Two-channel stereo only works for one centrally seated listener
Evidence
Adding more channels allows for a soundstage, conveyed by the front channels: the lateral spread of the orchestra, with depth. There is also a more subtle component: apparent source width (ASW), or image broadening, wherein sounds acquire dimension, and an acoustical setting; some call it “air” around the instruments. Two channels suffice for a single listener in the symmetrically located “stereo seat,” but multiple listeners or a single listener not in the stereo seat require the addition of a center channel to prevent the phantom image soundstage from distorting and ultimately collapsing to the nearer loudspeaker. — , Toole, Floyd E - Sound reproduction-…, 69
Categorization
- XREF: connects to: Stereo won commercially because LP grooves could only store two channels; Stereo speakers must form a 60-degree equilateral triangle around the listener — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 2241; Off-center listeners lose the stereo illusion but retain musical content — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 395 (+2 more)
Related
- Stereo won commercially because LP grooves could only store two channels (similarity 0.93)
- Crosstalk cancellation works only within a centimeter-sized listening zone. (similarity 0.88)
- Stereo speakers must form a 60-degree equilateral triangle around the listener (similarity 0.84)
- Adding rear channels to stereo does not improve spatial diffusion (similarity 0.83)
- Off-center listeners lose the stereo illusion but retain musical content (similarity 0.83)
- Excessive center-channel upmixing damages music soundstage rendering (similarity 0.82)
- Crosstalk cancellation expands stereo images from ±30° to as wide as ±90° (similarity 0.82)
- Stereo and multichannel listening make listeners more forgiving of loudspeaker flaws (similarity 0.81)
- Matrixed quadraphonic downmixing produced crosstalk that shrank the listening position. (similarity 0.81)
- Crosstalk cancellation can expand the stereo soundstage from ±30° to ±90° (similarity 0.81)
- Stereo presentation masks audible differences between loudspeakers found in mono. (similarity 0.81)
- Near-field listening exposes all of stereo’s array crosstalk colorations. (similarity 0.81)
- Adding rear speakers at matching angles does not improve spatial illusion (similarity 0.81)
- Stereo hearing exploits only one directional cue and the ear fills in the rest (similarity 0.80)
- Crosstalk cancellation delivers binaural separation through loudspeakers (similarity 0.80)
Broader Connections
- Off-center listeners lose the stereo illusion but retain musical content
#expands(0.88) — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 395 - Stereo speakers must form a 60-degree equilateral triangle around the listener
#expands(0.82) — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 2241 - Crosstalk cancellation works only within a centimeter-sized listening zone.
#qualifies(0.78)