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Room & placement

Boundaries, modes, and listening position.

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Why it matters

Below the midrange, you hear the speaker and the room together.

Walls, floor, ceiling, furniture, and listening position create peaks, dips, reflections, and timing changes. A speaker that measures smooth outdoors can sound uneven indoors.

How it works

Boundaries reinforce bass. Moving a speaker close to a wall or corner usually increases low-frequency output, but it can also make bass uneven.

Room modes create strong peaks and nulls at certain locations. A null can make bass disappear even when the speaker is producing it. Reflections from nearby surfaces can also blur imaging and change treble balance.

Common mistakes

Simple example

Frequency response Frequency response shows how loud a speaker is at each frequency. It helps reveal balance, crossover behavior, box tuning, and room problems. Weak bass Weak bass is often caused by polarity, placement, room nulls, level mismatch, leaks, or tuning problems. Check those before changing drivers. Tools: REW & mics Basic speaker measurement needs software, a measurement microphone, a way to play the test signal, and a repeatable setup. REW is a common free tool for this work. Bookshelf & floorstanding Bookshelf and floorstanding speakers are cabinet formats, not quality grades. They mainly differ in size, bass potential, output headroom, and placement needs.

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