Re: Why I so strongly disagree with Arny Krueger...

William,

That isn't what I said, Ethan. Read it!

I know, but I just love retelling that story again and again here. Those
$25k speakers were absolute crap.

There are plenty of overpriced speakers out there. I think particularly of
Thiels, which measure "flat", but are insipid-sounding.

I haven't heard those, but again it's important to understand that measuring
loudspeakers is VERY difficult. Especially at higher frequencies. Move the
microphone even one inch and you will measure something very different due
to lobing and other issues.

I think it was Roy Allison who pointed out the interchangeability of
speaker and listener positions.

I didn't know where that came from, but it is indeed valid.

We know that as a speaker is moved away from the walls (and the floor),
its bass output becomes both smoother and weaker throughout the room.

That's not an absolute. Which position gives which response depends greatly
on the room dimensions and alignment with room mode peak and null locations.
As it happens, the length mode - and all its "harmonic" multiples - null in
the center front to back. That's a large number of bass frequencies that are
nulled out!

I'm open to conviction, though. Please refer me to a reference on this.

Go here and download my bass-heavy pink noise file:

http://www.realtraps.com/lf-noise.htm

Then play it loudly and walk slowly forward and back through the halfway
point in your room. How high you're standing/sitting may be a factor too,
but this is a good test to prove the point.

Send one of your friends over to my house for a different view of what
constitutes SOTA ... QUAD owners -- not to mention those who own
electrostatic and planar-magnetic speakers from other companies -- would
vigorously disagree.

When it comes to transducers and especially loudspeakers, I do not have
strong opinions. All loudspeakers are inadequate IMO, so pick your poison or
lesser of the evils.

To me, the first priority is getting good equipment. As the room treatment
cannot make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, it will have to wait.

Sadly typical, but not surprising.

I might add that there's so much junk in my room that it tends to disperse
reflections. Shelves full of books and jacketed LPs are an amazingly
effective form of treatment.

Exactly my point. Clearly you have never heard a genuine QRD diffusor, yet
you're certain that your bookshelf is "amazingly effective" anyway.

Do you have a computer connected to your rig? And a Radio Shack SPL meter or
a decent omni microphone? If so, I have a great suggestion for you: Go here
and download the free Room EQ Wizard software:

www.hometheatershack.com/roomeq/

This program is meant for controlling an EQ, but it's also a very
sophisticated room analysis program. Put the microphone at your listening
position and run a test sweeping from 20 Hz to 20 KHz, then email me the
data file or post a link to it. I'll show you exactly what is wrong with your room in excruciating detail, as if it won't be very obvious to you already!

--Ethan

.

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