The goal of every musical system or home cinema audio system is to give those who listen the purest, the best, the most thrilling acoustic experience which that system can give its users.
In terms of enjoying music, this means giving the listener the feeling that the musicians are performing their favorite music right there in the room, with great live performance quality, as if the electronic equipment and loudspeakers weren’t there at all.
In terms of enjoying a good movie or TV show, this means acoustic quality as if the viewer was sitting in a high-quality cinema with world class audio solutions.
How do you create such an experience in a domestic setting? The answers and points of view are many in the world of audio. There are some who engage in the discussion, focusing almost only on the audio devices: The loudspeakers and components.
However, the total outcome is based on the balance of several factors, not just the equipment. Here I will give a honest and holistic view of what are the building block to maximize your enjoyment of home audio.
There are four basic factors, whose skillful management can lead to a superior acoustic excellence, and then I will add the fifth “mystery” factor that normally isn’t discussed as much, but in a curious way, can have an indirect positive effect on the quality of the experience. At the end of the text, you can also read about Desaudio’s basic goals regarding acoustic excellence.
The four foundations of acoustic excellence
The four foundations are:
- The audio devices.
- The size, shape and characteristics of the room.
- The placement of the speakers and of the listener(s) in the room, and how the audio devices fit the characteristics of the room.
- Things done to improve the characteristics of the room.
- Aesthetic style of the audio devices
Yes, the fifth foundation is the aesthetic style of the loudspeakers and audio equipment. Contrary to what many would say, it can have a great effect on the acoustic experience.
Here are a few thoughts on these five factors.
1. The audio devices
The fundamental and of course most important part of the home audio experience is the audio devices themselves.
Audio devices are basically divided into three types:
Source components: This is where the audio signal is sourced from. It can be analog sources, such as a record turntable or tape, and also digital sources such as CD discs and digital files that are stored on a memory drive, or streamed over the internet.
Processing and amplification components: This is where the audio signal is prepared and then amplified, to be sent to the speaker cones of the loudspeakers. The amplifier(s) work with analog signals, so if the audio signal is digital, then it needs to be converted to analog form using a DAC (digital-to-analog converter). The audio signal is leveled and balanced in a preamplifier, and then it is given increased voltage and power in a power amplifier, from which it is sent to the speaker cones.
The amplifier can be a free standing unit, which means that speaker cables transport the powered signals to the speakers, that are called passive speakers, or the amplifier can be inside the speaker, which is then called an active speaker.
When the speaker is an active speaker, the transportation of the audio signal can also be wireless, via in-built antennas.
The third part is the speakers. Inside the speaker is a so-called crossover. This electronic mechanism takes the full audio signal, and splits it into parts, based on the frequency. High-frequency signals are sent to the tweeters, mid-frequency signals go to the midrange speakers, and the low-frequency signals are handled by the woofer, or sub-woofer. Some loudspeakers only have two types of speaker cones, the upper frequency, and mid- and lower frequency speaker cones.
In the speaker cones, the audio signal and electric power is transformed into pressure waves in the air – sound waves – that go from the speakers and to the listeners’ ears.
The choices that people have when it comes to choosing the audio devices is extremely varied. There are hundreds of companies offering all the different types of equipment that go into an audio system. The price range can go from 1000-2000 dollars for a decent audio system, and all up to 1-2 million dollars for those who really want the beefiest gear.
Choosing the different components can be a mixture of science and art. And then many just want a simple, high-quality option. For those, an integrated system where the gear and speakers are sold and set up together is the attractive choice.
Giving advice on what devices to choose is beyond the scope of this one-page general piece. But Desaudio has the goal of being a place where you choose the entire range of audio devices, and not just the look of speakers. This will be added as time and resources allow.
2. Size, shape and characteristics of the room
As you can see, the three other factors all contain the words “characteristics of the room” in the headings and for a good reason. As you listen to music from loudspeakers, the sound is reaching your ears basically from two places: Directly from the speaker drivers of the loudspeakers, and reflecting from the various surfaces of the room. In fact, some audio specialists believe that what you hear is more coming as reflections from the surfaces in the room, than from the speakers directly.
The characteristics of the room matter a lot. How large is the room? What are its proportions? How high is the ceiling? Are the surfaces flat and hard, and reflect sound easily, like ceramic tiles or parquet floors, stone walls, and window glass? Or do the surfaces absorb sound, like upholstered chairs, floor rugs, velvety wallpaper, or draping? Rooms that are too reflective, and rooms that are too sound absorbing, will both lead to a less than perfect acoustic experience. The best is a healthy balance.
Sound waves are a very sensitive phenomena, as they can interact with each other and the room in a very complex ways. Sound waves that are reflected off a hard wall, floor or ceiling, can meet with waves of the same or mathematically compatible frequencies (half frequency, 1/4 frequency, double frequency, 4x frequency) that are coming directly from the speakers, and can do so with a difference of a fraction of a millisecond. In certain parts of the room and based on the wave frequency of the sound, they may build on top of each other, leading to much higher sound volume ( in decibels) in that spot. In other places the waves may cancel out each other leading to a considerable lowering of the sound volume. Which frequencies behave like this, and where, is based on the size of the room, as the size can create room modes and standing waves. There can also be comb filtering. All this can lead to blurriness and murkiness of the sound, and lower sound quality.
All this can be very complex if you decide to study it thoroughly. But following some simple procedures will allow you to take steps towards improving the audio quality, and eliminate shortfalls.
3. Speaker placement, listening position and how well the devices match the characteristics of the room
For the best acoustic experience, it is desirable that the two speakers that generate the stereo sound image are placed apart from each other, and somewhat in front of the listener(s), so that they form a triangle. The distance from the listener to each speaker should be the same. At the same time, the speakers should ideally be standing a little less than one meter from the back wall (unless they are especially designed to be standing against a back wall), and at the same distance from the side walls. With this, the optimal position is set for the best acoustic quality.
Tucking speakers into a corner, and for speakers to be in random places, and with very different distance and angle from the listener’s ears, will not generate a good listening experience.
A room with lots of hard, flat and reflective surfaces is said to be “lively”. And a room with lots of sound absorbing surfaces is said to be “dampened”. A lively room does better with “warm” loudspeakers, that emphasize the lower frequency sounds. But a dampened room needs to be livened up with “bright” loudspeakers, that are stronger in the upper frequencies.
It is also good to match the size and power of the speaker drivers, (the circular cone-shapes that generate the sound), with the size of the room. Loudspeakers receive electric power and transform it into sound energy waves that they send into the room. If the power of the sound waves is too much for the size of the room, then there will be problems in terms of resonances at low frequencies, leading to boomy, over bloated sound. So more power isn’t always better. It needs to be matched with the room.
4. Things done to improve the characteristics of the room
When you have acquired audio components and loudspeakers that are a good fit with each other, and with the characteristics of the room, and you have found a good placement for the loudspeakers in relations to the room and where the listeners are located, then you have come a long way towards realizing the goal of enjoying the acoustical excellence you desire.
The educated home owner, and his or her advisors, may see possibilities of further actions that can work on shortfalls and improve the acoustical quality.
For this, it helps to understand that there are several types of rooms.
The most critical listening takes place in mixing studios, where sound engineers are mastering soundtracks for albums.
Intensive listening takes place in dedicated listening rooms, and the sound setup is also carefully built up from the ground in dedicated home theaters in homes, where the home owner has the space and resources for that kind of solution.
Then there are general purpose rooms, and rooms with mixed uses. Here, the home owner may need to take the middle way. There are certain things that can be done to improve the audio quality, but other things that would go too far, and don’t make sense as they would clash with other uses that the home owner wants to have in the room.
In general, the additional things that can be done in a room has to do with managing reflections, to work on distortions, standing waves, comb filtering and those kind of things that damage the quality of the audio.
There are the simplest things that can be done to deflect the reflection of sound that may meet with the direct sound from the speakers and sabotage the sound. For instance placing a rug on a hard floor at the location where mid- and high frequency sound waves may bounce off on their way from the speaker to the listener’s ears. Also, it can make sense to hang a wall tapestry, or drag out window curtains at the same type of location on the vertical surfaces, if that is applicable.
Then there are dedicated items for dealing with reflections. These are things like sound absorbing foam blocks, column or triangle shaped base traps in the corners where low frequency distortions tend to form, and sound diffusers which are often sophisticated constructions, formed to work with certain troublesome frequencies, using complex mathematical formulas to determine their form.
How far the steps are taken in this way, and how elaborate the solutions will be, and how much money is spent on this, is based on choice in each situation, which is based on the options that are available, and how much sense they make given other uses and constraints thereof in the room.
It has to be said that the things that are available for this purpose have not necessarily been sporting great style. In fact, many style sensitive home owners may find those to be as ugly as they find loudspeakers to be. One idea here at Desaudio is to design and color pattern prints on those, in a similar way as will be done on the loudspeaker covers, to offer room improvement solutions that both do their intended job, and are also offering great style for the visual aesthetic pleasure of the home owner.
5. Aesthetic style of the audio devices
Believe it or not, what the speakers and even audio components look like can affect how they sound. There are three aspects to mention here.
First, this is apparent among people who are very much interested in the style and color scheme of their home. If they dislike the looks of loudspeakers badly enough, then they may very well refrain from getting highly capable loudspeakers into their home at all. Obviously, a speaker that is in the room has much greater sound then if that speaker had never been brought into the home, because the home owner hated its looks.
Second is speaker placement, and the willingness of the homeowner to place it in the optimal place for acoustic quality. If a speaker is especially ugly in the eyes of the person who has pre-eminent powers inside the rooms of the home, then that person may be very reluctant to place the speakers where they sound the best. The person may dislike the effect the speakers have on the overall aesthetics of the room so much, that the tendency is to tuck the speaker into the corners where they are less obtrusive to the eye. However, if the speaker looks great, and is a conversation piece in itself because of its great style, then this person will not hesitate to place it wherever is needed to optimize the acoustic quality. The person may do that with joy.
Third thing is, that for many people, the experiencing of beauty comes through more senses than just the hearing. They like things to be attractive to the eye as well. Think about going to a concert. The musicians and singers take care preparing their grooming and clothes on stage. The female singers wear great gowns fit for a diva. The concert hall itself is elegant and uplifting. The guests put on clothes that express their personality, and add to the festive atmosphere. If looks didn’t matter at all, if sound was all that matters (and some die-hard audiophiles say that), then the singers and musicians could well go on stage with unkempt hair, wearing a dirty t-shirt and torn jeans. Nobody would care. The quality of the sound waves reaching the ears of the audience was all that mattered. But it isn’t so. The looks matter. If things look beautiful, that will enhance your listening experience as well.
This is how the looks of the loudspeakers can, indirectly, affect the acoustic quality. A lot more about the theories regarding the looks and styling are of course in the book “Designer Hi-fi and Home Cinema Speakers and Devices.”
Desaudio focuses on the aesthetic styling of loudspeaker, (and later on audio components as well), and is probably the first in the world to have that focus as the predominant emphasis. However, Desaudio does not put less importance on the technical or acoustic qualities of the audio devices, and other things that affect the raw acoustic experience as such, as can be seen on this page. Desaudio simply has a balanced approach in this respect, but puts far more weight on aesthetic styling, and in particular the different interior design styles available to style-conscious home owners, then other companies in the home audio field have done.
It should be added that most loudspeakers come with a detachable grille on the front, on which acoustically transparent speaker grille fabric is stretched. Most of the time it is black, or sometimes brown or grey. The fabric is porous and lets the sound waves through, although it may affect and dampen down a bit the highest frequency sound range, that comes from the so-called tweeter. Many speaker manufacturers recommend that the speaker grille with the fabric should be kept on to protect the speaker drivers, and they tune up the high frequencies to counter that dampening.
So taking this black speaker fabric off, and replacing it with a similar fabric that is printed with colors and patterns – the basic solution of Desaudio – and stretching that fabric all around the speaker instead of just on the grille on the front, should not affect the sound quality in any way, from what the loudspeaker manufacturer has intended.
The goal of Desaudio for acoustic excellence
The future goal of Desaudio is not just to design stylish looks for audio devices, that harmonize better with the different interior design styles that are popular among home owners with great aesthetic sensibilities.
The future goal is also to offer solutions, and advice, regarding the satisfying choice of the electronic audio devices and room improvement solutions, given the characteristics and constraints in each customers’ situation.
The overall goal is a wholesome experience of acoustic excellence, and also visual aesthetic excellence, leading hopefully to a greater overall satisfaction for the discerning lover of music, style and beauty.
It is fair to say that a LOT more can be said about the steps you can take to acoustic excellence, but hopefully this primer gives some basic understanding of the subject.
– Sverrir Sigurdarson, author and founder of Desaudio.
