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In the Forum: Audio Discussions
In the Thread: Big room vs small room

Post Subject: SpacePosted by rowuk on: 7/13/2012

Reverberation time is surely a part of it but I think that there is more. If I am in the quiet church alone and close my eyes, I know how big the space is. If I am in a concert hall with managed acoustics and close my eyes, I know nothing. I believe that the difference is a standing wave that is in the unmanaged room always and never decays as long as there is a draft, activity, wind or other at least minor acoustic excitement. the finest halls have a characteristic sound before anyone plays a note.
I do not know of many recording engineers who try to capture the "space" (except perhaps Mr. Johnson from Reference Recordings and certain recordings from John Eargle at Delos). This could be a reason why you can increase ULF to extreme in your system without it being a "problem".
Maybe this is a factor for hearing a difference between a musical event in a listening room or in the original hall. I often think about how we can squeeze this standing wave into listening room. Physics is hard to beat.

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