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How much “bang for the buck” can I expect in room design and treatment versus, say, spending the same money on better speakers or amplifiers?

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How much “bang for the buck” can I expect in room design and treatment versus, say, spending the same money on better speakers or amplifiers?

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Once your system reaches what the industry calls “mid-fi” quality or better, the weakest link in your playback chain is almost certainly your acoustical environment and/or your system’s interface with it. That’s because, if you sit more than 2 or 3 feet away from the speakers, you’re in what acousticians call the “far-field,” where the majority of sound comes to you indirectly, from the room, not directly from the speakers. Because speakers spread sound in many directions, not just directly at you, the room acts like a big filter, selectively exaggerating some sounds, softening others, and spatially scrambling that nice, smooth response you thought you were getting when you first heard them in the dealer’s soundroom. The upshot is that it’s usually far more cost effective to spend money on at least some room analysis and treatment than it is to upgrade speakers, amps, and the like. It turns out that once your room “behaves” acoustically, you’ll be able to get your money’s worth out of

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