Choosing a good listening room size

There are some basic listening room sizes that work well. You can find them on the Internet. But it's also possible to build rooms that have been designed on some mythological dimensions that have issues in the bass.

Here's a dimension for a medium-to-small listening room that has relatively

smooth bass for a room of its size: 19' L x 14' W x 10' H. These dimensions, when entered into a room acoustics spreadsheet, work out amazingly well. Fortunately, I'd heard somewhere about these dimensions and built several listening rooms this size before I knew about any of the spreadsheet programs. Without exception, they worked well for rooms in this size category.

You want rooms that have the fewest adjacent standing wave issues as possible. I'm referring to the "boundary effect" region (roughly from 300 Hz down to the lowest audible frequency in your room).

If you're thinking of building your own listening room, I recommend that you locate a sound contractor who has a track record of success. It's a good idea to arrange to listen in a room that he has designed, if possible. I do especially recommend Rives Audio. http://www.rivesaudio.com/

Of course, there are many other variables to consider, including such things as air handling and electrical service. If you have no luck finding a contractor, you can contact PS Audio, and, within certain time constraints, we can make some useful suggestions.

Jim Smith

Top

You must be logged in to comment