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How important is the speaker/room interface?

In my years in this hobby, I've come to believe the speaker/room interface is one of the most important elements we face in building a satisfying audio system. And while it seems there is a growing realization of this point (emphasis on speaker placement and room design), I don't believe it yet receives the attention it deserves. For example, some folks who have never addressed the sonics of their listening rooms may spend weeks and significant money trying out different wires when a different speaker system and/or room treatments could provide far greater sonic improvements.

I have three friends who have the same make/model speaker as I own. I've listened to each of them with the same or similar amps, yet the sonic results are significantly different. The primary difference is the rooms -- volume, shape, construction, decoration, etc. So while I've made adjustments in my own speaker/room to improve it to a reasonable extent, I know my speakers could sound better in a more optimized room based on this experience. No change of sources, electronics, wires, tweaks, etc. could effect as much difference.

I'm thinking about this now since I just read the HFN history in "Sound Bites" by Kessler and Harris. In a 1994 interview by Ken Kessler with Peter Walker, Walker is ask what he believes still needs to be addressed in audio. His first response is the relationship of the speaker and room.

So, any thoughts as to why the speaker/room interface is not more universally considered the top priority in building a system?
pryso

Showing 2 responses by undertow

undertow
1,033 posts
 
The reasons are obvious as to this trend along with actual Power delivery from the wall being last on the list.. First off you can't just get online and get the immediate satisfaction of owning something new and pretty, or that is Highly reviewed and shipped out to youÂ…

Secondly rooms are the most expensive if you break it down and need to do it right.. Not to mention this is not an end user's capability to measure, and or construct and tune such devices in a room..

Any of us can pull out the credit card and drop the thousands on cables that we know how to plug in, the components that are suppose to be the next best thing, and the Re-mastered music software we feel will correct much of the missing pieces in the system.. Bottom line in the end, we all finally learn "I wish I just dropped 10 k on the room vs. the speakers in the first place!" But in many peoples cases this is not feasable, via the WAF rule, or simply other environment restrictions.. Yes we all need and deserve dedicated rooms :-)

So yes rooms can make or break any system in my opinion, and the real issue is about it that unless its done right some may never realize they can get the same or just as enjoyable sound out of their 5000 dollar gear as they could when they were forced to go up the chain chasing the trail of smoke and reason getting into 50,000 dollar systemsÂ…
undertow
1,033 posts
 
What is a Sumiko MasterSet? I looked this up once and never found anything on it....
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