a great deal of the high frequencies, which will make the room seem “bass heavy.”
•It is customary to place the speakers facing into the long dimension of the listening room; however, this doesn’t always result in the best sound. At times, placing the speakers facing into the short dimension of the room will yield better results due to the acoustic properties of the room and the listener’s position. Experiment with room placement. You may be pleasantly surprised at the results.
•Maintaining absolute phase is an essential factor in the proper performance of your speakers. If all amplifiers (as well as the other components in the audio chain) were noninverting (if their outputs were always
