Every additional loudspeaker in a distributed system reduces critical distance and worsens intelligibility.

Evidence

If one assumes that all the loudspeakers radiate the same power, the critical distance becomes: … So, in this case, more is not better! Ideally one should have the minimum number of speakers, preferably one, needed to cover the space. When this is not possible, it is possible to regain the critical distance by increasing the Q of each loudspeaker in proportion to their number. This has its own problems, which will be discussed later. — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 2472

Categorization

• DEFINE: Establishes the counterintuitive principle that adding sources shrinks the direct-sound region by raising the reverberant level.