Thanks for your reflections John and Tony. My experience comes from once modelling in the speaker/room interaction program previously at cara.de. I soon discovered that one get the most even low frequency response when both (only one) speaker and the listener is 1/3 from their nearest walls. But, only with one speaker (mono).
So I moved speakers around and came to a decently flat response with the listener 1/3 into the room and the speakers (two now, stereo) at least 1/5 or 1/7 from the walls. An as asymmetrical setup as nearly is possible! So, after shuffling of physical speakers and some measurements, how did it sound?
Yes, the center image was a bit vague, as expected. But what I discovered, a bit surprising at first, was that I heard more of the recorded ambience and less of the listening rooms 'sound' (thankfully). My explanation is that the reflected sound of the various walls reaches the listener at different times and with different phase, making it sounding considerably more diffuse. That could be reached with diffuser panels, I guess, but I don't have any.
Now, with tinnitus, my hearing is considerably worse in one ear, so the central image isn't there anyway.
So I moved speakers around and came to a decently flat response with the listener 1/3 into the room and the speakers (two now, stereo) at least 1/5 or 1/7 from the walls. An as asymmetrical setup as nearly is possible! So, after shuffling of physical speakers and some measurements, how did it sound?
Yes, the center image was a bit vague, as expected. But what I discovered, a bit surprising at first, was that I heard more of the recorded ambience and less of the listening rooms 'sound' (thankfully). My explanation is that the reflected sound of the various walls reaches the listener at different times and with different phase, making it sounding considerably more diffuse. That could be reached with diffuser panels, I guess, but I don't have any.
Now, with tinnitus, my hearing is considerably worse in one ear, so the central image isn't there anyway.