@billstevenson I’d respectfully reply this way:
You claim that furnishings and speaker placement "fall well outside the field of acoustics." This is a category error. When you move a speaker away from a boundary, you’re changing the room’s modal behavior and early reflection pattern. When you add a bookshelf, you’re introducing diffusion and absorption. These aren’t separate from acoustics — they *are* acoustics. The distinction you’re drawing is arbitrary: it’s not based on the physics involved, but on whether the modification feels "serious" or "professional" enough. People with living rooms can pay attention to these factors if they learn a bit. We should not make the "best" the enemy of "better."
I’m not sure why "building from scratch" is the line. Most people don’t build their listening rooms, but they do treat them — bass traps in corners, absorbers at first reflection points, diffusion on the rear wall. These interventions often matter *more* than the gear upgrades people discuss endlessly in other categories. A $300 bass trap can have a larger impact than a $3,000 amplifier change when you have a 12dB room mode at 45Hz.
If the criterion for a forum category is "things that significantly affect what we hear," acoustics has a stronger claim than half the gear categories. Even in non-dedicated rooms.
You have a standard that refers to "the vast majority of us." By that standard, the forum shouldn’t have categories for vinyl, tubes, or other items because these don’t serve the "vast majority"?
The relevant question isn’t "does this interest a majority?" but "is there sufficient interest and a meaningful product/knowledge domain?" Go -- search this forum for "room treatment," "bass traps," "diffusers," "absorption panels," "room measurement," or "REW." You’ll find thousands of threads. Clearly there’s demand.
As for your reservation that there are "very few qualified to discuss it" — the same is true for amplifier design, DAC implementation, or speaker crossover topology, yet we have active discussions in those areas. Forums exist precisely to help people *become* more qualified through shared learning. And that can help sales and interest in the hobby, both directly and indirectly.
But one thing is for certain: all the money spent on expensive equipment is, in many cases, a waste without addressing the room because you’re not hearing the equipment nearly as much as the sound of what it’s sitting in.
Hellz yes! I'd guess 50% of the disagreements about how "X sounds" (speaker, amp, DAC, whatever) is complete B.S. because the room variable is not noticed or not disclosed. We have a lot of fake arguments happening because of a dearth of basic knowledge about acoustics.
