Changing Perception

“You must unlearn what you have learned” – Yoda

“Your eyes can deceive you – don’t trust them” – Obi-wan Kenobi

The significance of these two quotes will be evident by the end of this article. The majority of information we have been force-fed by the audio industry over the years is, unfortunately, not even worth the paper it’s printed on. I realize how bold a statement that is, and I’m sure I’ll be stepping on some toes here, but sometimes one must experience pain and discomfort in order to grow.

You don’t need a sub-woofer if you don’t do theater. Wrong! Just ask anyone who owns a REL sub-bass system that has been properly installed, tuned to their speakers, and interfaced by a dedicated REL dealer.

If you can’t get your speakers to sound good in your room, you need to either find a new room or spend tons of money on sound treatments. Wrong! The Rational Speaker Placement Process allows your speakers to work with your room as it is, including nooks, crannies, and existing furnishings.

The most important component in a stereo system are the speakers. Wrong! The single most important “component” in any system is the speaker set up, speaker placement, speaker positioning, including speaker height and rake angle. (see #2 above).

Truly involving and high resolution reproduction of music in the home can only happen with high dollar, high-end equipment. Wrong! While high-end gear will improve nuances of sound and inner detail, my system is downright magical with a $350 universal disc player as my source.

If your sound is overly bright and screechy or it’s opposite, the best solution is to change all of your interconnects and speaker wire to tame the problem. Wrong! The Rational Speaker Placement process lets the speakers work with the room so well, that an overly bright or recessed sound simply does not happen. (Unless the room is all glass walls with marble floors, then we might need to talk).

For best sound, you and the speakers must form an equilateral triangle and each of the speakers have to be exactly the same distance from the rear wall. Wrong! I have performed numerous Rational Speaker Placements where one speaker was 3 full inches closer to the listening position than the other speaker and the sound was glorious.

To get the full effect of great sound, you have to sit in the sweet spot. Wrong! I had a friend over for a listening session a while ago. When he was in the sweet spot, I was sitting at my computer desk (in line with both speakers and about 5′ right of the right speaker), and I experienced all the sense of space in the song with no loss of high frequency clarity. We switched places and he verified the same sensation.

The “audio experts” have a lot of strong opinions (what’s that old quote about opinions and rear ends?) and their resultant recommendations on equipment reflect them. Do yourself a favor – schedule a Rational Speaker Placement with me, and discover how much music is hiding inside your existing system.

Bob Robbins

bob@myspeakersetup.com

7204047200 Mountain Time

Rational Speaker Placement Expert