1 standing waves – Avalon Acoustics Isis User Manual
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8.1 Standing Waves
The parallel surfaces of most listening rooms can lead to a potential problem
in the low frequencies. A sound wave can be repeatedly reflected from
opposing surfaces, back and forth. If the distance between the surfaces is an
integral multiple of one-half the sound wavelength, a standing wave will be
set up. This means that the incident and reflected waves combine with each
other so that a stationary pattern of high and low sound pressures is
established in the room. This irregular distribution of sound level is caused by
cancellation and reinforcement between the reflected and direct sound
waves.
At high frequencies, this pattern of high and low sound pressure levels within
the room becomes too finely spaced to be discerned. However, when the
dimensions of the room are comparable to the wavelengths of the musical
notes, there will be obvious changes in the intensity of certain bass notes in
different locations within the room. Additionally, the existence of the standing
wave implies a resonant condition where acoustic energy is stored in the
room. This energy storage can result in "heavy", "muddy", or "slow" bass.
Since the presence of standing waves is caused by parallel reflective
surfaces, practically every listening room suffers from this problem to some
degree. However, several factors are working in our favor here. First, as the
room size increases, the affected frequencies become lower and thereby less
audibly apparent. Second, the presence of shelving or furniture against the
walls will break up the large surfaces, reducing the magnitude of the
problem. Third, upholstered furniture can absorb a significant amount of bass,
diminishing the build-up of resonant energy. Fourth, typical wall construction is
not completely reflective at low frequencies.
However, in some cases audibly objectionable standing waves will still be
present in the listening room. This can be noted by large variations of the
intensity of certain bass notes in different areas of the room. Another indicator
is an unevenness of loudness of different bass notes. (This is sometimes what is
actually on the recording, so be sure that this is consistently a problem on a
variety of recordings.)
If you wish to reduce or eliminate standing waves that may exist in your room,
it will be necessary to reduce the low-frequency reflectiveness of at least one
of the parallel surfaces of opposing surfaces. The most effective method is to
use DAAD’s (more information is available at
).
Experimentation will be needed to determine the optimal locations.