Early side-wall reflections range neutral to beneficial with well-designed loudspeakers
Evidence
Because acoustical absorption is needed to achieve a desirable reverberation/reflection decay time in the room, the suggested locations are those where reflections contribute least to the spatial impressions, on the front and rear walls. The front side wall treatment is shown as optional, following earlier discussions that indicate that while there might be some negative impressions from them, if the loudspeakers are well designed, having relatively uniform off-axis (early reflection) performance, these reflections are found to be desirable to many listeners. Thick (3-inch) absorbers will essentially eliminate them, thinner ones change the sound quality, engineered or curved surface diffusers will attenuate and disperse them, and a bare wall reveals them. — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 845
Categorization
- XREF: Connects to general room acoustics treatments for home studios and the absorption-vs-diffusion decision common in audio engineering practice. — connects to: Fan-shaped halls discourage early side reflections and tend to fail acoustically; Early lateral reflections are attenuated by loudspeaker directivity, not harmful.; Wide-dispersion speakers plus room reflections create listener envelopment. (+7 more)
- corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 845
Broader Connections
- Early wall reflections pin perceived sound space to room size
#complicates(0.75) — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 2283 - Room boundaries alter loudspeaker output through reflected image sources
#expands(0.72)