Excess uncorrelated rear-wall sound can destroy the phantom center image

Evidence

The problem: too much uncorrelated sound arriving from behind the listener, scrambling the information in the direct sound from the loudspeakers. Lesson: there can be too much of a good thing. The ETC probably looked just fine, though. Somebody measured but did not listen. — , Toole, Floyd E - Sound reproduction-…, 702

Categorization

• APHORISMS: ‘Somebody measured but did not listen’ is a keeper aphorism for anyone in technical fields — measurements that look good can mask what ears perceive.
• SEED: Nice anecdote for an essay on why instrumentation-validated design still needs blind listening — the ETC said fine while the room audibly failed.
• XREF: connects to: Front sound sources can be misperceived as coming from behind; Stereo phantom center images have a spectrum dip near 2 kHz from interaural crosstalk — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 415; Phantom center image sound quality is inherently compromised even in the sweet spot (+8 more)

Related

• Phantom center image sound quality is inherently compromised even in the sweet spot (similarity 0.89)
• Excessive rear-wall diffusion can destroy the stereo center image (similarity 0.88)
• Too much uncorrelated rear-wall diffusion scrambles center imaging (similarity 0.87)
• Listening seats placed near rear walls create early strong reflections that degrade imaging (similarity 0.85)
• Excessive center-channel upmixing damages music soundstage rendering (similarity 0.83)
• Near-wall listening positions create early strong rear reflections (similarity 0.83)
• Front sound sources can be misperceived as coming from behind (similarity 0.82)
• Uncorrelated ambient signals create an impression of directionless surround sound. (similarity 0.82)
• Uncorrelated noise from surround speakers creates enveloping source perception. (similarity 0.81)
• Adding rear channels to stereo does not improve spatial diffusion (similarity 0.81)
• Sitting close to a rear wall creates early strong reflections that corrupt perceived sound (similarity 0.81)
• The stereo phantom center image suffers an audible 2kHz timbre dip affecting speech intelligibility (similarity 0.81)
• Phantom center images reduce speech intelligibility due to interaural crosstalk (similarity 0.80)
• Side-placed surround speakers beat rear placement by wide margins (similarity 0.80)
• Adding rear speakers at matching angles does not improve spatial illusion (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Uncorrelated ambient signals create an impression of directionless surround sound. #corroborates (0.80) — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 2218
• Listening seats placed near rear walls create early strong reflections that degrade imaging #corroborates (0.75) — , Toole, Floyd E - Sound reproduction-…, 1117
• Uncorrelated noise from surround speakers creates enveloping source perception. #corroborates (0.75) — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 1914
• Ceiling-reflected diffuse sound cannot substitute for real side-wall reflections #qualifies (0.70)