User guide

have the luxury of doing so, this simple placement strategy can reduce the size

of the room’s response irregularities from 20 decibels down to perhaps as little

as 6-8 decibels—a tremendous improvement.

Reducing the room’s inherent problems to this degree provides a huge advan-

tage. It allows the SC-1 System Controller to put its considerable abilities to work

on perfecting your system’s response, rather than on trying to perform major

corrective surgery.

Room Treatment Rectangular rooms have six reecting surfaces (four walls, ceiling and oor)

that reect sound to the listener, after various delays introduced by the indirect

routes the sound take on their way to the listener. These rst reections are par-

ticularly damaging to sound quality. Looking at the simplest case of stereo repro-

duction, you have a minimum of twelve rst reection points in your room that

deserve some attention.

Unfortunately, it is often difcult to do much about the ceiling and oor reec-

tions, even though they are arguably the most destructive. (The minimization of

these reections is one of the strongest arguments for the tall, line source loud-

speakers that Wisdom Audio builds.) This leaves you with eight “rst reections”

that you should consider minimizing somehow. These points are easily found by

having an assistant slide a small mirror along the four walls of the room, while

you sit at the listening position. Any place on the wall where you can see a re-

ection of any speaker is a rst reection point. Concentrate on the rst reec-

tions for the Left and Right speakers rst.

If you can, arrange to apply either absorption or diffusion at these eight points

(don’t forget the wall behind you). Absorption can be as simple as heavy, insu-

lated drapes; diffusion can be provided by a well-stocked bookcase with books

of varied sizes. Alternatively, you can buy purpose-designed room treatments

(some sources listed under References, below).

The important things to remember are these: a good room should have a bal-

ance of absorption and diffusion; and if you are going to treat only a few areas

of the room, the rst reection points are the most important ones to treat.

Professional Acoustic Design Does this all sound too complicated? For good reason: it is complicated.

The difference between the average listening room and one that is professionally

designed and implemented is huge. A great listening room will disappear to an

astonishing degree, letting the experiences captured in your recordings speak to

you directly. A well-designed room is also quieter and more comfortable. It can

easily become a favorite retreat for peace and rejuvenation.

If you decide to investigate the possibility of improving your room with the help

of a professional, it is important to nd someone who focuses on residential

spaces. Most acousticians are trained to deal with large spaces — airports, au-

ditoriums, lobbies in commercial buildings, etc. The problems seen in “small”

rooms (residential spaces) are quite different, and outside the experience of most

acousticians. Find someone who specializes in and has a great deal of experi-

ence designing home studios, home theaters, and the like. Your Wisdom Audio

dealer may be such a person; failing that, he/she can help you nd such a pro-

fessional.