The null of the phantom-center comb filter makes the sweet spot findable by ear
Evidence
In fact, it is possible to find the exact sweet spot by simply listening to when the sound is dullest. Moving even slightly left or right of the sweet spot causes the sound to get audibly brighter. It is much more exact to find the sweet spot by listening to the timbre change than by trying to judge when the center image is precisely localized in the center position. There is nothing faulty with the equipment or setup; this is stereo as it is: flawed. — , Toole, Floyd E - Sound reproduction-…, 667
Categorization
- CANDY: A fun takeaway: you can find the exact stereo sweet spot by leaning until the pink noise sounds dullest — a nice party-trick explanation of an obscure acoustics artifact.
- XREF: connects to: Comb filtering is unavoidable and not inherently unpleasant; Headphones lack the phantom-center 2 kHz comb notch present in loudspeaker stereo; Delayed correlated sources produce frequency-dependent comb filtering