Mismatched left-right speakers may degrade stereo imaging more than room effects.

Evidence

It should not be concluded that listeners can always adapt to or normalize rooms to the extent shown here. As will be seen, there is always some adaptation, but in Experiment One it was enabled by the experimental method of comparing different loudspeakers within each room. Experiment Two is more closely related to real-life listening, in that the sounds of the room and the loudspeaker are combined. Listeners living in the room may develop enough familiarity with it to be able to discern some characteristics of loudspeakers being listened to, but having multiple comparison loudspeakers available is a very advantageous situation. The tests had the additional advantage of being in mono. — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 547 (#contradicts, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Stereo and multichannel listening make listeners more forgiving of loudspeaker flaws — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 467; Stereo reproduction injects room and speaker location cues unrelated to the recording; Room differences dominate loudspeaker differences when listeners cannot adapt — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 547 (+1 more)

Related

• Room differences dominate loudspeaker differences when listeners cannot adapt (similarity 0.90)
• Stereo presentation masks audible differences between loudspeakers found in mono. (similarity 0.90)
• Multichannel spatial information masks loudspeaker coloration in playback (similarity 0.90)
• Room acoustics contaminate loudspeaker listening tests needing controlled environments (similarity 0.88)
• Listeners need some room sound but its required amount is unknown (similarity 0.88)
• Loudspeakers and rooms function together as a single audible system (similarity 0.87)
• Stereo and multichannel listening make listeners more forgiving of loudspeaker flaws (similarity 0.87)
• Matched room curves do not guarantee matching direct sound for imaging (similarity 0.87)
• Stereo playback masks differences between loudspeakers with room reflections (similarity 0.87)
• Reviewers often conflate the room and program with the loudspeaker’s own sound (similarity 0.86)
• Listeners perceptually normalize familiar rooms to judge loudspeakers clearly (similarity 0.86)
• Recording methods and cues for stereo are chosen independently of the listening arrangement. (similarity 0.85)
• Rooms shift absolute ratings but not loudspeaker rankings in multiple-loudspeaker comparisons (similarity 0.85)
• Loudspeaker evaluation must be done in mono because multichannel adds forgiveness (similarity 0.84)
• Mono listening produces stronger and more consistent loudspeaker quality opinions than stereo (similarity 0.84)

Broader Connections

• Room differences dominate loudspeaker differences when listeners cannot adapt #contradicts (0.82) — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 547
• Stereo reproduction injects room and speaker location cues unrelated to the recording #complicates (0.75)
• Recorded spatial content, not loudspeakers, dominates stereo perception #qualifies (0.72)
• Stereo and multichannel listening make listeners more forgiving of loudspeaker flaws #qualifies (0.70) — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 467