Where 2 sit audio quiz


Ok folks, don't take this too seriously now!

It's cold and cloudy here in Wisconsin and I'm bored out of my skull.

I've been messing around with different seating positions and trying to form a pattern between measured results and audible results.
I thought it might be interesting to put up measured results at 3 widely varying seating positions, and see if anyone could suggest ideas on a range of different issues. There's a $1 Million cash prize for whoever get's it right, redeemable 11/22/2064

First the setup:
Meter used is the RS digital set to slow response and C weighted.
Test tones from Rives CD 2
The Rives CD say's to use tracks 32 - 62 which are compensated for the non-linearity of the RS analogue meter. It doesn't say what to use for the digital meter, so I tried both, and the most consistent seemed to be tracks 1-31.
Anyway, the numbers are more indicative than they are absolute. If I need to re-do the test using tracks 32+ then so be it.
I used 3 different 'practical' seating locations at 12', 17' and 20.5' from the speakers.
The 20.5' position is up against the wall, which is central on a large un-draped window (a clue perhaps.. [14'x 4' approx window dimension]). I'm showing the 3 sets of results in tabular form (wasn't bored enough to bother making a graph).
Also, I'm not saying at this point which reading relates to which seating position....(perhaps the SPL level will provide the answer?)

Speakers are Maggie 3.6R's, amps are Cary V12 Mono's with ARC LS15.
I thought I would have to adjust the preamp gain at the farthest position, but it didn't require it, so all 3 positions are measured using the same volume setting on the LS15 preamp.
Questions that spring to mind....(add more if you wish).
From the results shown at http://thenaturalshopper.com/audiohell.htm

1 - which position would seem to suggest the best sonics
2 - what do the readings say about room layout and frequency response
3 - what do they indicate as far as equipment selection(speakers) for the particular room layout (example - insufficient bass response at any position, harsh treble response, or whatever?)
4 - which position do you thinks is the 12', 17' and 20.5' seating position
5 - given that the spl's are almost identical at higher frequencies, what does that say about the room layout. (given that there is a 8.5' difference between the closest and farthest seat position, shouldn't one of the columns show a consistent reduction in SPL?).
6 - what does all of this say about people from Wisconsin

What the heck!

Rooze
128x128rooze

Showing 2 responses by newbee

Have I missed something? I looked at your calculations and on the surface C sounds best but for what purpose I don't know. Your speakers could be placed in the center of the room immediatly adjacent to each other and actually sound (in audiophile terms) like crap. Why not give us the dimensions of your room and the physical location of the speakers so we can make meaningful comments. Re the bass - I think C is misleading - I think your low bass in C is nothing more than a room node and A may be in a bit of a suck out. PS I always fail tests.
Rooze, I'll have to admit that I have never worked with a room this size, let alone a room of this size with panel speakers. For what its worth I would opt for the best positioning for resolution and soundstage and supplement the bottom end with a fast pair of subs located in an area which will give you flat bass to 20 hz. How's that for a cop out! By the way have you checked out other room set up systems, such as Cardas. If not, you can read about this and others in the FAQ's at the Audio Asylum site. I'm not sure how you came by your listening seat positioning, but did you try the 14 to 15 ft area. I've often found some of my best bass reinforcement when the speakers and the listening position are around 25% of the room dimension (which in your case would be 7ft for speakers and seat). Have fun - good tuning takes a long time and you should take your time do it. Its a lot more than just good measured frequency response.