Wide-dispersion loudspeakers with room reflections create a you-are-there listening perspective

Evidence

In the overall description of listening perspective, for the music recorded with a natural perspective (choral, chamber and jazz), the modal listener response was “you are there” for the Rega and the KEF and “close, but still looking on” for the Quad. According to the definitions of those phrases … the Rega and the KEF gave listeners some impression of being enveloped by the ambient sound of the recording environment, with the Quad tending to separate them from the “performance” (Toole, 1986, p. 342). This all sounds very much like the influence of lateral reflections, apparent source width (ASW), early spatial impression and the associated variations in interaural cross correlation (IACC) which correlates with a sense of envelopment. For listeners who appreciate such illusions, wide dispersion loudspeakers and some amount of room reflections appear to be desirable. — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 449

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to interaural cross correlation (IACC) and apparent source width concepts that predict envelopment, linking loudspeaker directivity to spatial perception.