Notching a room mode reduces woofer distortion and lets louder playback

Evidence

Equalization had the huge advantage of allowing the listener to sit in a sensible location. Acoustically, there were advantages too. With up to a 14 dB amplitude reduction around 42 Hz, the woofers no longer had to work so hard, distortion was lower, and they could play louder. There was also much less energy everywhere in the room at 42 Hz. — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 1631

Categorization

• XREF: Directly relevant to the reader’s psychoacoustics focus: EQ’s side-benefits beyond the frequency response — reduced driver excursion and distortion. — connects to: Room resonance excess masks loudspeaker bass deficiency to listeners — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 549; Optimal woofer placement makes boundary distances as different and non-multiple as possible — , Toole, Floyd E - Sound reproduction-…, 1068; Room boundaries alter loudspeaker output through reflected image sources (+3 more)
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 1631

Broader Connections

• Avoiding commensurate room dimensions prevents overlapping modal frequencies that cause acoustic problems #corroborates (0.80)
• Room boundaries alter loudspeaker output through reflected image sources #expands (0.75)
• Optimal woofer placement makes boundary distances as different and non-multiple as possible #corroborates (0.72) — , Toole, Floyd E - Sound reproduction-…, 1068