Ever notice...

steveinaz

...how good your speakers sound outside? No walls reflecting or interacting?

Had mine both in the garage (door open) and on the back patio, they sound fantastic, almost "Maggie-like."

RuSsMaN

No

ND13

All I know is that when I auditioned my SDA's in a garage with the door opened or closed, they didn't sound near as good as in the house.

heiney9

Sometimes I notice this phenomenon when I’m in another room. Sometimes I swear the singer/group is playing in my listening room. Obviously the sound staging cues are not present, but on some material it sounds so good. I guess it lets the music “breathe” so to speak.

H9

BrentMcGhee

what you are hearing is what i like to call the double boxed effect.

There is so much that goes into desinging a speaker box to tune a speaker just the right way, but however when we get them home we are just taking all of that research and design and just sticking it in another larger box (the room)

I dont think most people have ever really thought about it this way (or maybe they have).

What you are hearing when they are outside is what the speaker actually sounds like becasue it is not being influenced by being put into another box that was not specifically designed for the speaker.

steveinaz

I would imagine it being close to an anechoic chamber, especially the outside scenario. It just improves everything; tight bass, airy midrange and treble. Cool.

Skynut

Maybe I will set up the surround outside someday. Like a drive in.:D

amulford

I have the HT in a room w/ wall to wall windows. I open them all up for parties and kick it. It's really cool, 'cause it sounds so good. Even from very far away, it comes thru crystal clear. I am always getting comments, makes my head swell...;)

Early B.

Taking this concept a bit further, would a system sound "better" in a much larger room than in a smaller one?

RuSsMaN

I'm an advocate of the small room / near field scenario.

Cheers,
Russ

heiney9

Originally posted by RuSsMaN
I'm an advocate of the small room / near field scenario.

Cheers,
Russ

Overall I'm an advocate for that type of listening. Critical listening in a very large room just doesn't get it done. To many waves going every which way. How's that for a scientific analysis.

Already started the weekend festivities and I'm rocking out (de-compressing) listening to the mighty Zep!

H9

Early B.

I'm an advocate of the small room / near field scenario.

Whew. Thought I was the only one who felt that way.

I did an experiment one day and moved my entire 2-channel system into a larger room to hear the differences. I thought a larger room was going to allow my speakers to "stretch out" and really give me a whole new dimension of sound, but I liked it better in the smaller room.

IMO, in near field listening the vocalist appears to be singing to me only, but farther away, it seems the artist is singing to an audience. So near field seems more intimate and engaging. I don't feel like a spectator, but an active participant.

steveinaz

Even my bookshelves sound great outside, just something about the absolute zero reflection that makes the soundstage incredibly realistic. Neat stuff. There has to be no wind though; wind screws it up.

amulford

Originally posted by Zero
I haven’t heard many, and I know there is no way I can afford them.

Come on up, I"ll learn ya;)

brettw22

Originally posted by Zero
I haven’t heard many, and I know there is no way I can afford them.

Aren't you due to start cycling through a few systems right about now?

bikezappa

I like to listen to music out side in my hot tub. I first installed the speakers near the tub on the outside walls of the home. The sound really sucked with all the reflections off the clapboards.

As an experiment I located the two speakers on trees about 10' high 20' apart. Both speakers are about 25' away and centered from the hot tub. The back of the hot tub is up agaist the clapboards. The sound stage was amazing. Most recordings sounded more life like and real, especially jazz club recordings and vocials. What was wrong however was that I couldn't play the music very loud due to neigbhors and lack of amp power. The distortion would increase before my desire for louder music ended. Also the bass was very lacking. The bass was solved with a powered sub protected from the animals and rain.

The outside music was and still is a very interesting sound enviroment. I plan to up grade the amp and speakers soon. However, the addition of a cold beer and the hot tub experience may have affected my judgement. But then again who cares if it works.