What Happens With Conventional Loudspeakers – Why Have We Done It The Other Way For So Long?

Conventional speakers generate early reflections that have rolled off high frequencies. This reduces the effectiveness of the stereophonic illusion, at best. We can get pretty good results, however, by carefully mounting comparatively directional speakers in the absorbent wall. Our lateral reflections are still deficient, and we sacrifice a good deal of perceived depth, but we nonetheless obtain performance on a par or better than other studio topologies.

However, problems do arise with speakers that have extremely poor or erratic off-axis performance. Such off-axis performance is audible to the listener and in controlled listening tests will prove to be offensive to listeners, even when on-axis response is excellent. This is increasingly true as the side-walls become more reflective.

This is one of the reason that heavily damped control room designs are favored by studio designers. They usually have little choice about or control over the monitors that will be used, and need to protect their design topologies for worst-case situations. Floyd Toole, a noted loudspeaker researcher, recently wrote that “the inspiration for the [Live-End-Dead-End® control room topology] appears to have been the need to improve the sound of a then popular studio monitor loudspeaker that misbehaved dreadfully in its off-axis response. The only way to deliver good sound quality was to absorb the sounds that would normally have reflected off the floor, walls and ceiling.”